Looking to dip toe in racing waters

[MALcontent]

I'm thinking about trying out a race (for the first time since age 13 or so) in 2008. I'm not sure whether mountain bike or road racing will be my stronger suit, so would be interested in trying both. Does anybody have any recommendations for good starter races in New England? It'd be great to find something with a big citizen-oriented field. I'm feeling relatively strong, but I know I'm not full-on race caliber and I HATE finishing DFL.

Thanks!

[Andrea]

I don't know about specific races in your area, but a time trial is a good place to start since it doesn't involve group tactics/strategy, is usually shorter duration, and you can compare your time to others from your area to get a very general idea about how you compare in fitness (caveat- not all the best RRers are good at time trials, and some people that rock a TT are not so great in a RR or crit)

Good luck!

[SheFly]

Yahoo! This is a great time of year for racing in New England. The calendar is just starting to ramp up for the season.

Here, women start racing in the "Cat 4" fields - there isn't a "citizen's" category. If you had chimed in a little earlier, I would have told you to sign up for our club's Intro to Racing clinic happening on Saturday's through April - lots of practice and great tips for people just getting [back] into racing.

That said, we also have a weekly women's ride starting on May 6 in Lexington Center. This ride accomodates all levels of riders, and will also focus on group riding skills to get you comfortable in a race situation. You can find more info on that here (http://northeastbicycleclub.org/home/article/480/2008-tuesday-night-womens-ride-to-start-may-6th).

A first race? Depends on your skills. Sterling is a fun race (May 10), but involves some climbing each lap. Sunapee is the following weekend, and is notoriously cold and hilly :D. The last weekend in May is an awesome race in Auburn, ME that would be a good first race. Are you looking for road races or crits? And are you looking for a team?

SheFly

[MALcontent]

SheFly, you did see that I wanted to DIP into the waters of racing, not PLUNGE, right? :)

I will definitely join the Tuesday night rides you flagged and look forward to doing some group riding again. It'll be a great way to assess my relative fitness, strengths and weaknesses. I don't think I fully understand crit racing, so I guess I was thinking more of a road race (or MTB). As for a team, I'm not confident yet one would want me. :o I'm not sure I'm willing to make the training commitment to be a competitive racer, which is why I was looking for something easy and friendly to start with. Perhaps "easy" race is an oxymoron!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and I'll see you in Lexington in May!