Dont have many jerseys, faux pas to wear these in first race?
 

For a little background, I started cycling about 2 years ago and only got around to getting serious enough to wear bib shorts and jerseys in the past few months. With that said I dont have many jerseys, in fact, I only have 2 different ones. I want to test myself at a local cat5 crit but I dont want to be rude or pull a cycling faux pas. The two jerseys I own are imaged below:

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/9933/jers1.th.jpg
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/336...eyfront.th.jpg

I bought the Mash one because Im a fan and fixed gear riding is what got me into road cycling 2 years ago, I bought the Rapha one because it was/is on clearance and looks nice and clean.

Should I be worried about wearing these in my first crit? I full well know I have no affiliation with either team and I dont want to garner anything negative. Should I just go out and buy a blank jersey to avoid any possible problems?

It's actually not USAC legal to wear jersey's of teams you don't ride for. That said, I doubt anybody in Cat 5 will care. But, if those teams have a presence in your area, you never know.

No one in Cat V will care. And yes, it is technically illegal to wear. No team, no writing on clothing.

Pick up a performance one for like $25 just to be safe.

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=1110

No worries.

MASH and Rapha are not racing teams. No one pulled me from the field for wearing CSC bibs in my first crits.

Rapha Condor, however, is.

I wore the Irish National Jersey on Cyclocross nationals and nothing was said, I also wore the full Irish kit for the state champs and it was not a problem. I have worn pro kits in crash 5 crits as well-no-one cares, it's citizens race.

I wore Scott branded / logo knickers my first race... no one said a thing.

As others have said, you can't wear them, but if you do nobody will care...

i'd steer clear of wearing the rapha jersey in the first crit, but not because you aren't on a 'rapha team'

I wore this in my first race yesterday:

http://i11.ebayimg.com/02/i/001/2a/89/5195_1.JPG

People didn't seem to mind, so I think you'll be ok. Just attack a few times to make up for any doubters.

sounds like i started from a similar place as you dude... a) no one of consequence is really going to care what you're wearing, it's not a fashion show. b) i'd wear something you wouldn't be too bummed about throwing in the trash if you're involved in a wreck.

There's a bunch of yahoos who showed up to the first few cat3 races in Florida this season decked out in Rock Racing kits.

I don't think anyone will really care too much in a cat5 race.

I think it depends on the officials.

I've seen at a "C" training race (Greenbelt) the line ref make anyone wearing a team jersey that they obviously did not belong to (e.g., Discovery Channel when they were still a team), switch to a plain jersey.

I noticed a few of them (1 in the CAT 3 field, one in the 5's....) while I was at the Downtown Tampa Crit. I kept asking people if there was some sort of development team for RR based in Florida. Nobody knew anything about them, so I assumed they were just people who randomly bought the kits, not team members.

I've seen people in full US Postal kits, Discovery Kits and "Yellow Jerseys" in cat 5 races. They always ride Treks for some reason too.

Only time I've seen anyone pulled for this was my friend who was sporting a World Championship Jersey. (He didn't even realize what the jersey was just liked the colors).

That was an extreme example, and I think its highly unlikely to ever be an issue. But why add the possibilty of an anal retentive Official to your worry list for your first race?

I'd stick a plain T-Shirt in the car just in case.