So, You Want to Race?
You ride all the time. You commute to work and are winning the "Dexter Time Trial", or you do tours in the summer and have to say "on your left" 1000 times on your way to Portland, or maybe you're a weekend warrior and you're always beating your buddies to the top of the hill. So now you want to see how you stack up against other people. Ever since there have been movement, there have been races, seems we all want to see how we do under pressure. If that sounds like you we've got some info for you.
What's great about bike racing is that there is a race for everyone. You can race on the road, on trails or later in the year you can race both at the same time. There are classes and age groups for all the races as well. So you never really have to get in over your head to go out and have some fun on a race course. We make it out to a lot of races and it's amazing all the people that come out to race. All sizes, ages and experience. There truly is a race for everyone.
The Washington race season is just getting going. The Mt. Bike season has just started with the both the West Side Series and the Indie Series. And the road season has also stared with the Mason Lake Series. Another great series that is coming up is the Serward Park Series. This series starts on April 6th and runs every Thursday in the summer. If you are new to the sport they have a great clinic for you to take part in before the races so you can get a feel for what's going on.
So now you ask, "Don't I need a really expensive bike to race?" The answer is, not really. You can start racing on the bike that you have. Now as you get more serious you might want to upgrade, but you can absolutely race with what you've got to start, as long as it's safe of course. Even if you need to buy a bike to start you can find inexpensive race ready bikes at your local bike shop. Bikes such as the Trek 2100 starts at $1299.99 and is a great bike to start on the road and the Trek 4900 Disc at $559.99 is a great way to start on the trails. You can always spend more, but you don't have to.
So check out the local race scene. The people are friendly, inclusive and supportive so you're bound to have a great time.
posted by Gregg's Cycles at
10:57 AM
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1 Comments:
Great post! This sport is great for men and women as a woman who started racing in Washington when I had already had two kids and was 32, I was very intimidated. But as you point out, the people are inclusive and friendly. Don't think that they are not competitive and will let you know if you are doing something that is not safe this is typically while yelling but for good reason, ( no one wants to get hurt and the adrenalin is pumping.)
Try it, Seward is a great way to learn and the Velodrome at Marymoor offers classes all summer. It may take a while to gain racing fitness, I have been doing this for 5 years and every year I am stronger and faster. I may not win (yet) but I have gained so much from this sport and have met some of the neatest people. The goal for most people is to have fun and be challenged, there are very few Elite racers that make this a living in Wa but some of us are quite obsessed no the less.
Cheers!
10:59 AM
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