DH Wants to race!

[SheFly]

Thanks all. Great advice - as always!
DH and I have a general rule - as long as the financial obligations are met, purchases (within reason) are okay. So...no blowing the mortgage payment on toys, and don't stop contributing to the retirement to free up funds for that new Audi TT (ha!).
Aiabsolut - you make some good, valid, points. DH said he "intends" to move up and out of the danger pack. But he says he's old enough (46) to be racing with the masters - the "guys who have something to lose" - so thinks it might not be as bad as racing with the young 'uns who are full of themselves and trying to show off.
The A-ride with the LBS is full of racers. I don't think the guy who started the fist fight was, tho'. I think he's just a hot head.
DH may head over to Greenbelt again (the site of his first attempt at racing) and check out that scene. I told him my concerns and he actually shares them. So, he's got a reasonable head about all this. I also told him it's okay with me if he tries it and suggested we talk to the LBS owner about details.
We'll see what his level of commitment is to it.
Thanks all!

A couple of thoughts - to race Masters, your DH first needs to move up to Cat 4 (though that's not too hard to do). Once there, he will find that this group is FAST and the races are HARD - my DH started racing Masters last year, and this group seems to only get better with age .

Regarding a new bike for racing - why? First, the likelihood that you are actually going to wreck the FRAME is minimal. Most crashes cause damage to components - wheels, brake/shifter levers, handlebars, etc. and these can be just as expensive on a less expensive frame. Last year, DH got caught in a crash the broke his shift lever - that was a $400 fix (the guy that took him down broke his carbon K-Wing handlebars and both levers - much more expensive!). Not sure if you had thought of it from this POV...

I do agree with the sentiment that if you can't afford to replace it, you shouldn't be racing on it. I heard a story once where a woman was racing on $2000 wheels, got taken down, and was pretty angry and demanded that the woman who caused the crash replace her wheels - sadly for her, that's not the way the racing world works.

SheFly