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The collective swish of tyres on tarmac, the ebb and flow of the pack, the thrill of riding your bike at speed, its all but a small part of the animal that is the peleton in a road race. Evocative words, but what is it all about? This year (2002), a small group of us are aiming to take the road racing season, just a little more seriously, no Cipo you won’t have to watch your back wheel, we won’t be there. We will however be turning up at races as a team and attempting to work together for the benefit of the team and Club. Most of us are either 3rd or 4th category racers, which means whilst we sometimes share the same circuit or track as the Elite riders we race against people of similar abilities to us. The highlight of the week for most of us is Tuesday evening at Goodwood races which run from Tuesday 30th April right through to September. At Goodwood we race round the motor racing circuit sometimes in handicap races other times all together, purely for the fun of it. The racing can get quite close at times and you are guaranteed a good workout (great for improving your time trialling), but overall it is a lot of fun. What is Road Racing ? These are mass start road races, sometimes held on closed circuits sometimes out on the Queens highway with marshals and car escorts. If you have aspirations of the Tour De France or Paris Roubaix, then this is not for you, if you wish to share the thrill of riding in a pack with the collective swish of hundreds of tyres on tarmac….come along the more the merrier. What do I need ? 1. A bike, any bike will do, it helps if you’ve got 16+ gears and index changing but other than that, the same bike you ride everyday is fine. I’m sure Peter TH even leaves his mudguards on sometimes! The bikes naturally vary from Principia Rex’s to Giant OCR’s, but if its got two wheels and goes, then its fine. 2. A licence: you will need to apply for a BCF/British Cycling race licence, either Bronze, Silver or Gold British cycling are at www.britishcycling.org National Cycling Centre 3. A crash helmet, just like the one you always wear 4. A race jersey and skin shorts 5. A little determination Where are the races held ? There are races all over the South East every weekend and even some midweek races. The majority of races we do at Excelsior are governed and run by the Surrey League. These are all very professionally put together by ex-pro Keith Butler (yes he is Gethin Butlers dad) his assistants Glyn and Kristin and a band of willing and hard working volunteers. The regular race we all go to is every Tuesday evening, at Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit starting at 18.00 in the evening. It costs just a fiver, you turn up, pay your money, sign on the line, put your number on and wait for the start. Goodwood is particularly well suited to beginners or new teams like us who want to try things like different tactics or just hard training. It’s relatively flat, smooth and wide and in the event of an unfortunate accident, there are wide grassy verges to run on to, and should you be really unlucky and have a tumble, there is an Ambulance on hand and the hospitals just round the corner! How do I enter ? For Goodwood, see above, for other Surrey League events there is a full calendar at their website: A lot of Road races you can turn up and pay on the day, but as this form of racing is becoming more popular its best to send you entries off in advance. Races of note for us this year include the Surrey League 5 day stage race at the end of June, where as well as having a good time and hopefully surprising a few people (ourselves included no doubt) we hope to spring a couple of good results.
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This page was last updated on 24-04-2005. |