# Finding Beginner's Races



## gardenrunner (Jul 25, 2009)

Afternoon-

I was browsing the web lastnight for road races in my area. I had to widen the search to the whole state. Then, I had to widen the search to include several neighboring states as there seems to be a shortage (IMO) of road races open to beginners- especially women. What's the deal here? On any given weekend in the summer you can find a running race in the city(Chicago) of mostly any distance. Let's just say my search was very discouraging to someone that would like to start racing. How the heck do you track down races? I would really like to start racing so I can get my foot in the door and have some fun.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

Depending on the area, it's hard enough to find enough women to fill races, so sometimes Cat 4 Women are combined with Cat 5 Men. I've heard of some areas with very huge racing scenes to have beginner/open races, but this is often in an area where Cat 5 Men or Cat 4 women fill up. I think a lot of it is to encourage ALL racers and potential racers to race under USAC and get licensed. 

Any more, Cat 4 Women is a beginner's race and is about as "easy" as it gets. 

Racing is always a learning experience and we all get dropped on the first race. The swift slap of defeat will be plenty of motivation to train harder AND you'll meet and make connections. This will be your competition, but I'm sure they will be happy to go on rides with you and offer advice. 

If crits seem a bit too hectic, see if any clubs offer training crits. If the distance of a road race is a little long, perhaps look at building up your endurance before starting something like that. Time trials are perhaps somewhat boring, but can be a good way to gauge yourself against your competition.


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## gardenrunner (Jul 25, 2009)

*Thanks............*

Thanks, Spade. I was just shocked the race didn't have that cat- it's an international race series so to my assumption it wouldn't be difficult to fill up(being held in the Chicagoland area). I emailed support and they have no Cat 5 for woman at all, whatsoever. They did have 3/4 though. Obviously this series is more upper Cat/Pro oriented. Bummer. Chicago isn't as much of a race friendly area as say certain parts of Cali due to the weather, so I'm thinking pickings are going to be slim to none. There are definately races here, but they are all squished into the summer months. I'll always keep in mind what you mentioned about them pushing the women into the Cat 5 Men's field. I'll email the directors to see if that is a possibility. I'm just passionate about trying to start entering races. TT's do seem kind of boring, and crits scare the hell out of me. Fun to watch, but not my taste. Well, maybe not yet anyways


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

gardenrunner said:


> Thanks, Spade. I was just shocked the race didn't have that cat- it's an international race series so to my assumption it wouldn't be difficult to fill up(being held in the Chicagoland area). I emailed support and they have no Cat 5 for woman at all, whatsoever. They did have 3/4 though. Obviously this series is more upper Cat/Pro oriented. Bummer. Chicago isn't as much of a race friendly area as say certain parts of Cali due to the weather, so I'm thinking pickings are going to be slim to none. There are definately races here, but they are all squished into the summer months. I'll always keep in mind what you mentioned about them pushing the women into the Cat 5 Men's field. I'll email the directors to see if that is a possibility. I'm just passionate about trying to start entering races. TT's do seem kind of boring, and crits scare the hell out of me. Fun to watch, but not my taste. Well, maybe not yet anyways


Since I know next to nothing about racing in Chicago (ok, nothing), I'd highly suggest joining a local club, which generally gets you some form of club kit, discounts, and you meet up with lots of riders. You'll get a lot of useful training, riding, and race info from them. 

I would hope any sort of RR or TT had some sort of support or I would question the organization. I'd highly suggest sticking with sanctioned USAC races because there are certain rules in place for a reason. 

TTs are indeed on the boring side, but give yourself a benchmark for you to beat and you also get info on your competition. If someone puts several minutes on you, you'll know that you might not want to attack that rider. On the flip side, if you're confident that you can destroy a given rider, attack!!! If anything, time trialing gives you objective goals to set based on your fitness. RRs and crits are still based on fitness, but there are often many variables that can keep you off the podium that aren't based on how strong you are. For example, at my last RR, I was feeling good, but the pelaton split and I was simply too far back to cover the move at that particular moment. 

Crits may seem daunting at first, but can be quite fun. In a way, that's how the last 30 minutes of a road race are like. Local riders will be able to give you better info, but as long as the corners are nice and wide and the roads are well maintained and not wet, they're really not a big deal. Where I'm from, women 4, men 5, and juniors are often combined due to a small overall scene, but it's really no biggie. Some of the guys may be faster than you, but they're not your competition. Sometimes there will be a Women 4 race and a small field, which actually makes it a lot safer.


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## Keeping up with Junior (Feb 27, 2003)

*Rulebook*

One of my female teamates had troubles making the transition from Tri's (time trials) to racing. Fields were small and often the Women's category would combine all women 1-2-3-4 so the race was way too fast for a beginner. She would enter some men's Cat. 5 races and do okay in those. Good luck with your racing and your search for a race. Try looking at:

http://www.truesport.com/

Also take a peek at the rulebook it will answer some of your questions.

http://www.usacycling.org/forms/USAC_rulebook-1.pdf

1C10. Rider Categories
(a) All riders are assigned to one of the following categories with smaller numbers representing increasing rider proficiency and ability:
Road and Track: 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 for men and 4, 3, 2, and 1 for women.

1K2. Women may enter any men‟s race for which they are eligible by age, category, and any performance requirements. They may also enter categorized races for men that are up to one category lower than their women's category.



gardenrunner said:


> ...I was just shocked the race didn't have that cat- it's an international race series so to my assumption it wouldn't be difficult to fill up...


From your description I assume you are talking about SuperWeek. Probably about as close as you will come to a decent size women's Cat 3/4 field around the midwest.



gardenrunner said:


> ...I emailed support and they have no Cat 5 for woman at all, whatsoever...


That is because Cat 4 is the beginning category for women.



gardenrunner said:


> ...They did have 3/4 though...


I would imagine that is as close as you will come to a beginners womens race.



gardenrunner said:


> ...I'll always keep in mind what you mentioned about them pushing the women into the Cat 5 Men's field. I'll email the directors to see if that is a possibility...


No need to ask permission, as a Cat 4 Woman you can enter a Mens Cat 5 race. Keep in mind the boys will have fragile male egos that are even weaker because they want to race bikes. Just be thick skinned and remember they are all beginners too.


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## gardenrunner (Jul 25, 2009)

I appreciate all of your feedback. I'm still looking into joining a club around here but I'm so new sometimes it's difficult to join a group to ride with that is a "no drop" group since I'm still pretty new. (last group I tagged up with-after I had already gottten in 25 miles that day- went out at 24-25 mph which was WAY over my threshold, but I stuck with them for 9ish mi and dropped off) I've been "training" on my own for a month straight(based off of MHR) with LSD, tempo, easy, interval, rest and cross training days during the week, but have been riding since March outdoors. I'd like to race but realistically it might be something to look forward to next summer. I don't like placing myself on the back burner like that but it seems I should build a nice strong riding base/group riding time first and foremost.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

keep doing the group rides; great training and when / if you can hang with the hammerfest for 45 min's or an hour, you are more than ready to race women's 4.

also check here for race listings:
https://www.usacycling.org/events/index.php?state=IL&race=Road
http://www.illinoiscycling.org/index.php?module=PageCalendar&func=list&tid=1

and consider going to Northbrook sometime:
http://www.northbrookvelodrome.org/
- the track is a great beginner-friendly environment and very newbie friendly.


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## gardenrunner (Jul 25, 2009)

Keeping Up- Yup, it's Super Week. Didn't realize until I checked again. Funny Andy didn't mention anything about Cat 4 Women being able to race in the Cat 5 Men's field. Hmph.

http://www.internationalcycling.com/schedule

Creaky- thanks for the info. Sounds like you're familiar with the Chicagoland area. BTW that's one big ass cat in your avatar. I'm sure you've noticed..............


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## DesnaePhoto (Jun 11, 2009)

Keeping up with Junior said:


> No need to ask permission, as a Cat 4 Woman you can enter a Mens Cat 5 race. Keep in mind the boys will have fragile male egos that are even weaker because they want to race bikes. Just be thick skinned and remember they are all beginners too.


Got several around here that do that. One rides with the Men's A group on the Tues hammerfest. 

If you go with the guys, don't say anything -- just crush their fragile little spirits as you out ride them.  

have you talked with your LBS? Ask for teams and such. You really want to get with a developmental team to get you started. Then you can move to something else when you are ready.

Remember, the point is to have fun.


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## gardenrunner (Jul 25, 2009)

DesnaePhoto said:


> Got several around here that do that. One rides with the Men's A group on the Tues hammerfest.
> 
> If you go with the guys, don't say anything -- just crush their fragile little spirits as you out ride them.
> 
> ...


Going on a group ride this morning with one of the local clubs. I stopped in the LBS yesterday afternoon and the owner didn't mention anything about developmental teams. Maybe because I didn't ask??? I'm sure I'll get quite a bit of info today as the group I'm riding with is generally around 20 people. Since I'm so new at all of this I'm still learning about groups, club, teams, ect. I pretty much know the difference between a club and a team but a developmental team of women whom ride out here might be hard to come by. I usually only see one or two other women on weekend rides out here. I'm aware that doesn't mean there aren't more riding somewhere else, but I'm going to ask around and see what comes of it today. Looking forward to having lots of fun. Thanks guys.


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