hubcyclist

Summer of 2013, I was 205lbs and had just moved somewhere with a bike path nearby. Got out my cheapo mongoose mtn bike I bought in college and hated riding it. But I rode it to prove to my wife I'd stick with it to justify a new bike. Got a hybrid in October 2013 and rode outside and on the trainer. January 2014, a coworker offered me his old Raleigh road bike for $100 and I jumped on it. Basically spent 2014 riding lots and focused on doing centuries (oh and I lost 50lbs by March 2014). Decided that was a fun challenge but wanted to train for something new, and signed up to race in October 2014. Didn't finish last lol but had a blast. Spent this past winter with trainerroad and am definitely in a lot better shape (260w FTP ewang lol) but still stink at operating in a race, but no matter, I'll keep getting out there and learning as i go and do stuff like group rides to not to dumb stuff to get dropped. I've done two road races this month and I finished 56/75 and 56/72, not great but a good start. I ride a 20 year old bike but I can out ride at least a few folks with newer and "better" bikes. That's my story! Keep at it, it's fun even when losing!

caloso

I've said this many times before, but I think it bears repeating:

Normal people have no idea how much work it takes to be a mediocre bike racer.

rideaz

word!

tetonrider

i say that, too, but when i explain that 'mediocre bike racer' is the equivalent of 'beer league softball' people get SO upset.

Ygduf

softball players are super sensitive. what did you expect

abhirama

couldn't agree more.

aaronmcd

How I got into this masochistic sport:After deciding tri wasn't my thing when 2 years of swim training got me barely under a 2 minute hundred, and spartan race just didnt seem legit, and hey what the hell I've been commuting for a few years by bike, I entered a crit after posting here. Took 6th and thought it was easy... little did I know. Entered a road race with a 5' climb each lap (2 laps), got dropped on the climb (and I thought I was a climber in the meetup rides lol). Chased for miles, caught on, dropped again on the climb. Crashed in my next crit, rode scared and got dropped in the next crit. Finally won a training crit, upgraded, did like 50 races last year as a cat 4 and couldn't get upgrade points. This year something clicked, got my cat 3 upgrade in first handful of races. Just in time for the stage race I was targeting, then got mid pack. A few months go by, I scrounge up 16 points. I race today and suck horrendously. It'll get better, as it always does. It'll just take some time. Tough sport but stupidly fun and addicting.

dz_nuzz

I sort of came in on the other end of the spectrum and moved up through the ranks quickly. Interestingly I didn't really like racing when I started. I had friend that sort of cajoled me into it. The first year I did maybe like 7 races, I upgraded after maybe 4 races as a 5 and did a few training crits as a 4.

It took me a long time to actually begin to "Look forward to" a race. Races were always nerve wracking for me, the fear of not doing well, wanting to win, etc. This is my 4th season and only now have I realized that racing is just awesome. I find myself missing the feeling of a race now, beating friends in group rides and doing super long "epic" rides just don't have the same feeling as a race.

Racing is definitely something that becomes addicting, especially if (as other have said before) you have a competitive drive. The desire to do better will make you train more, spend more money on gear, or even sit on a trainer before your CAT5 race. Just ask yourself if you like the idea of the competitive atmosphere, it can be brutal at times but it is such a driving force for many things in life and bike racing is certainly a good outlet for it.

Ah yes: Welcome to Le cult

save10

i like this quote.

wens

There's also a funny upside down bell curve tend on equipment costs. Seems like the top of the cat 3's, most cat 2's, and 1's on the bottom end of sponsorship tend to ride less expensive stuff in my expensive. The guys who are spending lots of money and time racing and getting to races, but who aren't getting free bikes every year, lots of free clothing, etc. blow their cash on gas and entries rather than zipps and new bikes every year or two. Whereas guys who maybe do a few local races a year spend hundreds or thousands less on travel and entries, so that money can go into new bikes or wheels or such bling.

happybday29475

I got into it because I was fat and randomly picked bike racing as my method to lose weight. My arbitrary goal was that if, after several months of riding, and, in my first race, I didn't come in last place, then I was making progress toward losing weight and getting fit. In fact, I finished something like 3rd to last, so it was a success! And I realized that I had fun doing it, so here I am, still doing it, years later.

FYI, my experience is that it has taken my 8 years of various forms of competitive cycling before I won a cat 4 race. For the first 7 years, each and every race I entered was nothing more or less than a thorough ass-kicking. It takes a weird sort of person to like that, and to endure that, to come out on the other side. Speaking of which, the other side is still that every race is nothing more or less than an ass-kicking, except occasionally I get awarded a 6-pack of beer.

There is lots of great advice in the other responses. One thing that hasn't been addressed is that yes, I agree with you, bike racing has a problem being beginner-friendly. It completely isn't. There should be categories such that people like yourself can come out and not get shelled on the first hill.

Still, if you enjoyed the experience, welcome to the club: you're a bike racer.

caloso

Definitely.

topflightpro

Another thing to consider is that entry level rider and entry level racer are two different things. Guys can be extremely strong riders but have no experience racing. That is why everyone starts as a cat 5.

mattm

For me the path to racing was: bmx as a kid -> skateboard + bus (no car) after college -> bike + bus (hybrid) -> I saw the "Messenger World Championships" (it's a thing) in Seattle and bought a road bike.

From there I dabbled in "fixie" riding, a little bit of track racing. Saw a crit, wanted to give it a shot, but was also turned off by the whole "pro cat 5" thing. Plus I was scared. Bought a USAC license in 2008 but never used it.

Then diverged into centuries, double-centuries, and eventually randonneurring (think double-double centuries).

Then in 2009 I started actually focusing on the whole bike racing thing, and quit the silly long distance stuff. The longer stuff was fun but too much time, little reward, zero spectators.

Wesley36

That is the dream

Wesley36

For myself, bought a horrible BSO from Canadian Tire when I was 20 for transportation. My bike messenger roommate then helped me get a reasonable bike, rode lots, did a stint as a bike messanger myself. Then grad school, rode less, later when I became a stay-at-home parent, started riding more pulling my munchkin in the trailer.
Ottawa is a pretty great riding town, I got into the whole randonneuring thing. Thing is, with little ones at home it is difficult to get away for more than a 300km ride.
Started wrenching at a LBS around the corner from my son's school, which plunked me right into the middle of the Ottawa bike racing community. An hour riding a crit on a weeknight definitely fits my life situation better. Plus it is all sorts of adrenaline pumping fun, it is a blast going anaerobic over and over again, which is definitely not part of rando.
When I am retired, totally plan on getting back into the whole rando thing tho.

TobinH

Bike racing is a strange sport that way. I mean if you want to get into running, you can start doing local 10ks, and right away you can have fun and feel like you're a part of the sport. Same with beer-league softball, or hockey, or whatever. Bike racing is more like, you show up and have 25 guys line up to kick your head in. The amazing thing is that anyone comes back for seconds.

shovelhd

People are sick of this story but tough ****. In my first race I lapped the field solo. In my second race I lapped the field twice after dropping my break companion near the end. Some people just have it. The sooner you stop focusing on them and on yourself, the sooner you will get closer to results that are acceptable to you. Hey, you pinned on a number and raced. That's step one. Don't let one race be your only reference point. Give it another shot.

MoAlpha

I am a 59 year old guy who sucked back in the late 70s and 80s when he raced (and it was easier then) so my opinions are next to worthless, but you are getting some great advice here. The sport is amazingly hard. I was a stronger rider than runner--going in a straight line for an hour--but my running results are far better than my cycling record, because I never learned to corner, descend, keep gaps from opening, or do the other technical things well.

Hope you give it time and work your way to the front of that pack. On the other hand, if want a real challenge, try racing sailboats.

happybday29475

Lol..crying.

shovelhd, Greg lemond, Taylor phinney, gage Hecht.

notice that neither the OP nor I are in that list.

shovelhd

Fixed. This was at Boston's famous industrial park crit as a new Cat4.

revchuck 

I came at racing from a different circumstance. I started cycling at 56 because running no longer agreed with me. Started on a hybrid, soon switched to a road bike and became a serious recreational cyclist. I was able to keep with the best of those and had no problem finishing centuries. Had cyclosportives been available, I probably would've taken that direction...but they aren't. So I joined USAC and tried racing. Talk about going from a wading pool to the middle of the Pacific in a typhoon! I did my ten mass starts as a Cat 5 and upgraded at the end of last season. Now, as a Cat 4 M55+ guy, I line up next to former Olympians, guys with Stars and Stripes jerseys and Cat 2s who started racing when Nixon was President. I'll probably remain here at the bottom of the steep part of the learning curve, but seeing how far I have to go keeps me motivated. Winning isn't a realistic expectation, but continuous improvement is. And if some of those guys have a bad day...

Matt2.8NJ

I played hockey all my life, got a bike in 2009 only to ride with my wife, who is an excellent triathlete.

I made it rapidly from 5 -- > Cat 3 in a year, then had three kids in quick succession and stalled out. Young children are an anathema to successful racing Which is why I love Cat 3, the Ultimate Cat, because folks like me can be quite competitive on 4-5 hours a week training.

My advice is to not get hung up on equipment, but to get out and ride with other racers and listen and look carefully at what they do and don't do... and find out what works for you. Being polite ,friendly and demonstrating earnest interest will get your very far with bike racers.

BTW, you should keep the fun race reports coming.

aaronmcd

@AERO63 Are you sure you aren't me? I also was stuck in the 4s all last year. I also won a training crit in pre season. I also got all my points in about 5 races, also including a win in a real crit.

therhodeo

Imagine if every 5k run was set up where everyone who falls off of say 18 minute pace was slowly eliminated from back to front.