female looking at getting into racing

amy_24

Hi,

I've been lurking and reading the boards for a while and thought would say hi and ask for some advice.

I have been cycling for about 6 months and looking at getting into the competitive side of racing. is it much different for a women, from what ive read I understand that women races aren't generally so long as men races. also can I only enter female based events? I have joined a cycling club in my area and have found the experience really helpful and have done a few time trials too. im looking at planning my training for the year but am clueless to what events i could enter. im also at college and planning to go uni the year after.

nice to meet you all:)

hopper1

Hi Amy, and welcome to the forum.
I think the best thing for you is to enquire about local events form within your club.
I'm sure your club will be happy that they have a female member interested in racing.
Good luck...

sungod

if you have a look on the bc website, it explains how things work and has listings of events

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/a ... oad-Racing

afaik if you are over 18 you are a 'woman' in bc terms, and would be 4th category which is the entry level

you can search for events by category, area etc., there are some women-only ones

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events ... ,9,3,10,14

if you choose...
discipline: 'road all'
event/race classification: 'women only'
rider category: '4th'
...it'l give a few matches, you'll get more if you loosen the criteria

for some you can just turn up and ride, but check the rules for the specific event

if you are interested. the rules for road are here...
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/zuvvi/ ... _TRACK.pdf

...they're quite detailed, but don't be worried by them, at entry level things are fairly open, they explain the different categories and how points work etc.

as you are in a club, might be best to see if anyone is going to a 4th cat event and tag along for the experience

maryka

amy_24 wrote:

Hi,

I've been lurking and reading the boards for a while and thought would say hi and ask for some advice.

I have been cycling for about 6 months and looking at getting into the competitive side of racing. is it much different for a women, from what ive read I understand that women races aren't generally so long as men races. also can I only enter female based events? I have joined a cycling club in my area and have found the experience really helpful and have done a few time trials too. im looking at planning my training for the year but am clueless to what events i could enter. im also at college and planning to go uni the year after.

nice to meet you all:)

Where are you based? Racing season is nearly over now (evening crits are done, only weekend stuff for another month or so) but there are still a few to give a try if you're interested. Hillingdon (west London) has a women's-only race this Monday and also next Saturday, and also one in early October. It's a pretty wide, safe and non-technical course to try for your first one.

Most important is getting comfortable and familiar with riding in a group and learning the etiquette, which I'm assuming you're doing a bit with your club? Next is improving fitness in general (which you will be used to if you've been TTing), and lastly you will want to learn some racing tactics and skills. If you're near London, keep an eye out for some winter training sessions for women that will tackle all of those things -- I believe John Leitch is running a few in November at Hillingdon. LondonCycleSport is the place for all things racing in greater London throughout the year, they are really on top of the goings-on.

Women's racing at the core and in theory is not that different from men's, but the reality is with fewer of us in the country to fill up entry lists, there are fewer races in general and the depth of field is often less. Road races last anywhere from 90 min to just under 3 hours with the majority being around 2:15, and circuit races from 40 min to 90 min with the majority being around an hour.

You can race men's and women's races no problem. I race quite a bit with men as it's the only way I can get to race regularly in a bunch of 50-60+ riders, plus it's great training fitness-wise and works to sharpen my skills. And it's fun, often less stressful and more relaxed than women's races, for me anyway!

You need to get a British Cycling membership and racing license if you want to do any racing, but the good news is that as a member of your (BC-affiliated, I assume?) club, you can get bronze-level membership and a provisional racing license for free in the first year you join BC, you just have to call BC and ask for it. The membership runs for a year from the day you take it out, the license will be renewed on Dec. 1 when the new season starts. If you enjoy racing enough, you can upgrade to a silver membership and full racing license which costs ~£75 but lets you accrue points to move up categories, also comes with insurance and stuff.

You can check out the BC calendar to get an idea of the women's races that have taken part over the season (under Discipline, pick "Road All" then search and when it pops up, under Even Classification pick "Women Only" -- it's not the sharpest web design).

Feel free to ask questions, I'm always happy to help new racers find their way around the BC site and the sport in general (having been a newbie myself not that long ago...)

gsk82

theirs few women and girls who do the TLI east yorkshire road race league so your local TLI league could be an option if you fancy handicapped racing

amy_24

wow thanks for all the inforamtive replies. have helped loads.

hopper-thanks:)

sungod-thanks for the link on the bc website, i have tried looking on their but found the website really hard to navigate around.

maryka- hi cheers for the reply,a nd the information regarding what women races entail. i have built up quite a good base level and can see how my cycling has improved over the months. I live in devon so london is a bit far for me. however when i go uni i plan to use a uni that is near to cycling places. I think I may try and get down to the one in october if only for the experience. i do drive so have that advantage.

jibberjim

Amy, get down to Mary Tavy tomorrow! there's a womens only race to go for! I fear you may only be racing a few other women, but at least it will give you a chance to see what a race entails! You can race it on a day licence no worries.

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events ... ad-Races-4

There's also a race at Ilton in Somerset in september you can do.
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events ... cuit-Races

Where abouts in Devon are you. Unfortunately it's not an area with many women's events. The south west did this year put in some riders in the womens team series so there are some down there for sure.

trex_hunter

Hey Amy,
I just graduated from Exeter, Devon. I was MTBing back then but I had lots of regular contact with the university's AU (Athletic Union) through other societies. They are extremely helpful and although I note you are studying in college at the moment, I am pretty sure the Uni Cycling Club may be able to help (particularly the freshers!)
UoE is very sportive and pick medals on regular basis during BUCS competitions, and they have very good links with local clubs and the county teams in whatever sport they compete in. All of that added bonus is sure to help.
Their website can be found here: http://exeterunibikeclub.webs.com/
Hope it helps
Has

cleeve hill reject

Hi Amy, I'm the president of the Exeter Uni cycling club, PM me if you have any questions.
Matt

dulldave

amy_24 wrote:

sungod-thanks for the link on the bc website, i have tried looking on their but found the website really hard to navigate around.

You're not the only one. That's it after they apparently improved it as well. If you've been lurking you'll have noticed a new post every month or so from baffled newcomers trying to work out how to start. The BC site is letting these people down.