Originally Posted by Hermes

Above are two locals that provided relevant advice. My suggestion is to wait until next season and start with the Early Bird Series and save yourself and your competitors some skin and broken bones. The series has been running for many years and offers new racers a venue to learn to race from experienced racers and credit for participation is given toward your Cat 4 upgrade. And even though you are not interested in joining a team, the teams show up and you can talk with them.

Starting in October are the Low Key Hill Climbs. http://lowkeyhillclimbs.com/2013/ These are not advertised as races per se but everyone takes them seriously and they are a fabulous way to work on hill climbing and threshold power.

The other venue is Hellyer Velodrome. We run beginner sessions every Saturday morning with rental bikes available. We require a minimum of 3 beginner sessions prior to racing. And we are running Monday evening sessions focused on teaching racers how to race. Both offer new racers an opportunity to train and learn to race at the track. Skills learned at the track carry over to the road. And we do not care what your average speed is or even if you have a long beard. Just show up with your pedals and helmet or bring your track bike. http://www.ridethetrack.com