"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - begginer

hey, im new to road biking and id like to do some races this spring. anyone kno wut kind of races i should enter in? I have been runnign cross country 6 days a week(50-60 miles/week) and biking 2 days a week cuz i dont have time so i hit 50 to 80 miles a week. In the winter i'm joining a club and riding as much as i can(hopefully everyday and 200 + miles/week). I'm pretty serious about racing, i really want to get into it. any reccomendations?

Search the forums. There have been many discussions about beginning racing.

Overall, though. Try a variety of races.

You are doing the right thing by joining a club. You need to learn group riding skills. Bicycle racing is nothing like a running race. In a bike race you are part of a group riding very fast at close quarters. If you make a mistake while running you may fall and skin your knee. If you make a mistake racing in a group at 23-26 mph you can take down several riders and cause serious injury and property damage. You have a responsibility to learn the ropes. Then go have fun!

work on your spin if it's under 90 to 110 rpm, in a sprint a LOT faster

ride quicker
Pat

Very easy.

Join a local racing club. Make sure they are into racing so you find out events and such.

You will also need to get a racing liscence. USCF is best now as it is more widely used but there are other organizations in different areas in the USA.

That is it!

Joining a club is best. One here in Indy hosts weekly races, practice sessions that, for someone interested in racing, they can get a feel for the speed and style needed to be reasonably competitive (they do small primes and if you get dropped, you can wait for the pack to come back to you and jump on again...it give you a good guage for where you are). You might see if any clubs do that near you. In this deal, you don't need to be a member of their club to get in the race. Also, riding by yourself all the time deludes you into thinking you are in reasonably good racing shape. One of the best ways to get in racing shape, is to practice racing and to do workouts (intervals, things like that) with others. You get competition that way.

To check if your speed is good, you might want to try a few time trials first. TT's are safer, too.

Some crits offer "public" races, where you can go as an indivudual and race...if you've never tried it, this is an "anonymous" way to see how competitive you are...

JMO..

Running does absolutely nothing for cycling...the cardio vascular is totally different as well as the muscle groups, which are also totally different. My suggestion is to get on your bike and get as much training as possible, getting comfortable on your bike. Then try a Crit. Which is a shorter race around a set course, probably something similar to a cross country race. Then when your endurance is strong enough try a road race and good luck on the upcoming season. All the power to you.
Sean