Road Racing

Redhill Cycling Club is actively involved in both local and national road racing events.

During the course of the season we usually have individuals and teams racing in a wide variety of events based on both open road (many and various across SE England) and closed circuit venues (ie: Goodwood, Dunsfold, Hillingdon, Crystal Palace or Mercedes World).

British Cycling

Road racing in the UK is administered and controlled by British Cycling, who issue permits for events and licenses to individual riders. Please see: British Cycling for more details of the basic structure.

Under the control of British Cycling, individual events are then organised by Cycling clubs, e.g. Redhill CC and specific racing organisations set up for the purpose of promoting events, e.g. the Surrey Racing League.

Licences

Riders wishing to take part in road races in the UK will need to join British Cycling and will require a racing license in order to compete. These are available for the whole year or on a daily basis (although if you wish to ride in more than one event per year it is usually more economical to get a full yearly licence).  See https://new.britishcycling.org.uk/membership/article/mem-st-Racing-Licen... for more info on racing licenses.

Riders can start off in Cat 4 races (designed to encourage new riders to enter the sport) with a 4th Category license (this is what your first license will be if you have not raced before).  From there, if you collect enough points though placing in the top 10, you will progress through the ranking system eventually to Elite status if you are good enough.  To gain Cat 3 status (the next level from Cat 4, you need to gain 10 points throughout one season.  If you gain less points than that and the next season starts, your points are reset to zero so you have to start again.  Once in Cat 3, you stay there or move to Cat 2 and beyond.  You cannot go back to Cat 4.

Please see the British Cycling Road Guide for an explanation of the license categories and the ranking structure of events within the UK.

Events

In order to enter an event, you will need to identify the details on say the British Cycling calendar or Surrey League Calendar and then send in an advance entry via the appropriate entry form.

Failing that some races may be identified as EOL - which means that entries can be accepted "on the line" where you just turn up, pay your entry and race - all of these will be subject to maximum numbers (so it is usually worth getting there in good time to avoid disappointment).

If you require any further information please contact the club Road Racing Secretary.