[There are plenty of places where would-be bike racers can learn about how to get into the sport. Trouble is, most of them are unintelligible, boring, outdated, full of holes and/or just plain wrong. NCVC's David Kirkpatrick is none of those things, so when he offered to write a series for GamJams designed to pave the road for the aspiring pelotonista I happily agreed. So if you're a new racer or just about to become one, this series is for you. Leave feedback, questions, suggestions for other topics or additional resources in the comments and David will respond to them there.]
So you think you want to race?
Part 3: Han Solo or Attack of the Clones
by David Kirkpatrick, NCVC
One of the decisions that you’ll approach between your first group ride and first race is whether to join a team or not. Teams are the basic building blocks of cycling, as they host the majority of races. No teams equals no races, so if for that reason alone, teams are an indispensable part of the cycling landscape.
Through watching the Tour on TV, you’re probably aware that cycling is a team sport. The team will enter a race with a pre-determined strategy of creating their most favorable outcome (generally a win) and then spend the race executing tactics to secure that goal. Unfortunately, as a new racer you are a pretty long way from experiencing this. Although there have been some good instances of quality teamwork in the lower categories this year, it’s definitely the exception rather than the rule.
So if you’re such a long way from effectively racing as a team, why join one? There are a bunch of benefits to joining a team. For one thing, you’ll meet a lot of people who are enthusiastic cyclists. Many of them will be quite knowledgeable and can help you along the path to becoming a better racer. Most teams will have some sort of organized group ride, which offers a friendly environment to improve your pack riding skills and can relieve the boredom of those long, cold winter rides. Some clubs offer skills clinics, at which experienced members of the team offer practical training in various aspects of riding and racing.
Another benefit of a team are the sponsors. Let’s face it, you’re going to be dropping at least some coin on your bike and a team with good sponsors is going to offer you significant discounts on good equipment. Many clubs also do some sort of race fee reimbursement, where a portion of your race entry fees are reimbursed to you in return for your having represented the team at so many races. Between these two benefits, your membership dues should more than pay for themselves.
Joining a team can be a risk, too. Make sure to meet some of the people on the team and get a sense of the team’s general demeanor before you join. Is it a pack of animals on a mission to crush their rivals? That’s great if that’s what you’re looking for. Many clubs are inclusive and focused on bringing people into the sport, which riders with aggressive goals may find frustrating. You’re likely to spend a lot of time with your team mates throughout the year, so it pays to have something in common with them.
In addition to the benefits of being on a team, there are some responsibilities. You will almost certainly be required to volunteer at team sponsored races, and there will be team meetings to attend. A good cycling team doesn’t just happen; it takes the effort of team members. If you aren’t prepared to commit to that, you might be better off going it alone.
A Catch 22 of riding with a team as a new racer is that you will be expected to observe some basic team cycling rules like never chasing a team mate’s break, but you might not develop the self awareness to be able to ride effectively as a team mate. What unattached riders lose in support from a team, they can gain in the freedom to discover themselves as riders by being free to do whatever they feel like doing in a race. Having been through the Cat 5 experience on a team, I’d actually advise Cat 5 groups to race like individuals sometimes. Trying hard to act like a team before you understand team tactics and your own physical abilities can hinder your development.
Large teams and small teams can feel quite different to one another. A small team is likely to require more input and commitment from each member to remain viable, but can have a closer and tighter-knit feel. Big teams rely less on the efforts of any one individual, but some people can feel lost in bigger teams.
A big part of whether you’ll find any given team to be a positive experience will be how easy it is to be involved with that team, and a large part of that will depend on geography. One of the main reasons why I joined my team is that I regularly saw their riders training on the roads I rode on. It’s a really big team, so people in different areas will have this experience – hence the “Attack of the Clones” bit. If you’ve never run across anyone from a team you’re considering while you’re out training, chances are pretty good that regularly riding with that team is going to be a challenge.
There are teams in this area that are open to all, while some are by invite only. Most people are pretty amenable to talking about their team with you, so long as you don’t interrupt their training. If you see someone bombing along in an aero position with a beehive of boogers growing out from under his nose, it’s probably not a great time to ask him all about his team. If, on the other hand, you see someone slow rolling down the street with his hands on top of his bars, feel free to roll up and see if he’d mind discussing his team. Worst case, he’ll swear at you in Italian and stick his pump in your spokes like those Cinzano guys did in Breaking Away, but that’s pretty unlikely.
In the end, there are a lot of good reasons to join a team, and to join one team over another. Whether those reasons apply to your particular situation is what matters. Understand what joining any given team involves and whether or not the benefits of being a part of that team offer you an advantage over starting out on your own.
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Also in this series:
So you think you want to race? Part 1: Questions demanding honest answers
So you think you want to race? Part 2: Your first group ride
So you think you want to race? Part 4: The Training Calendar
So you think you want to race? Part 5: Toeing the Line
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David Kirkpatrick captained the NCVC Cat 4 team in 2008 and saw 6 of his teammates upgrade to Cat 3, due in no small part to teamwork, strategy, planning and a lot of the other stuff David writes about here. You can follow some of his less structured rants about cycling at flamencochuckwagon.blogspot.com.
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