Originally Posted by
palisader
I'm 20 years old, and over the last year have really fell in love with cycling as well as being a bike mechanic. I have played sports my entire life, and am currently a D1 athlete. I have always been super competitive. But now, I want to do something new. I want to race bikes. Any advice?
I live in central North Carolina. I have tried to look for local crits, but none are road based (which is what I want to do). How do I find a race, or even a team to train with? I am pretty athletic, about 200lbs and highly muscular, and really want to find something to do with competitive cycling. Of course I have a ling ways to go, but it seems seriously fun to me.
Thanks!
Then you're horrible at looking. Herbalife and Dixie ran all summer long this year, probably 20 races total between the two series. Yearly Winston Salem host both the UCI pro race and the amateur crit downtown. Johnson City runs an omnium. There's usually a winter Ace Speedway crit series. They usually hold a crit the same weekend as NCSU or UNC host their road race. Either downtown Durham or at Dix park in Raleigh. Or the regional USAC TT champs down near Fayetteville yearly. You have to get over crits not being "road based". The Herbalife crit is in such a big industrial park that it's a lot better event than some crap 4-corner downtown crit with haybales in front of all the streetlights to keep you from dying. So, it isn't on a road but is better than a road crit.
Not to mention part of roadie life is doing cyclocross racing in the off season of which there have been at least 7 races this season just between Pittsboro and the park at Dix in Raleigh. State wide dozens per cross season. IMO folks ain't a roadie if they don't hone their skills at cross come fall.
Next up, I don't care how fast you are. You need to go ride with a slow paceline group first for a few months regularly to get the group skills honed. Not the Crankarm critical mass or the Raleigh Brewing segment hunting mess. A disciplined paceline group. Then move up to the faster group. Then move up to trying a race. Don't the d-bag that enters a crit after Zwifting all winter and wipes out half the field on the first lap sending them to the hospital.
I've seen some 200lb dudes at events, but haven't seen one on a podium. So there's that. I'd get that to a very Fillipo Ganna sized 180.
So, if I were you:
-lookup the Gyros, go ride their B-group rides for a few months, Tony can introduce himself and show you the basics of group riding. Tony is a great guy. He'll talk to you the first ride through the names of all the types of lines, for cruising or races. Show how they work and what to do. And watch you do it for whichever the group does that day.
-next up there are really two acceptable weeknight worlds in central NC.....the key to good practice and free to try things without getting dropped in a race you paid to do....the P-ride out of Carrboro and the Team Spoke Thurs Night Worlds out of Wake Forest. The ISO Sports ride in Cary is a cluster of weird combo of roadies and triathletes on tri bikes on the same ride and they fancy themselves a hammer ride. But it's not. The Raleigh Brewing a-group is a solid workout but is not a weeknight worlds. Nobody knows how to really rotate or work together and in town you can't run lights and stuff and die. I do the Spoke Worlds once a month and then do our "club run time trial" twice a month in Raleigh when it's daylight and warmer.
Most teams in the area take all skill levels, but do expect you to have the skills to enter races (and wear the sponsor's kit) by having the requisite bike handling skills to enter those races. So approach teams after doing lots of the other stuff up there first, and probably even trying a race or two first. They'll ask you lots of interview questions to see if you're teachable and will stick around.