How do I get started?

Typical women's regional level road race

The first thing you need to do if you are interested in cycle racing is to join a club. Clubs will assist you with getting your race licence organised. With a club you will find like-minded people who are starting out racing for the first time.

It also means that you can share your race experiences with other people. If a race does not go to plan, club members tend to encourage you and keep your self-esteem high.

Without a good club at the beginning it will hard to keep your motivation and know what you should be doing.

What type of club?

You need to find a club in your region. To do this you will need to contact your national federation. They should initially guide you to your nearest few clubs, then you can decide.

A good club will accept women. I say this because some clubs do a very bad job indeed of encouraging females into their clubs. You might want to contact the club president and ask if there are other females in the club. If you like what you see, then you can probably start from there.

As well as asking about female membership, you could ask about equipment. Most good clubs will be able to lend you race equipment. There will also most probably be a bike mechanic within the club who will help fix your bike at any time during the year.

Will I be laughed at?

No! I can tell you that if you join a cycling club either for racing or for health benefits, you will not be laughed at. All cyclists understand that everyone has to start somewhere; they also know what a commitment you are making to your sport, even if it is for leisure. You are also representing a club for your region. For these reasons you will be respected.

Women also tend to get a bit more attention than their male members simply because you are female: in the main there are not very many women taking part in cycling – so feel pleased with yourself!

What are the lengths of a beginning road race for a woman?

The maximum distance for female senior road racing is 140km, but don’t panic! Most local mass start road races start around 40kms to 60kms. Time trials, which are races against the clock, will usually be shorter than the maximum UCI length of 40kms. Time trials are a good way to start because you can build up your bike confidence without having to worry about the ‘peloton’ (riding in a tight group). Most club time trials are short 10km to 20km events.

Do women compete with men?

This depends on your race level. Yes you can compete with the men if you wish to pull up your race form, but if you are a first timer, then racing with the men would be the wrong option.

Even though women can take part in some of the men’s races, they probably won’t be classed on the result sheet with the men. They will have a separate result sheet with separate prizes. This way women are always respected for their efforts, and you can see clearly who you have beaten within your own sex. Of course experienced female riders have been known to kick the backsides of good male racers – but females have not been known to beat the top professional male riders.

I’m fit and think I can be a great road racer?

If you have been riding a few years and want to go straight into road racing, you need to join a club that is already established in getting women into such races. The club may even have its own women’s team:

Here we are: the women's cycling section of st.Julien en Genevois

Even if you are very fit, you may have to start out in the beginners’ races, to learn tactics. This is very important development and cannot be skipped. If you want to be good at road racing, you must learn how to race tactically to win.

Succeeding at road racing is unfortunately not just about how fit you are, it is about being sufficiently fit to allow you to apply tactics to place yourself in a winning position.

Once you can win through the ranks, you will have the confidence to know how to win at the higher level. Be patient though! You must work at both fitness and your tactics.

So succeeding takes time. Success is measured through your wins.

Be sure, that if you haven’t won a thing in the easier races, you’ll never win at the top level! So, be patient, take a long view,and stick at it. It isn’t easy.

Do I need a coach?

It is a good idea to contact your club coach. He/she should be able to help you with setting your seasonal goals, look at your training and your diet. He/she will also take a look at your daily commitments and make sure you are on track to achieve your goals. The coach should also fundamentally aid in encouraging you to have fun with racing. This way you are guaranteed to get the most out of your racing.

Instead of a coach you may want to train yourself. There is nothing wrong in this at all – I am self coached and have learnt so much from my own many mistakes. You learn to be honest with yourself and you will get to know yourself very, very well. You learn to motivate yourself without someone telling you to do this and that. This makes for a strong single-minded mentality even though the path to success could be a little longer.

As a self-coached beginner, I suggest you buy every bike book there is – read everything. Read this site too and other sites. You probably won’t grasp the sport physiology overview at first, so come back to it again and again – soon it will fall into place. Bounce ideas off your club members and keep observant on everything.

Most of all, log and analyse your training, your racing and how you are feeling regularly. The key is to find what works for you.

What is the structure of women’s cycling?

The ‘Union Cycliste Internationale’ (which all racers call ‘the UCI’), is the ‘World governing body’ of cycling. It is based in Switzerland. All events for road cycling are held under the rules and regulations of the UCI. This section below is therefore not a formal guide into women’s road racing rules and definitions. It aims to be a supplemental ‘overview’ of the structure of women’s racing.

Women’s road races include time trials, team time trials, stage races, criteriums and one day road racing. For a short definition of each of these types of road races, please read the article on ‘road racing’.

Within a race, women are put into teams. As a beginner, you will probably start off your cycle racing in a team. At the regional level of cycling, this will most likely be your ‘club team’. However, you will see different types of teams put together for International racing. Here is a quick summary:

Trade Teams – these are the women’s professional teams. Once you perform well at national and international level, these teams will take you on for your first ‘professional’ season. At the moment there are twelve trade teams racing around the World.

National Team – this is your national team, taking the best riders from your country. They normally select through your annual national championships and national level races.

A Composite international team – an organiser of an international event will usually allow one team to be made up of individuals that probably have never ridden together. These are put together for ‘individual riders’ who don’t have a Trade Team or a National Team to ride in. If you are one of these riders, then you have to contact the race organiser and ask. This is very much a hit and miss affair, and depends on the good will of the organiser. You may be given a place right at the last minute. Keep trying, and accept that this is not an easy route to take. As you might expect though, the better your results, the more likely is such a place.

Club Teams etc – there are various teams ‘below’ the above international ones.

The structure of women’s cycle starts at your club level and then moves up to national level, then International level. Once you race successfully at the International level, you may have a chance to race in a World Cup, World Championships and even the Olympic Games depending on what type of team you are in. Take a close look at table 1:

Level of race: UCI class for a one day race UCI class for more than 1 day Type of team allowed to enter

A number or, a set of letters, is given to the ‘class’ or level of race. You will see this shorthand on the UCI women’s ‘calendar’. I will talk soon about this calendar. The race class is significant because you can score what are known as “UCI points”. Interestingly, the UCI points system for women was only introduced in 1997.

With these points, you can apply to Trade Teams or get selected into your national team. You can even get an individual UCI World ranking. Ranking for all international women is updated a few times during the season. A summary of rankings is normally at the end of the year after the World Championships.

Let’s take a closer look at these classes in turn:

Continued article on next page...

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