This Weekend: New York City Bike Racing Clinic

Transitioning from casual laps in the park to racing can feel intimidating. Where do you sign up? What are the park rules? Do I need a license to race? These are things you may not know until you're in the thick of it and trying racing out for yourself. Fortunately, this weekend there is a a great opportunity to get a taste of racing at the CRCA Beginner Race Clinic.

The upcoming clinic will be in Central Park during the Lucarelli & Castaldi Open on July 27th. Experienced CRCA racers will be present to answer any pre-race questions and will ride the field, providing assistance and advice throughout the clinic. 

I signed up for the CRCA clinic a few seasons ago, having only ever done casual park pacelines. I assumed that you needed to have a certain amount of experience before you could race. But a friend pushed me to sign up, and I'm glad I did! It was so valuable to have CRCA teams on hand to give us a little pep talk, go through the format of the race, and even provide pointers during the race. I have a fun memory of Lucia encouraging me to push harder to catch a group that had started to break away, and then finding me after to explain how she would approach that scenario in her own race.

If you're curious about bike racing, sign up for CRCA's Beginner Road Race Clinic (Cat 5 / Novice) via BikeReg. Men and women will race in separate fields. The Men’s field is open to all riders, and the Women’s field is open to all W/T/F riders. It will be fun, you will learn a lot, and meet other cyclists!

After the clinic, please join us for TBD Community Ride! We will be meeting at Engineer's Gate at 8am.