New to Racing

[ik2280]

So, I'm looking to try my hand at racing. I'm a student in New York City, but I'd prefer to race in general races (like the ones in Central Park, maybe?), not college ones. I've been told that I should check out the Century Road Club Association's website. It tells me that I need to buy a license, but one of those options is for college students, though I have a feeling that it's only for students who plan to race in college-specific races with their school's team.

Could a fellow New Yorker point me in the right direction as to where I should start? Don't have any experience racing, so I should probably take a class, or something like that.

(Also, if there's a thread like this already, I apologize, I couldn't find it.)

Thanks!

Ike

[ultraman6970]

Was going to say something but don't want to bring the kid down.

How old are you?

[EDS]

Join CRCA. Get a cat 5 license and get started. That easy. You will need to marshall before doing a CRCA (club rules) race but can do spring series races (these are not part of CRCA). Plenty of college and high schoolers racing so you won't be alone in that regard plenty of old dudes like me too though.

Let me know if you need more info.

[christian]

Join CRCA and do the park races. Alternately, find someone going to Bethel the next five weeks and car pool with them.

[RedRider]

Agreed. Join the CRCA this year, do some races, and then look to join one of their subteams for next season. They have a few really good Cat 5/4 development teams.
They also have a junior development program which would probably be available to you as a student.
Next Sunday, go to the Grant's Tomb race as a spectator and see all of the teams. https://www.bikereg.com/Net/22497
Have fun!

[Wesley37]

Alternately, find someone going to Bethel the next five weeks and car pool with them.

This. Seriously, if I did not have two little munchkins at home, I would be going down for the clinics they offer (prolly a 7-8 hour drive from my corner of the Great White North). As a starting racer, this is probably the best introduction to racing you can get in your region.

http://bethelspringseries.com/clinics-2

[kgreene10]

I strongly suggest doing a lot of pack riding on group rides before you try racing.

If you have already done that, great. If not, it's essential to be comfortable in a group setting, learning to follow a wheel without overlap, getting used to the decelerations, becoming comfortable with close quarters and small bumps to your shoulders, hips, and bars.

In my personal experience, many of the crashes in Cat 4 and 5 races come from over-reactions to small disturbances that otherwise wouldn't cause crashes.

And welcome to the racing ranks. If you like it, you will love it. For me, it's awesome fun and like nothing else.

[ik2280]

Was going to say something but don't want to bring the kid down.

How old are you?

I might be reading this wrong, but if I'm not, what's with the attitude? I'm twenty years old. Is that too young? Too old? I don't get it.

Thanks for all the advice, everyone. I'm going to look into the CRCA stuff more tonight. I didn't word it very well, but I was just curious if I should sign up for an adult license or a junior or collegiate license, because I am a college student, but I won't be racing in college races. I'll also look into Bethel, sounds pretty cool!

I ride in large groups fairly often, so I know a bit, but I could definitely use a bit more practice, though.

Ike

[thegunner]

Why not ride collegiates? Way more fun than the cp races from my experience...

[christian]

Why not ride collegiates? Way more fun than the cp races from my experience...yeah, collegiates were fun...

[Hindmost]

When I started I was fortunate to find:

A weekend group ride with the right balance of going hard and enjoying riding with each other.

Race clubs that welcomed newcomers and provided a lot of practice opportunities.

An experienced rider who took the time and was willing show me the basics.

If you can find any of these, go for it.

[ANAO]

CRCA's a good option if you want to race on Saturdays. If not, Sunday races are also held in Central Park or Prospect Park for the duration of Bethel. I raced there yesterday:

http://iamelicurtfuld.wordpress.com/2014/03/03/ronde-de-bethel-3214/

[William]

Why not ride collegiates? Way more fun than the cp races from my experience...

Agree 100%

If you can, I would suggest going this route. I already had good bike handling skills when I started with my college team, but not a lot of tight pack riding. I learned a lot from my teammates on training rides and through clinics the team held. By the time racing season started I was already comfortable in pace lines, pack riding, and group sprinting. Most collegiate teams do a good job of bringing riders up and preparing them to race.

Just my $.02:)






William

[sandyrs]

As a recent college grad with a couple years of ECCC racing under my belt I would also suggest doing some collegiate racing if the transportation is possible. The closest race to you (Stevens) is this weekend I think!

ECCC racing is not only a good way to ease into the sport, organized by people who understand that the racers are of varying experience levels- it's also probably the most fun I had during college. And I had my fair share of fun during school.

[EchelonLeft]

Race the college races also. There's great camaraderie to be made, and you can learn more tactics if everyone on your team is working for places rather than $.

[R2D2]

How much have you ridden?
Can you do a sub 5 hour century?

[djg]

Have you been in contact with your college team? Many teams are pretty flexible about beginning racers and can provide some good support, from training rides to equipment deals to race support. Depending on who they are, they might offer a supportive atmosphere and, frankly, ask for less of a commitment than you might associate with varsity sports.

[ik2280]

Thanks for all the responses, guys! On your advice, I've decided to get started with my college team, so I'll be racing for Columbia at Stevens on Saturday! Very excited, should be a good time.

[Not the Slowest]

Columbia has a decent good program as far as local colleges go.
The big advantage in CRCA is the FREE coaching in Central Park. You could contact/ask on their FB page any questions.

The key is finding a program/team that will improve your ability not just keep you busy.

Good Luck

Robert

[thegunner]

Thanks for all the responses, guys! On your advice, I've decided to get started with my college team, so I'll be racing for Columbia at Stevens on Saturday! Very excited, should be a good time.

as a former columbia alum, if you ever want to do some laps in the morning or at night :) pm me and we can chat

[sandyrs]

Thanks for all the responses, guys! On your advice, I've decided to get started with my college team, so I'll be racing for Columbia at Stevens on Saturday! Very excited, should be a good time.

Awesome, you guys have a nice kit too. :banana:

[R2D2]

Thanks for all the responses, guys! On your advice, I've decided to get started with my college team, so I'll be racing for Columbia at Stevens on Saturday! Very excited, should be a good time.

Go man go!

[carpediemracing]

CRCA's a good option if you want to race on Saturdays. If not, Sunday races are also held in Central Park or Prospect Park for the duration of Bethel. I raced there yesterday:

http://iamelicurtfuld.wordpress.com/2014/03/03/ronde-de-bethel-3214/

I was wondering who that was. You raced really strongly, not afraid to be out in the wind.

Normally the breaks work in the early Bethel races because there's such a disparity in fitness between the haves and have-nots. As the Series progresses the overall fitness levels increase until it's a single file race on the last week.

Good race, hope to see you out there again.

cdr aka promoter of bethel aka one of the pack fill in your race

[ANAO]

I was wondering who that was. You raced really strongly, not afraid to be out in the wind.

Normally the breaks work in the early Bethel races because there's such a disparity in fitness between the haves and have-nots. As the Series progresses the overall fitness levels increase until it's a single file race on the last week.

Good race, hope to see you out there again.

cdr aka promoter of bethel aka one of the pack fill in your race

Is this you?

http://www.yehudahperlowitz.com/Bethel-Spring-Series-2014/i-9TmctB8/6/XL/QB3A9045-XL.jpg

[carpediemracing]

Is this you?

http://www.yehudahperlowitz.com/Bethel-Spring-Series-2014/i-9TmctB8/6/XL/QB3A9045-XL.jpg

Me.

Finally a picture of the bike that doesn't make it look crazy. I think I need a tighter jacket too. Heh.

[ANAO]

Me.

Finally a picture of the bike that doesn't make it look crazy. I think I need a tighter jacket too. Heh.

If that's a spooky (which it looks like) then we had 2 in our race. Did you notice?

[shovelhd]

Full custom Tsunami.

I am one of the coaches at the Bethel clinics. This year they are being run by CCNS, an organization dedicated to developing young riders. If you have any questions about Bethel, ask CDR or me, we can help. About yesterdays races, it was &^%$)(* cold, fitness was all over the map, and the times were slow.

One thing about racing collegiate is that you may have the opportunity to use a coach for the price of your club fee. If you have a chance to work with a good coach that knows the sport, you should. It's not super important in the beginning, but once you discover your strengths and weaknesses, a coach can be of tremendous help. Plus, racing collegiate doesn't preclude you from racing USAC. A lot of collegiate races have open races as well, allowing you to race twice in a single day. It's hard to do that in Cat5 USAC races.

[carpediemracing]

I was dying in that race and in fact cramped going into the sprint. I had a long few days before the race so that's my excuse.

As far as the frame this is a distorted helmet cam picture of it:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cc5W7KwL0tI/UrUExnguIfI/AAAAAAAAFxw/PeDHcJOID8o/s800/20131220_TroubleCreek-Bike.jpg

This is a less distorted picture after I painted the stem:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_6R9Nd_UIHk/Uu6nFUaL2_I/AAAAAAAAF3Y/vU6LZ-Jqav4/s800/DSC_0174.JPG

I had the frame set up for a regular 120mm stem with old crit bars. The compacts required me to get 3 cm more reach and 3 cm more drop. The stem is 2.5 cm longer and 3 cm lower, putting the drops in essentially the same spot as before. Very comfy, very nice.

To echo Shovel we're both committed to the Bethel races. To be more precise we're both committed to the sport of bike racing and growing the road racing aspect of it (we seem to be crit guys more than RR guys). He's a huge supporter in terms of time/energy/commitment but he has no ulterior motives in talking up the race. He doesn't get paid, he doesn't get anything out of helping with the race and he makes a huge time commitment to get to the clinic early enough.

I try to make money with it (unsuccessfully in 2013) so my thoughts on the race need to be taken with a grain of salt since if you pay to race at Bethel you're paying me to hold it. carpediemracing = Carpe Diem Racing = the club name that I nominated in the fall of 1988 = the now-transformed entity that promotes Bethel and does event services for other races. Been running the race for over 20 years. I thought this was #22 but the official claims that it's #23. I honestly don't know.