Beginner to road biking/want to start racing!

[RoadRaven]

Then rounded up the crew (sis, mom, dad) and got them all out for an 8-mile-slow-as-molasses cruise. My mom just got one of those "cruiser" bikes by Electra and it definitely offers up a lot of wind resistence! ha.

Great that you are going out with others now, but you'll find the experienced cyclists at the club you are planning on joining will be able to share road/courtesy/race protocols with you as well. How to take turns at the front, how to warn others there is rubbish on the road, how to slow down without making evryone else pile into you... etc etc

Oh yeah -- and I should have mentioned from the start that I don't plan on entering a race until August or September.

Great, you have plenty of time to get the pack experience. And when you enter, enter as much for the experience as for the race, as you know from rugby - a training session feels quite different to a match against rivals.