I just got into cycling and I love it. I have contacted my local university's cycling team to join it. I would love to eventually race, but I am a little unsure of how to get started other than taking my bike out. Plus, I am 23 yo. Am I starting too late in the game to get to where I would be able to race?
Noobie Cyclist
- Thread starter Aimee
- Start date
You are way too old to start. You need to get rid of your bike, send it to me.
Prepaid freight of course.
I will see some young deserving person gets it!
Join a group! Ride every chance you get. Make it
your must do thing!
BTW, what kind of bike are you sending me??
Prepaid freight of course.
I will see some young deserving person gets it!
Join a group! Ride every chance you get. Make it
your must do thing!
BTW, what kind of bike are you sending me??
Goto the USA Cycling Website, buy a license, look up races in your area and go race. You'll need a bike, a helmet, entry fee and enthusiasm.
Even if you end up getting dropped on the first lap you'll know where you stand interms of fitness. It might be that you have bags of natural talent and do well but then again you might be just like the rest of us and you might not.
Folks at your univeristy cycling team will be able to help tell you where the races are at.
You're definitely not too late to start. I started cycling and then racing collegiate races when I was in college and roughly your age. At the time I also wondered if I was too old as most of the folks winning the local races had raced as juniors. Fast forward nearly 30 years, I'm still racing (took some years off along the way) none of those folks stuck with it much beyond college and I've had plenty of good results and wins over the years.
It takes time so don't expect instant success but get out riding with the collegiate or a local shop team/club if you can to learn about riding in groups. But mostly ride a lot and if you enjoy going fast and pushing yourself on the bike then take out a racing license and start racing.
BTW, I only know of a few women that started racing as juniors and stuck with it for long. The vast majority of the women cyclists I know (including very successful state and national level racers) started cycling seriously and racing as adults so you're in good company.
Good luck,
-Dave
P.S. I see you're in Salt Lake. There's a very active racing scene in SLC with a lot of well organized teams and regular racing including weeknight training races. Ask around at local bike shops about clubs and racing teams and you'll have plenty to choose from. Get out and do some of the salt air time trial series that they run on weeknights or some of the training races down at the DMV.
Probably the best place to start is by going over the the Utah Cycling Association website: http://utahcycling.com/Default.aspx
And check out their FAQs for new riders: http://cycleutah.com/content/NewRacerFAQ.aspx
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