Why do so few people race?

pastryboy

Given the number of 'keen' cyclists who put a lot of time and money into the hobby, why do you think so few people give racing a try?

I'm thinking crit/road racing in the main. I know last year a lot of races in my area struggled to muster enough entries.

Fear of crashing, fear of getting dropped, time/cost of getting to races, simply not interested?

darkhairedlord

pastryboy wrote:

Given the number of 'keen' cyclists who put a lot of time and money into the hobby, why do you think so few people give racing a try?

I'm thinking crit/road racing in the main. I know last year a lot of races in my area struggled to muster enough entries.

Fear of crashing, fear of getting dropped, time/cost of getting to races, simply not interested?

Cat 8 with a pub stop and more would be up for it.
Bottom rung is too high a bar for many. That and clubbies.

964cup

It's really hard work. It requires a level of fitness (and natural ability) most of us lack. If you're talking about crits, most 'keen' cyclists are also older cyclists and don't bounce so well anymore. Road racing is a team sport, so you need a number of people of similar ability and commitment who share your willingness to take something fun and, essentially, make it less fun. There's a lot of waiting around, too.

I've done a few races, including the Worlds in Denmark in '15. The gap between me as a 'keen' cyclist and the Cat1/Elites in my age group who showed up with coaches and had been there a week beforehand and ridden the course twice for practice was so wide as to be laughable. It was a long way to go to trail round at the back.

lettingthedaysgoby

I don’t like crashing and apparently when you stop for a coffee halfway round it rather hinders your chance of a result.

sloppyschleckonds

You mean Strava isn't racing??

webboo

Because it not only is about being fit enough and learning race craft. It also means getting up in the middle of the night to get ready before driving for a couple of hours to the race venue, signing on, warming up then racing for a couple of hours if you are lucky that it is decent distance. Then driving 2 hours home and unpacking your car.
So for a whole days effort you get to ride your bike for 2 hours.

pamplemoose

I don't want to get involved in a Cat 4 pile up. I take part in my local time trial league instead.

You could argue that if I knew what I was doing in a race I wouldn't be involved in a pile up. You'd probably be right. But having never raced I don't have that knowledge!

First.Aspect

Time and energy. Cycling is something I fit in around work.

big_harv

All of the above but then try and get a place. Cat3/4 road races are disappearing every year.

OnTheRopes

Perhaps the main reason is that Road racing in the UK has such a low profile, BC are complicit in their lack of support for grass roots cycling and are only really interested in developing the Olympic programme, organisers are finding it harder to put a race on and the police are not particularly helpful. Organising a race is a pretty thankless task and not many bother to thank them for all the effort for no real personal benefit apart from helping the sport.

Vino'sGhost

Racing regularly is a very expensive pass time. entries at 15 - twenty quid a pop often for an hours racing on top of the travel costs and the travel time plus all the other guff that comes with it is seriously prohibitive. so thats 30-40 per week for 5 months of the year for the fees alone. then theres the cost of the BC licence... outrageous. BC just milks it and doesnt put anything back for vets racing in this country were just cash cows . I dont know how the race promoters do it either, a mostly thankless task.

Can i still get out the front and stay away? yes (very occasionally) but im not competitive on the road with its hills anymore and the circuit races frequently have pack sizes so large that no one gets away. I just don't see the point of BC races for people like me. LVRC is much more like it.

so why dont people race more? why should they, cycling is a broad church.

Bahh humbug old git whinge over

Vino'sGhost

OnTheRopes wrote:

Perhaps the main reason is that Road racing in the UK has such a low profile, BC are complicit in their lack of support for grass roots cycling and are only really interested in developing the Olympic programme, organisers are finding it harder to put a race on and the police are not particularly helpful. Organising a race is a pretty thankless task and not many bother to thank them for all the effort for no real personal benefit apart from helping the sport.

Absolutely this.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Besides what a crash could do to my MAMIL body, which took long enough to recover for a non-race crash 5 years ago, I couldn't afford to buy all the replacement bike parts or possibly even the whole bike!

joe2008

Because they're 'racing' on zzzwift.

Anyway, amateur bike racing is just the cycling equivalent to village club football and village cricket... but less popular.

jgsi

It's hard work.
Get it right on the day and you get the best buzz - otherwise normal service is bunch fodder for me.
I would NOT like to have to get that initial race fitness ever again, hence I still train and put myself thru it so that I can muster a decent performance in LVRC and TLI. Well I think it's decent.
The early days were plagued by DNFs until I got it right.
Back to point one - it's hard work.
One plus point of racing against my age peers, the race craft means few crashes (not unknown though).

pastryboy

As expected, though with so many reasons it makes you wonder why people do bother to race, especially those who plug away it without any results...Seen a guy who's done about 20 races with nil points!

But I do feel like threre's an incentive to try it out and test yourself against others. The reason I tried racing is because I felt like I would regret it if I never tried a 'proper' race. Sportives are very meh when you've done a few and that expensive kit needs to be for something, right? TTing never interetsed me as it seems too much about expensive aero kit.

For what it's worth, my experience of approx 20 races (a few I didn't finish but only bailed once) was:

Good:

Improved my cornering/bike handling immeasurably.
A high after a good result.

Bad:

Often boring races with a focus on BC points and not 'racing'- bunch cruising round waiting for a sprint, any attempt to break quickly shut down or;
a super hard race/poor conditions where it hurts and you just want it to be over and wonder why you're doing it.
Crashes - one in front helped me gain a few places, one cost me a front wheel, one was a massive pile-up I was very lucky to walk away from unscathed (blood and a few trashed bikes involved). Heard about lots of others, some nasty.
Cost - £15-20 a time soon adds up (plus usually petrol) and a race can be over quick due to a puncture.
Timing - crits relatively late evening which is a huge pain for someone who starts/finishes work early. Or middle of the afternoon on a Saturday which is a ballache as it takes up the whole day.
Training for it - huge focus is on anaerobic power which is very taxing to train. Frequently getting ill, being tired which is not ideal when you have full time job and kids.
Getting old - I started late and found myself racing against juniors exactly half my age - even though most riders were older still made me question what I was doing.

Overall I'm very glad I tried it and I can say I did it but, overall, I didn't find it particularly enjoyable. I think a lot of people do what I've done, get 3rd cat and decide it's just not worth it to pursue it any more.

OnTheRopes

In actual fact I'm not sure so few don't race it's just that because it has a low profile you don't here about it unless you are in it.
Besides the fact that we are losing courses left right and centre, BC can't seemingly lift their nose out of the Olympic trough and see what a poor state road racing is in, there are actually quite a lot of events out there and all down to the clubs and people that organise them.
As well as BC there is LVRC and TLI which are quite healthy for the older riders given that BC don't give a **** about Masters racing.
I race LVRC and occasionally TLI and come from a background of racing as a senior. Back in the day there was a healthy number of regional races at weekends and also a fantastic evening league running from May until September in the Notts, Derby Leics area.
Nowadays I race in fits and starts and usuall end up getting fed up with having to get up at 5 am to ram porridge down my neck followed by a 2 to 3 hour solo drive to compete in a race where I don't know anybody and then drive home alone.
However the racing itself is great fun and motivates me to train hard. This year I am hoping for a full season.

pastryboy

Re: participation. I only know about BC races which were definitely struggling of late. Maybe others are doing better.

Just seems relative to cyclists out and about on a Sunday the numbers at races are fairly modest. There are quite a few clubs local to me but never saw their kit at a race.

I guess £20 + to potentially be dropped within a lap isn't enticing for people unsure about giving it a go.

apriliarider

In no particular order (and I have done a few races) -

Crashing / pot hole damage
Attitude of some of the other racers to new starters is dreadful - you would think they are in the TdF, not a TLI FFS
Enjoy my beer and social life at weekends
Work stops me getting to evening events
Don't enjoy it

redvision

I tried racing a few years ago and whilst I enjoyed the actual races, the travelling and expense proved too much for me. Additionally, my local club hosted a race about 3 years ago which I marshalled at. Was a 3/4 and there was some incredibly dangerous riders who, inevitably, caused as mass pile up. BC didn't give the club any support really and they have not hosted another race since.

I think cycling popularity is at its peak, thanks to team sky and the track superstars etc, but everyone who gets the bug thinks they are ready for racing immediately. I confess that I too fell in to this category when I first started. Fortunately I joined a club and quickly realised I had much to learn before I was ready and skilled enough to race in a pack.

I think it does come back to BC. They make a pretty penny from the race license but don't appear to put that back in to grass roots, particularly supporting local clubs in hosting races.

I see a future of pretty much just circuit races, particularly for cat 3/4, or timetrials. Whilst some love criterium, I think more cyclists would prefer to try on road racing, especially as that it was the majority train on and for.

Ultimately, until costs are reduced and more local races appear on the calendar, I think most amateurs will continue to enter sportives, where the chances of a crash (forcing them off work) is much smaller but the event still provides an opportunity to ride their pride and joy.

MiddleRinger

Because I simply like riding my bike. Yes I like to ride hard and fast, but I have zero interest in bunch road or crit racing and the stresses of actual testosterone fuelled racing (not to mention all the extra logistics involved). It has no appeal to me.

964Cup wrote:

It's really hard work.

^ And probably a bit of that too...

lettingthedaysgoby

Ultimately for me it comes down to the fact that competing against others plays no part whatsoever in why I ride a bike.

Moonbiker

Cx racing is alot more fun.

monkimark

I don't really understand why anyone would want to race, but then I tend to prefer solo cycling or riding with a couple of mates. I don't see the appeal of riding in a crowd.

imposter2.0

monkimark wrote:

I don't really understand why anyone would want to race,

Personally, I don't understand why anyone would *not* want to race. Each to their own.

monkimark

Imposter wrote:

Each to their own.

Well yes, that was rather my point.

aberdeen_lune

£15-20 for a race is not expensive. Most races are not put on for profit. The organiser and helpers are mostly giving their time for nothing.

I could understand if you guys were complaining about £70 Sportives.

Racing can be great fun. If your fit enough to get into breaks or pushing things on the front then it’s a real buzz. If your just hanging on to the bunch it may not be so much fun but some folk get a sense of achievement out of not getting dropped. I’d encourage folk to give it a go to see if they like it. It’s not for everyone admittedly.

barongreenback

Why do so many runners not race? I see all these people jogging around on footpaths when they could be running against each other!

craker

I enter running races but have never seriously considered cycle racing.

Strikes me that in a running event your aim is to get the best time you can. The people in front of you and behind you are suffering with you and that makes for great camaraderie. In most events I finish in about 150% of the winner's time - I'll never be competitive.

Road racing is about beating the guy in front of you. A different buzz?

TBH this is why I never really got Tri - each event is different so pb hunting doesn't seem appropriate and you're never actually racing against anyone.

ugo.santalucia

pastryboy wrote:

Given the number of 'keen' cyclists who put a lot of time and money into the hobby, why do you think so few people give racing a try?

I'm thinking crit/road racing in the main. I know last year a lot of races in my area struggled to muster enough entries.

Fear of crashing, fear of getting dropped, time/cost of getting to races, simply not interested?

Possibly because they realise that at 45 they won't make it in the PRO tour and they will be confined to race at Hillingdon circuit, which is a dump?

imposter2.0

craker wrote:

Strikes me that in a running event your aim is to get the best time you can.

If it's a 'race' then the objective will be the same as a cycle race - ie to cross the line first. If it isn't a race, then it's a 'fun run' - for which a sportive would be the cycling equivalent..