Road Bike Races?

Question

I live in south east alabama (Ft Rucker to be precise) and am wondering if there are any road bike competitions for amatures to paricipate in. Does any one know the place to register if there are some.

Answer 1

You can check out USA Cycling to see the sanctioned events in your area. If you need to purchase a license, you'll need to go to their website anyhow. (You can often buy a one day license if you don't want to just try a few races.)



http://usacycling.org/



In particular, here are the events they have listed for Alabama:



http://usacycling.org/events/index.php?state=AL&race=Road



You may also want to check events in Georgia and Florida...



Many cycling teams post listings of upcoming events, as well. Start by following the team links on the page listed above and look at what they have listed or on their schedules. It will take a bit of poking, but you should find most events in your area.



For example, here is the schedule for the team: Montagna Rossa:



http://www.gsmontagnarossa.com/2008_Schedule.html



Also, I'd ask around at your local bike shop. Someone in the shop will be able to hook you up with the local bicycle racing crowd and get you the information you are looking for.



Hope this helps.

Answer 2

The references to USA cycling are all good but if you're a beginner even the novice categories may be a bit more than you are ready for.

You might look into any local racing clubs/teams. You can find a list of teams and possibly their websites on the USAC web page: http://usacycling.org/clubs/index.php?state=AL

You didn't mention what type of road races your interested in, e.g. time trials, criteriums or otherwise. A lot of teams will hold training races during the racing season, particularly time trials and possibly crits (depending on venue availability). Actual road races become problematical due to traffic control among other issues so the planned training rides mostly have to suffice. These will give you a good feel for what actual racing is like. You don't necessarily have to join a team to participate. Some may require a USAC license for insurance purposes and some may not for the training races.

For what it's worth, you didn't mention your age but if you're 50 or older you are eligible to compete in www.nsga.com races, aka Senior Olympics. These races do not require a license, are sponsored by state associations and are pretty low key.

Also many states have their own sponsored state games separate from USAC and Senior Olympics which include bike races. This is a link to the Alabama cycling races: http://www.alagames.com/index.php?page=sport_cycl.

Answer 3

Joe, can you get an Army jersey? I have seen Air Force jerseys in several bike shops.



I bet you are in the best shape of your life. Good luck with racing.



Edit: I just Googled and found this: http://search.store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/nsearch?follow-pro=1&catalog=bicyclinghub&vwcatalog=bicyclinghub&query=US%20Army%20jersey&image.x=0&image.y=0

Answer 4

Joe:

Adding to the list of resources provided (USA Cycling is one of your best bets), I found this site as well:

http://www.alcycling.org/



Pretty thin looking race schedule in the summer.



Hope that helps, keep beating the air into submission with those choppers!



Nate

http://porkchopwi.spaces.live.com/

Answer 5

Check out http://www.bikereg.com/. You can sign up right on line. They also have recreational rides you can sign up for.

Answer 6

You can check out yahoo groups for your area, or craigslist.