Competitive Cycling is a sports activity that has been encountering a rise in worldwide recognition in the last ten years. For a number of years, the number of professional competitive cyclists has been increasing, with more and more cyclists entering sanctioned races around the world. Certainly the Tour de France and Lance Armstrong did much to organically add to the sport?s recognition. The United States? recent Olympic cycling prominence has additionally been attributed to as a element in the sport?s rise to popularity. The American cycling team won five medals at the Beijing Olympic Games, which is the most ever for a U.S. Cycling Team.

Cycling as a sport brings together strength, fitness, strategy, coordination, endurance and precision. The sports athletes are typically in top shape since the sport mandates it in order to succeed. Cycling is divided into three basic categories – road races, track races and off-road races. Each class is made up of different events. And lastly, events are often divided by age and ability into Juniors, Seniors and Masters. Seniors, those riders in the 19-29 age class also race in ability categories. Category 1 is elite with national race experience. Masters, those riders over 30, are sometimes divided by age and ability.

For this article, we?ll target the several types of Road Races, and save Track Events and Off-Road races for a forthcoming article. Road events not surprisingly take place on paved roads in an urban or rural area, and quite often a combination of the two. Races can be a flat course, a mountainous course – or a combination of the two – which allows races to have a wide selection of assorted challenges due to the topography. Road races are classic bike racing and events are held on every continent. (Now doesn?t the idea of a road race in Antarctica sound intriguing?)

Road Races are separated into five kinds of events.

The Road Race: These races are mass-start events held on open roads. Consider the start of a marathon, only for bicycles and you?ve got a proper picture of what these events look like. Racers ride in groups, corner at high speeds, take turns being the front of pace lines and use strategy to find tactical spots to try and break away from the pack. The first cyclist to ride across the finish line is the winner. The race?s course can be from point to point, from town to town or on a circuit where the start and finish lines are in the same place. Road races come in varied lengths and distances up to over one hundred miles long. The Tour de France, for example, is over 2,200 miles.

The Criterium: This is a short road race set on a circuit. A Criterium usually takes place on city streets that are closed to traffic. The distance per lap varies from 1/3 of a mile to 2 miles. A Criterium is a mass start race that takes place at high speeds, making it an exciting race to both watch and participate in.

Hill Climb: During this type of race the cyclists race towards a finish line that is at a higher elevation than the starting line. Hill Climbs can be either mass start or individual time trial style.

Time Trial: A time trial is a team or individual race over a fixed distance. Cyclists race against the clock. Riders start individually at timed intervals. The rider with the fastest time wins. The length of the race varies.

Stage Race: This type of race is a combination of some or all of the road events: road race, criterium, hill climb and time trial. The Stage Races are held over a period of time ranging from two to 14 days. The winner is determined by totaling each cyclist?s time for all the individual events. The lowest overall time is the winner.

Cycling is an exciting and dynamic sport. It is easy to get started in the sport as all you need is a bike and a road or mountain to ride it on.
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