How do I ..? Start road racing

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Written by: Tim Costello, 30 June 2008
Last updated: 9 February 2010

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Who should read this?

This article is intended for senior riders, that’s 16 and older, who are interested in trying road racing for the first time.

Am I ready to start racing?

To start racing you need to be reasonably fit and comfortable riding in close company with several riders. You can of course take the approach that I did – turn up never having seen a race before, having only ridden with a group of riders once, get dropped on every corner because I was hanging slightly off the back of the bunch and generally crash into the other riders. I don’t recommend it.

Southdown Velo’s Sunday runs provide a good opportunity to experience riding closely in a group, you can judge your fitness against the other riders and ask more experienced riders such as Shaun Smart or me (Tim Costello) for advice and whether they think you are fit enough.

Where can I race?

Most of the local road races are promoted by the Surrey League. They have a rule that 4th category riders, which is what you start off as, can only ride circuit races so that restricts you to Dunsfold park, (about 10 miles north of Petworth), Chertsey (near the junction of the M3 and M25) and Eelmore (between Aldershot and Fleet).

The same rule does not apply to races in South division which covers Hampshire, but nowadays most of their races are on circuits including the Mountbatten Centre (Portsmouth) and Thruxton motor racing circuit (near Andover).

The Mountbatten centre is used extensively throughout the year for racing and in the winter for training. It is really intended for track racing, being slightly banked and a third of a mile round, but it is now mostly used for road racing.
You can find out which races are on from the British Cycling online calendar. You will start off as a fourth category rider so you can only enter races for fourth category riders. You are probably interested in races in South division, which includes Hampshire, and South East division, which includes West Sussex and Surrey.

How do I enter and how much will it cost?

You will need a British Cycling licence to race in all but the LVRC veterans’ races (see below). You can either buy an annual one which will cost £66 or you can pay £10 for a day licence in addition to the entry fee. Some races are classified as “Go-Race” events which are intended for people new to racing. A day licence for these costs £5.

Your British Cycling licence covers you for third party public liability insurance for that event. If you take out an annual licence, and thus become a member of British Cycling, you are covered for third party and get legal advice and support.
Circuit races can normally be entered on the line as there is no limit to the number of riders. Some circuit events, like the Dunsfold Park Tuesday night series, can only be entered on the line.

It is usually best to enter races on the road in advance to guarantee yourself a ride as the number of riders is normally limited to 60. You need to complete a British Cycling entry form for road races apart from Surrey League events (see separate section about the Surrey League below). If you enter in advance the organiser will send you a program for the race a few days beforehand.
The entry fees will vary between £8 to £15. Usually you pay more if you enter on the line rather than in advance.
Other than the cost of getting to the race and your bike etc., there’s nothing else to pay.

Surrey League events

The Surrey League was created to promote grass roots racing. Despite its name, it now organises races in Surrey, West and East Sussex, Kent and London. It operates to British Cycling rules, but with its own variants:

• It publishes its own calendar of events. These should appear on the official British Cycling calendar but there is sometimes a time delay between them.
• They use their own entry form or you can enter online from their website.
• They don’t pay prize money at events. Riders are awarded points and these are converted into cash at the end of the year if you join the Surrey League.
• You don’t get any cash at the end of the year if you don’t join the Surrey League and they charge non-members more to enter races. It costs £20 per annum for seniors and £10 for ladies and juniors to join. If you are planning to ride four or more Surrey League events it’s normally worth joining.
• 4th category riders (that’s all beginners) can only ride on circuits.
• They don’t send you a program when you pre-enter. Check their website www.surreyleague.co.uk to see if they have you listed as a starter.

Although Southdown Velo is affilliated to the Surrey League you also have to join as an individual otherwise you don't get any prize money at the end of the year and it costs £5 more to enter each race.

You can now join online or use the traditional paper form which tells you where to send it.

LVRC veteran’s races

The LVRC (League of Veteran Racing Cyclists) exists to promote races for men and women of 40 years and over. The cost of membership and entries is kept deliberately low. It costs £16 to join per annum and races cost £6 to enter in advance (entry form) or £12 if you enter on the line. They will join you to the LVRC if you turn up at a race without being a member.

LVRC races tend to be safe because most of the riders are very experienced. The races are split into different age group and you can elect to ride with an older age group if you are not very fit. If you do this you will not be elligible for any prizes but you get to enjoy your race without getting dropped immediately.
If you look at the LVRC calendar you need to look for regions 9 (London and South East) and 10 (South West, which includes Hampshire).

When you join you need to send your membership form to the region 10 registrar (see handbook) or join online.