"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Unattached in central Ohio?

Ok for those of you who are/aren't on a team in the central Ohio area, or anywhere for that matter, I'm curious what you're looking for in a team? Have you just not been approached about joining a team or do you not care to be on a team? As someone who's working on starting a new development team in the area, I'd like to know what appeals to you?

To me priorities on a team should be:
- Active members (attend team rides & meetings)
- Good teammates (friends off the bike as well as on)
- Community Advocates (participate in races as well as charity tours)

Anything past that is gravy, but without those 3 components, it's a waste of time in my opinion.

Your thoughts?

What do you mean by development team?

Is it a junior's development team, women's development team, an espoir/U19/U23 team, a "we take Cat 3's and make them into Cat 1's by season's end" type team, a pro development team consisting of Cat1's looking to make a name for themselves...?

What do you mean by development team?

Is it a junior's development team, women's development team, an espoir/U19/U23 team, a "we take Cat 3's and make them into Cat 1's by season's end" type team, a pro development team consisting of Cat1's looking to make a name for themselves...?

Maybe "development team" wasn't the correct term...I see where you're coming from, but what I mean is a development team as in a team that is for the general growth of the sport. In particular, starting with the lower categories and "developing" the team as a whole. I'm currently a 4, have a family, a full-time job, etc... so upgrading past a 4 is going to be tough personally, but I'd love to have a team that's built on people with the same type of background that are starting out and learning how to race and ideally grow in the sport together. Am I looking for it to become a bunch of elite racers? Sure, if they'll stick around long enough to grow our team. Is doing that a neccessity to think our team is successful? Absolutely not. Is having a team that's competitive from week to week (regardless of category), rides well together, and has fun pushing each other to think of the team as successful? Absolutely.

Make sense?

Ok for those of you who are/aren't on a team in the central Ohio area, or anywhere for that matter, I'm curious what you're looking for in a team? Have you just not been approached about joining a team or do you not care to be on a team? As someone who's working on starting a new development team in the area, I'd like to know what appeals to you?

To me priorities on a team should be:
- Active members (attend team rides & meetings)
- Good teammates (friends off the bike as well as on)
- Community Advocates (participate in races as well as charity tours)

Anything past that is gravy, but without those 3 components, it's a waste of time in my opinion.

Your thoughts?

well, i'm currently in mid-ohio. i'm not on a team. i'm not really looking for one. i joined one a few years ago, but it just didn't work out. nice people, i guess, but i just wasn't around enough to see 'em or do much of anything with the group. i have a strange work schedule that makes it difficult to do any type of regular group thing, and when i'm home, it's easier to go for my rides around noon than it is to wait until after work hours to get some riding in. plus almost all my rides are training of some sort that i find easier to accomplish on my own. and because my riding is during normal work hours, i never see other riders, and have therefore never been approached to join a club. i'm certainly not against it in any way; heck, i really like the idea of getting in a group ride once a week, just to work on my pack and paceline skills. it just doesn't fit my schedule

I am in Central Ohio also. I have been looking to try my hand at racing and maybe join a team, but I have the same issues as you Ghost; a full time job (with extensive travel), kids wife, etc etc. My training tends to be at very random times. Maybe in the morning, lunch hour or late in the evening. Some of the teams that I have talked to tend to want to have group rides two or three times a week. That is just not possible for me. One day a week and a race on the weekend would about all I could do.

I am going to the criterium training series tonight up at OSU campus. I will probably see if there are any new teams that are willing to take on some new people to teach the ropes to.

nivek - You have a PM, but you're exactly the type of rider I'm looking for. I don't want the people that all they have to do in life is ride their bikes. I'd like to find those that have the "normal" challenges of life in addition to enjoy cycling (read that as racing, touring, etc...). I think that if we're from the same boat, we'll all understand each other a lot more and be able to relate a lot more to the challenges of trying to stay competitive in cycling and stay in our lives outside of cycling. In the end making us a more cohesive group.

Looking forward to talking to you further.

TheGhost

My team International Bike Pro Shop had no race requirements for the year which rocks as I have kids. Only req. that that I buy at cost a jersey and bibs.
My end of deal is that I work for teamates and or win or try to win. My main training partner is also a teamate and lives 8 blocks from me so it works out well.
Benefits at the shop are numerous after you get some races in.