What do I need to race (besides a bike...)

CptKernow

Was thinking of trying a race at a local circuit to see how I get on. At present I don't have any British Cycling membership and the race may well be a one off, certainly the last of the year. It is listed as a regional C+ race.

So, assuming I need a race licence what membership / type of licence would I need?

Thanks

jgsi

You just might get away with a £10 day licence plus race fee.. best check with organiser.
Tell them you are currently non member.

cougie

Have you ridden in a bunch before ?

imposter2.0

CptKernow wrote:

So, assuming I need a race licence what membership / type of licence would I need?

Silver membership and a full race licence would be what you need longer term. But if you wanted to race right now, you could buy day membership and day licence - it would just cost you a bit more and you wouldn't be eligible for ranking points, if that matters..

CptKernow

Will drop the organiser a line and see what he says. Day license would be fine for first go, then I'll have a look at membership if all goes well.

cougie wrote:

Have you ridden in a bunch before ?

On Zwift
Plenty of club rides / sportives and the odd chain gang but no racing. I imagine I would be hanging on to the bunch rather than in the thick of it anyway.

Toks

CptKernow wrote:

Will drop the organiser a line and see what he says. Day license would be fine for first go, then I'll have a look at membership if all goes well.

cougie wrote:

Have you ridden in a bunch before ?

On Zwift
Plenty of club rides / sportives and the odd chain gang but no racing. I imagine I would be hanging on to the bunch rather than in the thick of it anyway.

i started racing many years ago in similar circumstances. Good luck to you. Actually first 2 times I bottled it and just watched

Vino'sGhost

LEGS

Matthewfalle

op wasn't riding with reston bicycle club was he?

CptKernow

So, almost a year on I did get round to racing - Cat 3/4 crit. Rode on a day license which cost me £5.

Hung on to the bunch for the duration and didn't cause any crashes. Couple of guys went down hard early on but nothing to do with me!

Was a blast. Could probably do a fair bit better if it was something I trained for and had any idea about race craft. Was surprised about how low my avg power was and high my max power was - I usually train steady state so something to think about.

cruff

CptKernow wrote:

So, almost a year on I did get round to racing - Cat 3/4 crit. Rode on a day license which cost me £5.

Hung on to the bunch for the duration and didn't cause any crashes. Couple of guys went down hard early on but nothing to do with me!

Was a blast. Could probably do a fair bit better if it was something I trained for and had any idea about race craft. Was surprised about how low my avg power was and high my max power was - I usually train steady state so something to think about.

Standard 3/4 crit. Basically an interval workout. Every attack that goes gets followed after less than five seconds because people sh*t themselves that 'a break' is going to form and not get brought back. Even if it's one rider.

ShutupJens

Cruff wrote:

CptKernow wrote:

So, almost a year on I did get round to racing - Cat 3/4 crit. Rode on a day license which cost me £5.

Hung on to the bunch for the duration and didn't cause any crashes. Couple of guys went down hard early on but nothing to do with me!

Was a blast. Could probably do a fair bit better if it was something I trained for and had any idea about race craft. Was surprised about how low my avg power was and high my max power was - I usually train steady state so something to think about.

Standard 3/4 crit. Basically an interval workout. Every attack that goes gets followed after less than five seconds because people sh*t themselves that 'a break' is going to form and not get brought back. Even if it's one rider.

Probably the reason why people think they have the legs to crack on and race - from seeing strava power averages. I know plenty of fit lads who've had their legs blown off when a race has kicked off and not settled down for a couple of laps. Then you get 5 laps of freewheeling and looking at eachother, waiting for something to happen.. I miss racing

CptKernow

ShutupJens wrote:

Probably the reason why people think they have the legs to crack on and race - from seeing strava power averages. I know plenty of fit lads who've had their legs blown off when a race has kicked off and not settled down for a couple of laps

I guess this is a lesson in what normalized power is about. I made this mistake - looking at previous races and looking at other riders average watts and thinking I wouldn't have to work to stay in the bunch.

cruff

CptKernow wrote:

ShutupJens wrote:

Probably the reason why people think they have the legs to crack on and race - from seeing strava power averages. I know plenty of fit lads who've had their legs blown off when a race has kicked off and not settled down for a couple of laps

I guess this is a lesson in what normalized power is about. I made this mistake - looking at previous races and looking at other riders average watts and thinking I wouldn't have to work to stay in the bunch.

Yeah. Gets harder as you get older too. Especially if you're a natural diesel (shorthand for 'one-paced chump') like me