serious cycling

[sfto11]

I'm curious if theres anyone out there thats really serious about cycling, meaning they race, they train, and so on. I want to take my cycling all the way to the top. Its basically my life right now but where i live i don't have many others who are like me. Is there anyone who might even live near me? I live by niu.. the dekalb, il area....I would love to get to know any serious cyclist whether you live near me or not....thanks

[Grog]

Welcome to TE ! You will find alike-minds on this board.

I strongly suggest you join a race-oriented club. There has to be one somewhere in your state, it may be worth it to commute to ride with them.

Good luck!

[RoadRaven]

Welcom stfo

As Grog says, there are many racers here - some are addicted to completing organised centuries... there are are a few brave sould who do crits... I am one of the ones who lurve to time trial, many like to road race - or hope to road race... and their are quite a few who race downhill on mountain bikes and the other varieties of mtn bike racing (sorry TE-Mtn-Bikers - showing my one-eyed ignorance here)

I suggest you search for the type of racing you are interested in - post to some of the threads you are interested in - and become one of the TE "we-lurve-biking" family



~ Raven ~

[betagirl]

Hi

This isn't exactly in your neighborhood, but it's close. There's a club I rode with out of Bartlett called Spin Doctor Cycle Werks. It's a LBS shop with mostly men. Many of them race, so if you're looking for a club that will make you hammer, this is your group. They ride out past Elgin on Saturday mornings at 6 AM, off of Randall Rd.

The shop link is: http://spindoctorcyclewerks.com/

The other club I recommend is Athlete's By Design (ABD). They ride in the same area, though a bit further east. They have several men and women racers. Again, not exactly in your hood. But they do a lot of organized team races at the various crits, etc.

http://www.prairiepathcycles.com/Ath...esign/home.htm

I've ridden with both clubs in the past, mostly with the Spin Doctor crew. I recently moved to Oak Park, so I've found a new club closer. I'd say the spin doctor club averages 20-25 mph on their rides, with 30mph+ sprints. The ABD club typically rides a bit faster on average. There are some guys in there that can really move.

Does NIU have a cycle team? You could enroll as a student at large and join that

Hope that helps.