Road Bike Racing - Junior getting into racing

With my first road bike, I am thinking about starting to get into road races. As a 16 year old, i know i will be racing in the Junior category, but thats the extent of my knowledge. How would i go about starting to race? Do i need to join a team or a club? If it helps, i am from Hunterdon County, NJ.

you don't need to, but i have learned a lot and improved my skills greatly by riding with more experienced riders. You do need to do some group rides before doing a road race or crit. It is essential to understand how to ride in a group in order to safely race. Check out your local bike shops for local clubs teams. Lots of local bike shops also have shop group rides where you could learn from. You need a race license, but at first, you can buy a one day license the day fo the race for like $5 extra. You also need to make sure that your bike meets rollout for junior races. Junior races have a certain gear limitation (26' rollout). you can change the gears on your bike or you can use a screwdriver to lock out the banned gears. Your local bike mechanic or someone in the bicycle mechanics forum can help you out with this.

You dont need a team, or a club because you can race unattached. For that all you need is a one day licence.

If you could get on a team, I definetly would. Teams offer coaching, support, and they also can help with logistics of racing.

A team will help you out alot as a junior. Many of the more experienced guys will offer advice and the team can probably pay registration fees etc. Don't plan on racing solely as a junior, get category experience. The tactics are much better and when you turn 18 you wont be stuck with a cat 5 license. The junior gears work out to a 53x14 max gear. The official thats enforcing it can help you out blocking out the 12 and 13 before the race and then you can figure it out after that.
I've been racing for a while now and am 16. I dont race as a junior, C3 rather. My team helps me out alot with coaching, and probably close to $1000 of support this year.

please PM me if you have any more questions.

zero, what type of racing do you do, crits or other?
i am also 16, but haven't raced yet.

With my first road bike, I am thinking about starting to get into road races. As a 16 year old, i know i will be racing in the Junior category, but thats the extent of my knowledge. How would i go about starting to race? Do i need to join a team or a club? If it helps, i am from Hunterdon County, NJ.

i just started too and am wondering the same thing i am also 16 and live in NJ(Somerset County) pm me if you have an aol screen name and we can chat a little bit

why is it that none of you other 16yr olds were here three months ago when i wanted to start????

i am still trying to find a good race that includes lots of hills and distance somewhere near or in washington state.

juniors are welcome at most clubs, and some really like to help you out. I know a few in NJ that really cater to juniors in terms of advice and costs. You can look at the clubs in NJ on the USCF or NJBA websites and choose from there or research each one near you for the best club for juniors.

If you want any more info, I'd be happy to share those particular clubs in NJ that I think do good things for juniors.

has anyone here ever done the mount baker hill climb in glacier washington?

Im not in the same area as you guys but I do whatever is around. I'm a fan of road races with lots of hills, but I have been getting better at crits. I'm a machine when it comes to TT's, but we dont have too many around here.

wow apparently 16 is the age to start. i'm 3 months late.

The best thing you could do is find a good club. It's so much more fun, and you'll progress rapidly. Go for it.

A team will help you out alot as a junior. Many of the more experienced guys will offer advice and the team can probably pay registration fees etc. Don't plan on racing solely as a junior, get category experience. The tactics are much better and when you turn 18 you wont be stuck with a cat 5 license. The junior gears work out to a 53x14 max gear. The official thats enforcing it can help you out blocking out the 12 and 13 before the race and then you can figure it out after that.
I've been racing for a while now and am 16. I dont race as a junior, C3 rather. My team helps me out alot with coaching, and probably close to $1000 of support this year.

please PM me if you have any more questions.

Actually the Jr. gears work our to 52x14 max, which is just under the 26' rollout. 53x14 makes no huge difference in protecting the knees, as is the motivation for limits, but is just a bit over the 26'.

O well, I have a 53 and pass with my 12 and 13 blocked out

if you're running 9 speed, you probablly jump straight to the 15 which passes rollout with the 53 gear. It was amazing at my races this weekend. Some guys were dead on the limit - like within a milimeter.

if you're running 9 speed, you probablly jump straight to the 15 which passes rollout with the 53 gear. It was amazing at my races this weekend. Some guys were dead on the limit - like within a milimeter.

I've seen a lot of that too. I've seen the official reroll one kids bike a couple times b/c it was so close.