Many people picked up a road bike or dusted one off hiding in their garage back in 2020 at the start of pandemic. Some people found a new way of exercising, commuting or rekindled their love of exploring the world around them on wheels powered by their own legs! Others discovered the virtual world of exercising and racing their bikes on programs like Zwift, Peloton & FulGaz. Maybe you heard from a friend or saw some awesome bike racing content from your favorite influencers and now you are interested in racing your bike! Well now you want to start bike racing and you don’t know how. We here at the Northern California Nevada Cycling Association (NCNCA), want to help you on your path of bike racing! These are the most common questions a new bike racer has.
Do I Have to be on Team to Race?
No team is required or necessary to race, but it does help to have a team so you can learn tactics and have camaraderie. Each team has their own team focus: Juniors, Women, Master’s etc. It is good to have support from a team, but it is not a requirement to begin your racing aspirations. If you are looking for a club or team to join, please check out our NCNCA Clubs Listing to see if any of them are in your area or strike your interest in joining!
What is a USA Cycling Race License?
USA Cycling (USAC) is our sanctioning body, which basically means they provide the rules and regulations for bike racing no matter the discipline. USAC Sanctioned Races means they follow the standards provided by USA Cycling. A Race License is a way for the sanctioning body to determine what age group, skill level etc. racers are allowed to enter. For Example, a Category Novice (formerly known as Cat 5) should not be allowed to race with Pro Level/Cat 1 racers. A Master racer shouldn’t be allowed to race in a Junior field. A USA Cycling Race license also supports Team USA at the world Olympic level and allows locally to determine who’s allowed to race in Regional Championships etc.
Annual USA Cycling Race License: There are five different types of USA Cycling licenses to pick from, but if you are new to racing there are really only three: Junior License (ages 9-18), Adult License (ages 19+) and Collegiate License (College Students). Whichever one you select, just make sure you select the RACE LICENSE and not the membership level. Race licenses are now valid for one year from when it is purchased, so it is no long expires December 31st.
One-Day USAC Race Licenses: There are One-Day Licenses available for different category levels at different prices. This is for someone who might be interested in racing but doesn’t want to commit to an annual license just yet. Pro-Tip: Ask friend who does have an annual race license to gift you their One-Day Race coupon that comes comes with their Annual Race License.
Juniors & Students who participate in the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) have access to a free USA Cycling Race License. Follow the instructions HERE on how to claim your free USA Cycling Race License. (No Longer Active in 2024 & 2025)
Check out USA Cycling’s Step by Step on how to start racing!
What is my “Racing Age” and Level?
For USAC Sanctioned Races, racing age is whatever is your age at the end of the year, 12/31. For example in 2024, Jane Doe wants to sign up for a Masters 50+ race, her birthday is September 1st, 1974. Snelling Road Race is March 2nd. 2024. Jane is currently 49 years old, can she sign up in the Masters 50+ race? YES, because for the 2024 Race Year she is already Road Racing age 50. The only exception is in Cyclocross, she would be 51 due to some UCI rules. When in doubt, check your USA Cycling Race License it states it on your license which does have an app.
Where do I find Bike Races?
In Northern California our road racing season begins in January and goes until almost October, we have the longest road race season in the United States. We highly recommend our Early Bird Bike Race Training Series that happens in January/February for 5 weekly sessions. Our extremely experience NCNCA Mentors give back to our cycling communities by teaching bike racing skills. Many current professional cyclists trained in our Early Birds and raced in our District before they became Pros, and we are happy we could be a part of their cycling careers!
Larry Nolan has been a long time NCNCA Mentor and has been great asset to our cycling community. Read what he has to say about Early Bird training.
Every major professional sport has their “training” periods. Time carved out where new and old teammates gather to start their season, bond and work on the fundamentals of their sport. I hope you agree that cycling requires a healthy mixture of physical strength, skills and cognitive aptitude. Licensed bicycle racing turns all three of these components up to “11”, underscoring the importance of the period to acquire cycling strength, skills and smarts.
For the past 37 years the Early Birds have provided a training playground for our bicycle racing community to acknowledge and embrace our “training season”. We are looking forward to the five-week 2024 Early Birds Training Series.
Larry Nolan, December 2023
The NCNCA represents bike races in Northern California and Nevada, you can find all our races listed on our NCNCA Calendar of Events. You can also find many races on USA Cycling Events Search. There are MANY bike races in NorCal and Nevada some are under the USA Cycling umbrella whether its a sanctioned race or fun ride or unsanctioned races/rides. There are different disciplines: mountain biking, gravel, road, track etc. We live in a place that allows bike racing all year long and we hope to see you and your friends and family at the next bike race!