Cycling Competitively

Quoted message said:

If I wanted to start cycling competitively, what would be the best way
of going about this.

See

www.bcf.uk.com for the web site of British Cycling

and

www.ctt.org.uk for the web site of Cycling Time Trials

Both have links to find out about clubs in any given area in GB.

Cheers, helen s

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dannyfrankszzz said:

If I wanted to start cycling competitively, what would be the best way
of going about this.

Step 1, what sort of competition do you have in mind? Track, TT, road
racing, MTB XC, MTB downhill, HPV?

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

dannyfrankszzz said:

If I wanted to start cycling competitively, what would be the best way
of going about this. I've decided that the best way of getting
practice and getting competition fit is to compete.

I heard something about a road race competition where participants gain
points over a season.

First join your local club (see www.britishcycling.org.uk and "Find a
club"😉.

If you want to time trial, any decent club will have weekly 10 mile
event during the season (now over for evening TTs in most places due to
lack of daylight).

If you want to road race you need to cough up £30 for a British Cycling
licence, and you can only enter races taking "4th category" riders until
you start winning things and accumulating points.

My advice would be to ride socially with the club this winter, train
hard on your own and think about getting a licence in 2005.

Peter Clinch [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

Step 1, what sort of competition do you have in mind? Track, TT, road
racing, MTB XC, MTB downhill, HPV?

All of them obviously. Anything less shows a lack of commitment! :-)

Jon

Zog The Undeniable said:

If you want to road race you need to cough up £30 for a British Cycling
licence, and you can only enter races taking "4th category" riders until
you start winning things and accumulating points.

I'm considering this myself - I like the Audax stuff but I do have a bit
of a competitive streak.

I know at the lower levels of cycling that a lot of people continue to
compete well into their 40s and even beyond, but is there much precedent
for people starting in competitive cycling when they are already into
their 30s?

And what kind of level do you need to be at to get points in a cat 4
road race?

d.

davek <[email hidden]> wrote:

: And what kind of level do you need to be at to get points in a cat 4
: road race?

I've never managed it 🙁

The only way to see is to try it. People do take up racing in their
30/40s and do well.

Join a local race club and see how it goes.

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org
"Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

On Thu, 02 Sep 2004 18:16:44 +0100, davek <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I know at the lower levels of cycling that a lot of people continue to
compete well into their 40s and even beyond, but is there much precedent
for people starting in competitive cycling when they are already into
their 30s?

Why not indeed .......... after a brief schoolboy spell ( about 2
years) until the girls came along :-) I started in my early 30's, and
raced for about 8 years (mainly TT's) I was a bit of a 'natural', not
being big headed, but by that I mean size, shape weight .. for a
cyclist ... found it easier than most of my mates (to thier annoyance)
to train and race, and if I had had more money (mortgage, 2 kids,
wife, car, long working hours etc etc) I might have 'moved on' to
better things ..............

Did quite a few sub hour 25's, with a PB of 57 mins (53 on a tandem0
when it all sort of stopped (hence I might have 'moved on'😉

Now at 54, I gonna start again ............ OK I've got 15kg to lose,
but the legs and lungs are still there, and I have the experience to
train again, and I am not aiming to set the world alight, but another
sub hour is a nice goal, and if it's not to be, it's not to be ..... I
still aim to enjoy it though ..... and lose a bit of ballast
.............

Go for it guys !!

Oh just one thing ............ you gotta like pain :-)

Jack Ouzzi said:

Go for it guys !!

Thank you for your inspirational comments. 🙂

Quoted message said:

Oh just one thing ............ you gotta like pain :-)

Getting towards the end of the Surrey Hills ride the other week, I was
in /serious/ pain and just wanted to find a nice ditch to lie down in
and die, but as soon as I crossed the finish line I wanted to get out
and do it all over again. Does that count?

d.

Yea, hearing your comments I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes you wonder what on earth you're doing pedalling around like a madman all the time.

Anyway, I reckon a sub hour 25m TT is within my grasp.

dannyfrankszzz said:

Yea, hearing your comments I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes you
wonder what on earth you're doing pedalling around like a madman all
the time.

Anyway, I reckon a sub hour 25m TT is within my grasp.

Yep ...... I reckon you have too ............ both you and davek seem
to have the seeds in your heads, so off you go...

And dave .......... I have done a couple of Audax rides as well, once
did a 300k ............ (pre racing days) and wished that I was dead
!!!

What a silly stupid distance to ride a bike all in one go (well you
know what I mean) ...now that WAS pain.....!!

Na I'll stick to the shorter distances .............. except for
touring which is a different ball game.

Good luck!

dannyfrankszzz said:

If I wanted to start cycling competitively, what would be the best way
of going about this.

When we first did this, we entered a few open time trials. But I
wouldn't really advise it, they are very boring. When we took up MTBing
things got much more fun!

James
--
If I have seen further than others, it is
by treading on the toes of giants.
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/julesandjames/home/

"Jack Ouzzi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

dannyfrankszzz said:

Yea, hearing your comments I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes you
wonder what on earth you're doing pedalling around like a madman all
the time.

Anyway, I reckon a sub hour 25m TT is within my grasp.

Yep ...... I reckon you have too ............ both you and davek seem
to have the seeds in your heads, so off you go...

And dave .......... I have done a couple of Audax rides as well, once
did a 300k ............ (pre racing days) and wished that I was dead
!!!

What a silly stupid distance to ride a bike all in one go (well you
know what I mean) ...now that WAS pain.....!!

Na I'll stick to the shorter distances .............. except for
touring which is a different ball game.

Good luck!

Horses for courses; I can ride all day (and night if required) just not
fast. TT's destroyed my enjoyment of cycling, audax has restored it,
although it's not everyones cup of tea.

in message <[email hidden]>, Jack Ouzzi

(') said:

dannyfrankszzz said:

Yea, hearing your comments I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes
you wonder what on earth you're doing pedalling around like a madman
all the time.

Anyway, I reckon a sub hour 25m TT is within my grasp.

Yep ...... I reckon you have too ............ both you and davek seem
to have the seeds in your heads, so off you go...

Curiously, I seem to have committed myself to doing a time trial this
week. Very strange. Oh well, someone has to be last...

Quoted message said:

And dave .......... I have done a couple of Audax rides as well, once
did a 300k ............ (pre racing days) and wished that I was dead

Now that I do have an ambition to do.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; in faecibus sapiens rheum propagabit

"Simon Brooke" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Jack Ouzzi

(') said:

dannyfrankszzz said:

Yea, hearing your comments I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes
you wonder what on earth you're doing pedalling around like a madman
all the time.

Anyway, I reckon a sub hour 25m TT is within my grasp.

Yep ...... I reckon you have too ............ both you and davek seem
to have the seeds in your heads, so off you go...

Curiously, I seem to have committed myself to doing a time trial this
week. Very strange. Oh well, someone has to be last...

That's not so bad, it's more the shame of having you time written up on the
board (with a minus in my case for your Vet Standard, and even written in
red ink if they are feeling really mean) ;-(

On Sat, 4 Sep 2004 08:40:18 +0100, "MartinM" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

"Jack Ouzzi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Sat, 4 Sep 2004 07:18:53 +1000, dannyfrankszzz
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Na I'll stick to the shorter distances .............. except for
touring which is a different ball game.

Good luck!

Horses for courses; I can ride all day (and night if required) just not
fast. TT's destroyed my enjoyment of cycling, audax has restored it,
although it's not everyones cup of tea.

Yes exactly right ........ time trials suited me because they were
over and done with, kept me fit, plus I was able to get back to the
jobs the wife had waiting for me. :-|

Touring suited me, because I could do what I wanted to, when I wanted
to, how I wanted to ...............

Audax was fine but just really not my cup of tea ............

When you stop ENJOYING cycling at whatever level, then you may as well
hang yer bike up!!

Jack Ouzzi said:

Yep ...... I reckon you have too ............ both you and davek seem
to have the seeds in your heads, so off you go...

Cheers for the encouragement. I just checked up on the BCF website for a
local racing club and the nearest one to me appears to be run by an old
school chum - there's kismet for you.

Quoted message said:

What a silly stupid distance to ride a bike all in one go (well you
know what I mean) ...now that WAS pain.....!!

I've yet to get into the kind of distances done by serious AUKers so I
can't really comment. When I did my 250km earlier this year I just took
it nice and easy - didn't finish first ("it's not a race!"😉 but came in
well within the time limits and though I was very tired and very
hungry[1] by the end, I wasn't suffering from anything you'd call "pain"
- not even in the saddle department (thanks to my B17-shaped bum). Hard
riding over short distances... now that is painful.

d.

1. amazingly hungry, despite stopping en route for a hearty lunch /and/
taking full advantage of the superb catering laid on by the organisers.

James Annan said:

dannyfrankszzz said:

If I wanted to start cycling competitively, what would be the best way
of going about this.

When we first did this, we entered a few open time trials. But I
wouldn't really advise it, they are very boring. When we took up MTBing
things got much more fun!

Horses for courses. Some people find TT'ing boring, other
people find that all the jumps and bumps of MTB'ing
stop you getting a nice pedaling rhythm going.

There's no "right answer"; enjoyment is a personal thing.

BugBear

Quoted message said:

Horses for courses. Some people find TT'ing boring, other
people find that all the jumps and bumps of MTB'ing
stop you getting a nice pedaling rhythm going.

There's no "right answer"; enjoyment is a personal thing.

BugBear

Indeedy. For example, offspring Nathan is very, very keen on his time
trialling, wants to start road races next season and do more track cycling. he
has absolutely no interest whatsoever in doing any off-road stuff. He's seen
cyclocross & MTB events, but he has no desire at all in participating in them.
He's a roadie through & through ;-)

Cheers, helen s

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h*$el*$$e*nd**$o$ts**i*$*$m*m$o*n*s@$*a$o*l.c**$om$

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in message <[email hidden]>,

dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers (') said:

Quoted message said:

Horses for courses. Some people find TT'ing boring, other
people find that all the jumps and bumps of MTB'ing
stop you getting a nice pedaling rhythm going.

There's no "right answer"; enjoyment is a personal thing.

BugBear

Indeedy. For example, offspring Nathan is very, very keen on his time
trialling, wants to start road races next season and do more track
cycling. he has absolutely no interest whatsoever in doing any
off-road stuff. He's seen cyclocross & MTB events, but he has no
desire at all in participating in them. He's a roadie through &
through ;-)

Well, you're right of course that different things suit different folks.
But of course someone living in Norfolk isn't interested in mountain
bikes. I am not making slighting reference to your beloved county.
There isn't much good camel racing to be had here in Galloway, and
we're a bit short of snow for ski-jumping ever to become popular
locally.

And you, frankly, are a bit short of mountains and rocks. This isn't an
insult either to you or to where you live. If someone were to buy one
of the kids round here a snow board you wouldn't expect them to be
hugely excited. There's nowhere to use it. Similarly, where is Nathan
going to use a mountain bike?

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; MS Windows: A thirty-two bit extension ... to a sixteen bit
;; patch to an eight bit operating system originally coded for a
;; four bit microprocessor and sold by a two-bit company that
;; can't stand one bit of competition -- anonymous