N.B Road racing

Dear Rhys, There are road races you can do without a full licence, but not many, so you need to join BC and get a "race licence". Then find some local races, ideally on a closed circuit (without cars) if you are just new to it. It helps a lot if you join a local club and can get some guidance through that and also you HAVE to get used to riuding quickly in a bunch of riders or you will come a cropper and winter club runs are the place to practice this . If you are new to it you will be classed as a 4th cat - so if you use the race calender in this website you are looking for local races for 4th cat or 3/4 cat riders. Road races don't generally start till about April. You can also do local time trials (solo timed rides) which will give you an indication as to how your speed and fitness compares to other club riders who race. You don't need a racing licence for time trials. I am a BC Road, Time-trial and Track coach, but you need to find someone local (e.g. through a club) to help you.

Hi I'am nearly 15 and thinking of taking it up too and having the same problem! 

Hi I am coming to the UK next year and would like to ride in the British National championships and ride some other big races. I live in Australia and have been cycling at a good level here. Could you please advise what races are important to do on the British cycling calendar, for both road and Time Trial. I am also interested in doing some mountain bike races although I’m not sure what the format is there. I have participated in many team events here.

Suffolk_road_racer - you are too young to do bunch racing on the open road - you need to be at least 16 years old and hold a junior licence, but as the coach says, you can have a look at closed circuit racing where it's much safer and away from cars to learn your craft before you race on the road when you are older.  Lee Valley Youth Cycling Club are running a winter series for youth riders (under 16s) at the Redbridge Cycle Circuit (Hog Hill) which is quite close to you. Their next event is on the 16th January. Have a look at our racing calendar for details of how to get there, you can filter by region and you will be in the Eastern region. In order to score points, you would need to get a race licence but the good news is that these are free with Silver membership (£13.50 which also provides 3rd party insurance) for under 16s - you'd need to get parental consent but you can do this online by visiting our membership section.

Hi Imogen Theres a national womens series and also a womens team series on the road. To ride the women's national championships, you need to hold a UCI recognized full racing licence with a prefix code GBR (ie hold a British passport). You also need a full licence for the womens series' although theres no such restrictions on nationality for these races. For time trials, these are governed in England by Cycling Time Trials (www.ctt.org.uk). For mountain bike races we run a national series for which a full racing licence is required and categories are either age or ability related so under 30's are classed as either Sport/Expert or Elite, we'd need some evidence of what races you've done in Australia and finishing positions to assess which category you should race. Regional races you can enter without a racing licence. Hope this helps

I'm nearly 17 and have been riding for a couple of years but this is my first year of competitive racing and i have found that the best thing to do is join a local club who can help you with local events. it is a lot easier if you take part in club rides normally on a saturday morning because it gets you used to bunching up and having the confidence of being within inches of the others riders tyres.