Suggestions for 1st Race?

keano007

Hi all,

Decided to take the plunge and buy a full comp cycling ireland licence. As im new to all of this i've obviously gone for A4. So anyone got a suggestion on a race i could enter, maybe in April or May that would be beginner friendly (and maybe even somewhat flat lol)

cheers,

Owen

keano007

sorry i should of said I'm based in Dublin but I am willing to travel.

Planet X

Been said before I reckon, but advised to "cut your teeth" on club racing. Join a club first.

Quiet difficult, my opinion, to head head first into an Open Race.

You can drop into a club, first of all, and do a couple of races, recommended.

blorg

What PX said, do club races first, smaller, slower (in the beginner handicap until caught) and safer. Also bear in mind that flat= high speeds and a huge bunch that can be very dangerous, flat races tend to be the most crashy.

keano007

Thanks for the replies guys. I have joined a club but the problem is they aren't in a club league. As far as I know there in talks to get involved in one but Im not sure that will happen any time soon. So I think my only option is an open race??

blorg

Which club? You may be able to race in another league as a guest. To an extent if you are looking at getting started racing though I would consider changing club to one that has races, it is one of the key benefits to a club in the first place.

ROK ON

Keano. I am in a similar position to you in that my club doesn't have a club league. In fact it would seem that a significant amount of clubs do not.
So for people in that position the open race as a race virgin is the only option.
In my one and only race thus far I spoke to many other A4s who professed never to having raced preciously. Two weren't with clubs.

Anyway as you are in Dublin you can as a non-member race as a guest in the Swords league.
Talk to RobFowl or Beasty and they will put you right.

If you want to go straight into an open race then choose wisely. I specifically chose a pretty tough course for my first race so that it would thin the field out. This is what happened. Furthermore I chose a separate A4 race as opposed to a handicap race.
I hope this helps you from a fellow noobie perspective.

Beasty

As ROK ON said, there is scope for non-members to ride in the Swords League. You need to confirm it is OK beforehand though, as there are limits as to the number of clubs that can be represented in a single race. 07Lapierre can give you a steer on the Swords position.

In addition some clubs have arrangements with others to allow racing in their respective leagues (Dublin Wheelers can race in the Swords League, whilst Swords members can ride in the Dublin Wheelers TT league for example)

keano007

blorg wrote: »

Which club? You may be able to race in another league as a guest. To an extent if you are looking at getting started racing though I would consider changing club to one that has races, it is one of the key benefits to a club in the first place.

Joined the Garda Cycling Club, for obvious reasons! Racing as a guest is definelty something I'll look into. Don't think I want to join a different club so soon after just getting involved in the one I'm in.

Actually just saw the recent thread on the staggs/Lucan gp race on Saturday, the a4 is only 40km. I might give this a go.....

Lumen

Every club ought to allow Gardai to race in their league, since the health of the sport depends upon their cooperation and goodwill. Also, fit cops catch more robbers.

C3PO

keano007 wrote: »

Actually just saw the recent thread on the staggs/Lucan gp race on Saturday, the a4 is only 40km. I might give this a go.....

Well you won't be on your own .... there's a few of us mtber's going out! I've done one road race and the rest of the lads are brand new!! An extra lap would be nice though .... 40kms seems very short!

DonalK1981

I would be interested in finding a good club for a beginner too, with a view to finding out if I have what it takes to compete in races. I am trying to organise some spins around Dublin too from time to time. Would like to join a local club (I live in town) to get regular practice. Any advice, or invites to go on a spin would be greatly appreciated...

Sr. Assumpta

Lumen wrote: »

Every club ought to allow Gardai to race in their league, since the health of the sport depends upon their cooperation and goodwill. Also, fit cops catch more robbers.

Couldn't agree more.

keano007

RPL1 wrote: »

Well you won't be on your own .... there's a few of us mtber's going out! I've done one road race and the rest of the lads are brand new!! An extra lap would be nice though .... 40kms seems very short!

Excellent. I'm definetly going to try and get time off work for this so. I hate to ask this but any idea what kind of time 40km would take the a4 group. I'm thinking about 60 mins. Im from a Triathlon backround so I know my own splits for my 40km.

C3PO

keano007 wrote: »

Excellent. I'm definetly going to try and get time off work for this so. I hate to ask this but any idea what kind of time 40km would take the a4 group. I'm thinking about 60 mins. Im from a Triathlon backround so I know my own splits for my 40km.

I'm guessing about 65-70 minutes for the winner ...... a bit longer for some of the rest of us!!

keano007

RPL1 wrote: »

I'm guessing about 65-70 minutes for the winner ...... a bit longer for some of the rest of us!!

Haha! that sounds fairly realistic especially in a group working together.

Right I think I'll just have to give it a go and sure if I get dropped so be it