Scottish Road Race Scene

harringtonp

Hi,

Trying to figure out how this works as could be over there for a few days visiting relatives later in the year and like the idea of trying a race.

See there is a calendar of sorts at:

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/sc...nal-Calendar-0

An explanation of grade and race categories is at

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/ro...fications?c=SX

Few questions

- Anybody know if Irish A3 and 3rd Category are viewed equivalently by the respective organisations ? And do the levels equate well or could I be in for even more of an ass kicking than I sometimes get here in Ireland ?

- If I could do a race as a non BC member is it Regional A and Regional B I should be looking at ? Regional C/C+ looks like crits which I'm not interested in. ?

- How would I enter a race there. They talk about entry through a portal on the web pages but I presume you need British Cycling membership to get access to this ? Or is there open application elsewhere for races ?

- Anybody recommend good races not too far from Glasgow (coatbridge to be more precise) in the earlier part of the season that meet above criteria ?

- Unlike Ireland, stage races in Scotland seem pretty sparse, am I missing something ?

Thanks Paul.

webboo

Why not email or ring British Cycling.

Omar Little

Early season there isn't much on in the west region. The Fenwick APR is probably the closest to Coatbridge and that is about 30 miles away.There are more options later on but June is probably later than you want.

A couple of years ago there was a mini stage race called the Balfronde which was early season and fairly close to Coatbridge, it wasn't on last year but they hoped to have it on in 2017. Havent heard anything about that recently though.

There are a couple of big clubs that don't have races on the calender yet so hopefully more races to come.

harringtonp

Omar Little wrote:

Early season there isn't much on in the west region. The Fenwick APR is probably the closest to Coatbridge and that is about 30 miles away.There are more options later on but June is probably later than you want.

A couple of years ago there was a mini stage race called the Balfronde which was early season and fairly close to Coatbridge, it wasn't on last year but they hoped to have it on in 2017. Havent heard anything about that recently though.

There are a couple of big clubs that don't have races on the calender yet so hopefully more races to come.

Thanks for that, June could still be good for me. See the Fenwick APR is on Mar 26th and the circuit is
.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/1012137

What is APR ? Its not an acronym used in the calendar here, are they some sort of handicap race ?

twotoebenny

APR= Australian Pursuit Race groups set of according to... cough... ability/results, so yes handicapped.

NeXXus

I'd be contacting Cycling Ireland first, I think some sort of permission is required/small fee to upgrade for BC sanctioned races

harringtonp

NeXXus wrote:

I'd be contacting Cycling Ireland first, I think some sort of permission is required/small fee to upgrade for BC sanctioned races

Yes I have the Cycling Ireland part figured. I need to pay an extra 20 euro when renewing my license for international clearance, get a photo added to it and then request a letter from CI confirming insurance cover for specific events.

Apart from stage races here you can just turn up on the day and enter where as I gather every race in the UK is pre entry and it is this part I am trying to figure out.

Hinaultscrapcousin

I'd assume A3 would be Cat 3 over here, it's always going to be a bit up in the air.

There is the Nightingales Lake of Menteith APR on the 1st April. The Drummond Trophy on the 16 April at Strathaven, 21st May is the Hugh Dornan Memorial Road Race at Garelochhead. All within range of Glasgow/Coatbridge by car. If you're coming in June there is the John Gordon Memorial Race on 25th.

The races can fill up quickly, I had a lot of cat 2 friends complaining that they couldn't race and maintain their licences as the races were filling up 2-3 months in advance sometimes. My advice of sacking off racing and riding for fun just seemed to get eyes rolled in response So, if you're going to do it I'd get dates sorted. Of the races listed I know the person who organises the the John Gordon race and ride with Lomond Roads when I can who are Organising the Hugh Dornan race. Both of them should be good events.

harringtonp

Hinaultscrapcousin wrote:

I'd assume A3 would be Cat 3 over here, it's always going to be a bit up in the air.

There is the Nightingales Lake of Menteith APR on the 1st April. The Drummond Trophy on the 16 April at Strathaven, 21st May is the Hugh Dornan Memorial Road Race at Garelochhead. All within range of Glasgow/Coatbridge by car. If you're coming in June there is the John Gordon Memorial Race on 25th.

The races can fill up quickly, I had a lot of cat 2 friends complaining that they couldn't race and maintain their licences as the races were filling up 2-3 months in advance sometimes. My advice of sacking off racing and riding for fun just seemed to get eyes rolled in response So, if you're going to do it I'd get dates sorted. Of the races listed I know the person who organises the the John Gordon race and ride with Lomond Roads when I can who are Organising the Hugh Dornan race. Both of them should be good events.

Cross checked against the calendar and of the races listed above only the Nightingales Lake of Menteith is regional. Even though category wise Cat 3 are eligible for National B I do see Nat B described as

"Eligibility: open to senior male Elite, 1st 2nd & 3rd category riders, final year Junior male 1st, 2nd & 3rd category and Senior female Elite 1st and 2nd category riders with a Full Racing Licence."

and I'm not sure of the impact the Full Racing Licence has on me. I see you can do regional races with a day license though I'm not sure exactly what that is, if you could just turn up on the day it makes sense but how would it work if you have to preregister ?

I also presume that in "National" level races the fields are strong, do many Cat 3 riders do them or do riders at this level generally tend to concentrate on regional races ?

Here in Ireland as an A3 rider you usually only race with A1's and A2's if it is a handicapped race or stage race, otherwise A3's have their own races. And actually A4 riders can only ever race with other A4 riders under current CI rules and it has been like this since the introduction of the category some years back.

Hinaultscrapcousin

I know of at least one cat 4 who raced in the inaugural John Gordon Memorial race and he didn't get spanked by everyone.

I would speak to Scottish Cycling about National races. If you don't have a full race licence on the start line for a national race I think you get charged £10, but you're still allowed to race. You probably can't accrue points either but that's not going to matter.

As far as I'm aware the National series are designated for riders who wish to earn points towards the championship, so you will get a bit of a stronger field travelling, but in general I think you'll find a fairly similar level to regional in National B races.