The first bicycle race is popularly held to be a 1,200 metre race held on the 31 May 1868 at the Parc de Saint-Cloud, Paris. It was won by expatriate Englishman James Moore who rode a wooden bicycle with iron tyres. The machine is now on display at the museum in Cambridgeshire, England. 

Cotswold League evening handicap road races 2010 (under TLI rules)

www.thecotswoldleague.co.uk

Date	Event	Contact	Distance	Location	Age cat.
17/5/10	CORINIUM C.C  Road race	Pete Hutchinson 07811 464484 or Email	26 miles	Down Ampney Circuit	All Senior
22/6/10	GLOUCESTER CITY C.C Road race	Graham Denny 01453 753949  or Email	50Km	CORSE CIRCUIT	All Senior/Junior
29/6/10	Swindon R C Road race	Chris Broad-Drake 07855406547 or 01793 651 684 or Email	30 miles	Aldbourne Wilts	All Senior/Junior

You don't need a licence to take part in these events, you can enter on the line.  

If you require any further information regarding these events, contact Brendan

 

Local  LVRC  Events  2010 - www.lvrc.org.uk

Please click here for 2010 list

You will need to join the LVRC to compete in these events.

 

British Cycling Road Racing - local events 2010

Please click here for 2010 list

You will need a BC licence to compete in these events  www.britishcycling.org.uk

When people cite their motivations for taking up cycling, they often mention things like 'getting fit', 'seeing some beautiful scenery', enjoying the countryside. Road racing allows you to do all of these things, except you are travelling along at 25 miles an hour (making the scenery appear as a picturesque blur), you're so far gone that your eyes are fixed on the rear wheel of the rider in front of you anyway, and you can't hear the sounds of all that wonderful nature over the swarm-of-locusts whirring of 60 bicycles.

Road racing comprises two disciplines: road racing and criterium racing. Road races are anywhere from 30-120 miles long; the shorter races will usually be circuit races, held on relatively short circuits, which the riders cover many times. Longer road races can either be raced on longer loops or as point to point races. Road races test a rider's endurance, as they are raced at a high average speed. Courses vary from pan flat to brutally hilly. As well as allowing riders to show there expertise at such disciplines as sprinting and climbing, road races also allow riders to show their technical mastery of skills such as riding along no-handed at 30 mph while eating lunch, or urinating while travelling along at a similar speed.

Crits are short and sharp. They are held on courses that should be around one mile long and should have at least four sharp corners. Because the courses are short, crits are often held in spectacular town centre locations. Crits hurt more than just about any other cycling discipline. They are raced from the gun, meaning if you don't get clipped into your pedals quickly, your race is probably already over. Crits are either raced to a set distance or raced for a designated amount of time. They are shorter than road races and are thus raced much harder from the start. If you're racing a crit properly, you should see blue spots floating through your field of vision and your lungs should seriously hurt. Crits are, obviously, great fun.

Road Racing Licence Categories Explained

All junior and senior licence holders, male or female are categorised by their ability. Riders of the same ability category continue to compete together in races irrespective of their age category, except in the case of age related events.

Senior Riders

4th Category
A new junior or senior licence holder.

3rd Category
Any junior or senior licence holder who has gained at least 10 but less than 40 points whilst holding a 4th category licence. Note: Riders are never downgraded to 4th category once a 3rd category licence has been achieved.

2nd Category
Any junior or senior licence holder who has gained 40 points during any one season whilst holding a 3rd category licence. To retain a 2nd category licence for the following season, a rider must obtain at least 25 points in events open to that category of rider.

1st Category
Any junior or senior licence holder who has gained 200 points during any one season whilst holding a 2nd category licence. To retain a 1st category licence for the following season, a rider must obtain at least 100 points in events open to that category of rider.

Elite Category - Any rider who:

• has gained 300 points during the previous season whilst holding an elite or 1st category licence,
• at the 31st December of the previous year was listed in the top 10 in the Senior Men's National Cross Country MTB Rankings

Junior Riders

On reaching the Junior age category, existing licence holders will be awarded initial ability categories as follows:

4th Category

Any rider who has gained no Youth licence points in the previous year.

3rd Category

Any rider who has gained Youth licence points in the previous year.

2nd Category male - Any rider who has achieved:

• Top 15 in the Youth A Boys in the previous year's National Circuit Race Series
• Top 10 in the Youth A Boys in the previous year's Track Omnium Series
• Top 3 in Any in the previous year's Road/Track Youth A Boys National Championship
• Top 10 in Youth A Boys National Rankings in the previous season

2nd Category female  - Any rider who has achieved:

• Top 5 in the Youth A Girls in the previous year's National Circuit Race Series
• Top 10 in the Youth A Girls in the previous year's Track Omnium Series
• Top 3 in any in the previous year's Road/Track Youth A Girls National Championship
• Top 5 in Youth A Girls National Rankings in the previous season

Note: Junior riders will not be eligible for elite licences