Types of Bicycle Road Races

While on a bike ride, if you urge yourself to pass other cyclists or to complete a distance as fast as possible, you may be ready to enter a road bike race. Racing allows you to test your abilities against other riders and can provide motivation to stick to a training routine. In road races, you pay a fee to compete against other cyclists on open roads. Prizes are awarded for overall winners and for winners within specific categories such as age or racing ability. When getting ready for your first race, you'll need to know what type of road race you want to do. Basic Road Race. 

In the basic road race, cyclists all begin together from one point. This type of beginning is called a mass start and can be daunting for the first-time racer. Some road races are open to teams that work together to get one member across the finish line first, while other road races are open only to individuals. Typically, the roads are closed to car traffic while the majority of cyclists are coming through --

meaning that slower cyclists may have to ride with cars on the road. Races can be designed to go from one town to another, such as the famous Paris-Roubaix race; from one point to another within a city; or can begin and end at the same spot with the course covering a long loop known as a circuit. Road races can range from 20 miles to over 100 miles. A road race that is 100 miles long is known as a century. Known in the cycling world as the crit, this race often takes place in cities where open space for longer races is limited. The course is typically less than 3 miles long with the average course being only 1 mile long. This is a mass-start race and often has tight corners, meaning that your bike-handling skills must be excellent to avoid crashes. To win, you must either be the first to complete a set number of laps or finish the most number of laps within a certain time frame. Unlike most road races where viewers only see the racers for a few seconds, race fans can see most of the action during a crit, making them popular events for spectators to attend. Hill Climb Races If you live in an area with steep hills, your local cycling association will likely have a hill climb event. This type of race tests your endurance as you climb from the bottom of the hill to the top. Longer races often have a mass-start beginning, while shorter courses will have each cyclist begin at set time intervals. The shortest races, which are often held on the steepest hills, will have each rider tackle the climb separately. Time Trials If you don't like the idea of mass-start races, consider looking into time trial races. In these races, individual cyclists start at set intervals -- often 30 seconds to two minutes apart. You then race over the course as fast as possible. The person with the fastest time overall is the winner. The cycling portion of triathlons is a time trial race. Special time trial bikes with aerodynamic handlebars are allowed in time trial races, but are often not allowed in other types of road races. The Stage Race The stage race is the longest of all road races and takes place over several days or weeks. Each day riders begin in a mass start and must complete a different predetermined course that can be over 100 miles long. Stages may be in the style of a basic road race, a hill climb race or a time trial. The race winner is the cyclist with the shortest overall time, but there are also daily stage winners. Stage races test all of a cyclist's skills, such as climbing, sprinting and long distance endurance. Famous stage races include the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana.

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