Cycling Ireland: License

Raam

Filling in my application. Am I S1, S2 or S3 for the National Category?

RobFowl

You can pick either s2 or s3 but need to get the points to get an s1

Raam

RobFowl wrote: »

You can pick either s2 or s3 but need to get the points to get an s1

S3 it is then

NeilMcEoigheann

why do i need a licence? and how much?

Raam

NeilMcEoigheann wrote: »

why do i need a licence? and how much?

To race. Ya fills in the forms, send it off, then they give you a website log in. At least that's how I think it works. Dunno what the prices are yet. Then you pay online.

http://www.cyclingireland.ie/html/site/resources/resource.jsp?cat=Cycling%20Ireland

henboy

Raam wrote: »

To race. Ya fills in the forms, send it off, then they give you a website log in. At least that's how I think it works. Dunno what the prices are yet. Then you pay online.

http://www.cyclingireland.ie/html/site/resources/resource.jsp?cat=Cycling%20Ireland

Licenses and Membership Fee's

06/01/2009

Anyone wanting to take out a racing license should contact Sinead, a club membership form will need to be filled out with everyones details, including email addresses.

Click here for a copy of the membership form (MS Word format)

Click here for a copy of the membership form (Image file)

Club membership for 2009 €35.00
Non-racing license €50.00
Racing license €115.00 " Hope this help's "

NeilMcEoigheann

and for example i don't want to race and i'm not in a club can i enter the Wicklow200

Raam

NeilMcEoigheann wrote: »

and for example i don't want to race and i'm not in a club can i enter the Wicklow200

Indeed you can.

E@gle.

Tick the S3 box you can apply to be a S2 i think but you need a reason say you were a s2 and you took a few years off etc, but your better off starting out as a S3 or a "c".

If you are a student you can get the licensce half price

smithslist

prices last yr was around ~115 for the full yr & insurance (not much but its something) for a full racing license.

tbh its good value even if you are not planning to race that much, if u only decide to do bout 8-10 races a yr, you get your moneys worth.

If you don't have a license and want to do one race, you need to get a one day license which last yr was 15e, knowing cycling ireland im sure its gone up this yr ;-)

do remember when you have a license you still have to pay the sign-on fee for that race, usually 10-15e per race.

also 'you have being warned' if you get a s2 license, some races you can start with the s1 riders.

E@gle.

actually full racing licensec has gone up by €5 so its now €120

Morgan

Full list of fees here:

http://www.cyclingireland.ie/download/2009_Fees_V5.xls?id=MzEz

The licences are considerably more expensive if you're not a member of a club.

smithslist

E@gle. wrote: »

actually full racing license has gone up by €5 so its now €120

still good price, but with these economy times it should decrease in price, to both a) get more people cycling and joining and b) keep the current cyclists


i maybe wrong saying one day license was 15e this year, i am not fully sure......if they were thou they have gone down 5e, as they are 10e for 2009.

RobFowl

The S3's usually race with the Vet's juniors and women. The racing is a bit chaotic and the bike handling skill's often leave a bit to be desired. The S2's tend to be more organised and the racing is not as stop/start. Too often though they're lumped in with the S1's (maybe given a small head start).
I'd go for the S3 but stay at the front or the back !

Quigs Snr

Hey henboy, did you just post up the message I put on the comeragh site ! Those are comeragh cc membership forms in the links ! No good to anyone unless you are coming down to Waterford to join us (you are of course all welcome !)

By the way, if you are only doing a handful of races you can get one day licenses for 10 euros a pop. (on top of that entry for most single day races is an additional 10 euro whether you have a license or not)

Raam, its S3 for you.

S2 race with S1 (there are some S2 only races). In a handicap race you will get a few minutes (rarely enough!), for most races you will start with the A's. Average speeds are higher and the distances are further... e.g. an S3 race might be 2 laps, the S3 might be 3 as is the case with the race in Navan in March. In other words for that particular race S3's will do 80k, S1's will do 120k (at perhaps 4-5kph higher speed).

S3 is tough enough to be honest, the racing can be chaotic and its important to stay out of trouble. The vets and juniors rule the roost really. Last year the winners were vets and juniors most weeks (These same guys won most of the A races they entered, one won the European Junior track championships !). So make no mistake the standard is high at the business end of things if you can get into a good break in particular (it all tends to settle down after the winning break has gone away). There are a lot of plebs in it though, so although I don't plan on racing a full season this year due to work, I hope to get going in the middle of the season and I will ride mostly S2 races form permitting(although I will do the odd S3 if its a course or race that I know well and attracts the right type of turnout - heres a hint, if the race is near Dublin the number of riders is often a lot higher but the standard of riding is significantly lower - look out for the lads with no club jersey, a lot of them do very, very stupid things indeed probably because they are not used to riding in a large bunch). I saw at least 4 serious crashes last season and 3 of those were caused by some lunatic doing something stupid. You still get that in the A races but it's much rarer.

I tell you what though you really feel the difference between S3 and S2/S1 races. Those extra couple of miles an hour really make a difference.

There are a handful or S3 only races also with no juniors or vets and they are considerably easier too if you can stay upright. I was at 2 of those races, Ashford and Bohermeen and surprise surprise, serious crashes in both. But the pace was training pace and they finished in bunch sprints - in other words the Juniors and Vets bring up the standard considerably.

Chips Lovell

Quigs Snr wrote: »

By the way, if you are only doing a handful of races you can get one day licenses for 10 euros a pop. (on top of that entry for most single day races is an additional 10 euro whether you have a license or not)

This is what I'm doing this year. I'm doing my club league, and a few open races, but probably not enough to justify the full license fee, so I'll pay the daily rate.

Quigs Snr wrote: »

The vets and juniors rule the roost really. Last year the winners were vets and juniors most weeks

I've already found this out. The vets will eat you alive.

henboy

Quigs Snr wrote: »

Hey henboy, did you just post up the message I put on the comeragh site ! Those are comeragh cc membership forms in the links ! No good to anyone unless you are coming down to Waterford to join us (you are of course all welcome !)

By the way, if you are only doing a handful of races you can get one day licenses for 10 euros a pop. (on top of that entry for most single day races is an additional 10 euro whether you have a license or not)

Raam, its S3 for you.

S2 race with S1 (there are some S2 only races). In a handicap race you will get a few minutes (rarely enough!), for most races you will start with the A's. Average speeds are higher and the distances are further... e.g. an S3 race might be 2 laps, the S3 might be 3 as is the case with the race in Navan in March. In other words for that particular race S3's will do 80k, S1's will do 120k (at perhaps 4-5kph higher speed).

S3 is tough enough to be honest, the racing can be chaotic and its important to stay out of trouble. The vets and juniors rule the roost really. Last year the winners were vets and juniors most weeks (These same guys won most of the A races they entered, one won the European Junior track championships !). So make no mistake the standard is high at the business end of things if you can get into a good break in particular (it all tends to settle down after the winning break has gone away). There are a lot of plebs in it though, so although I don't plan on racing a full season this year due to work, I hope to get going in the middle of the season and I will ride mostly S2 races form permitting(although I will do the odd S3 if its a course or race that I know well and attracts the right type of turnout - heres a hint, if the race is near Dublin the number of riders is often a lot higher but the standard of riding is significantly lower - look out for the lads with no club jersey, a lot of them do very, very stupid things indeed probably because they are not used to riding in a large bunch). I saw at least 4 serious crashes last season and 3 of those were caused by some lunatic doing something stupid. You still get that in the A races but it's much rarer.

I tell you what though you really feel the difference between S3 and S2/S1 races. Those extra couple of miles an hour really make a difference.

There are a handful or S3 only races also with no juniors or vets and they are considerably easier too if you can stay upright. I was at 2 of those races, Ashford and Bohermeen and surprise surprise, serious crashes in both. But the pace was training pace and they finished in bunch sprints - in other words the Juniors and Vets bring up the standard considerably.

Hi Quigs Snr. I'm from Waterford my self, I taught the information might be useful to someone.

Quigs Snr

Hey Henboy, don't get me wrong, I have no problem with it ! do you ride with the club ?

smithslist

Quigs Snr wrote: »

look out for the lads with no club jersey, a lot of them do very, very stupid things indeed probably because they are not used to riding in a large bunch).

another hint is watch out for rider number, two things:
1) each rider who gets a full year license will get a license from cycling ireland, color of the number depends of category, but if you are a bunch know your category colors and if you see a number of different color then avoid that rider.
2) if you see a marker writing number then he\she is a one day license holder, so avoid also.

Now i not saying that one day licenses cause all the accidents within races, some one day riders i know are well experienced etc, but in general watch out for them. if you race regularly then you will know who is dangerous or not, and if your not racing regularly then ask someone you know about it.

Quigs Snr wrote: »

There are a handful of S3 only races also with no juniors or vets and they are considerably easier too if you can stay upright. I was at 2 of those races, Ashford and Bohermeen and surprise surprise, serious crashes in both. But the pace was training pace and they finished in bunch sprints - in other words the Juniors and Vets bring up the standard considerably.

Quigs Snr, every year there is crashes in those races, any s3 race is bound to have a crash, the only safe place is in a breakaway or front of the bunch.

el tonto wrote: »

The vets will eat you alive.

+1

you mentioned it to non-cycling people that a vet won the race and they'll laugh bout it as they think of a really old person kicking your arse!!!! but joking aside vets are v.strong, and some of the come from a background of being in a s1\s2 bunch riding a bike for yrs.

henboy

Quigs Snr wrote: »

Hey Henboy, don't get me wrong, I have no problem with it ! do you ride with the club ?[/quote

Hey Quigs Snr --no problem at all ,I don't ride with the club.I'm not fit enough for the weekend spin . But i'm working on that.At the moment i do about 60km at 13.5 mph .I'm only on the bike 6 months after a long term injury.But Comeragh CC from what i see " GREAT CLUB"

Vélo

Is there any point in getting some form of licence if you've no intention of racing and just want to do a few sportives?

TinyExplosions

Aquinas73 wrote: »

Is there any point in getting some form of licence if you've no intention of racing and just want to do a few sportives?

Not really -you can get one day licences for all events, so if you're doing ubder 10 or 20 it's not really all that worth while

Freddy687

What ever about getting a racing license, you should def take out some form of license. If only for the insurance cover provided by cycling Ireland.
Last year I took out the cycling member license €35, I think, as I was not going to any open races.
This year I will race and have applied for the racing license, even though i will only do 5-6 races. Easier that getting the one day as it is one less thing to sort before a race.

Dan_85

Hey read through the posts there. i heard somewhere that the licensing was changing for 2010, basically my understanding is this... new riders novice or s3 will only be able to ride against their equal counterparts but can still race a race with s2 and s1 riders but at the finish line they will be classified by they're category. is this correct? also am i correct in saying that you don't need points to be in the s2 category, i always thought it was that once you'd achieved a particular amount of points that you move up categories or is this only at s2 to s1 between a's and b's?

really like this forum really useful.

Quigs Snr

Dan, I think the licenses will be A1, A2, A3 and A4 this year plus a pro category. The A4 category will be where you will start. This will be newbies and previous S3's who have no points on their license..

A lower license category can usually race with higher ones. e.g. an S3 last year could ride an A race (with a few exceptions notably the National championships where you needed to be S2 or above). If you were an S3 last year and wanted to ride the nationals you could apply to upgrade to S2. No points are required, technically you need a reason but in effect it was no trouble at all, just call up and say I want to ride the nationals, pay a small processing fee and viola, 1 week later a new license. Of course then you are stuck at S2 and have to send a grovelling letter when the season is over with another fee to try get your S3 license back.

If there is a combined race e.g. Juniors, Vets, A4 and A3, in general the points will go to the first 6 across the line (first 10 in some of the larger races) whilst there might be a prize for the first in each category that finished outside of the top 6. It really does vary from race to race. Some races have more prizes for the various categories then others, the races in wexford for example have a prize for the first unplaced wexford rider, whilst other races have a prize for first unplaced rider from the host club etc....

In general though top 6 or top 10 is where its at..

chakattack

I intend to start racing this year and do plenty of sportives.

I'm 24, 5'7" 68 kg cycling about 18 months mostly commuting and not much structured training except progressively longer Sunday spins in the lead up to WW200. I've little experience of group riding and I'm a good climber relative to club riders on WW200 and SK160.

Have been training sporadically over the winter (5-10 hr/week) doing long steady distance and weight training when I can't cycle (ice) with a personal best for the winter of 110 k @ 30.8 km/hr solo round trip.

My Plan:

(1) Join Dublin Wheelers ASAP
(2) 4 weeks structured winter training ending with Lumpy 200
(3) Start training for speed and power with Heart Rate Monitor. Hill repeats, intervals etc.

Where would this place me as an A4 rider in spring? Will I get my ass kicked?

What advice can you offer for a racing newbie?

Diarmuid

chakattack wrote: »

Will I get my ass kicked?

Even if you do, you still have to start somewhere!

Quigs Snr

Nothing prepares you for your first race. Get as fit as you can, learn how to ride in a bunch, go out there and hope for the best. Come back the following week and do better. Repeat until standing in yellow in Paris.

Zipp101

Quigs Snr wrote: »

Nothing prepares you for your first race. Get as fit as you can, learn how to ride in a bunch.

If you are to pick up anything in your first season let it be this.Far too many races are ruined by reckless bike handling.My advice would be to be predictable in a bunch.

blorg

chakattack wrote: »

(1) Join Dublin Wheelers ASAP

Where would this place me as an A4 rider in spring? Will I get my ass kicked?

What advice can you offer for a racing newbie?

As others have suggested the bike handling may be more of an issue than the pace, it certainly was for me and while I could hold my position in a bunch I found my first five or six races terrifying from a handling point of view. Of course holding your position is a very different thing to prevailing in the sprint!

I would start by joining a club ASAP and riding in the club league. Racing is completely different from group/training spins and you will only learn by doing it. The club leagues have good handicapping systems and smaller bunches than open races and so are an ideal place to start. If you have very little experience with group riding definitely do the club league first (and indeed start with your club's training spins immediately, you will learn the basics of up and over riding there.)

So make sure your club has a good active league- I am not 100% sure about Dublin Wheelers, I know they have a Club TT league but you need practice in mass start racing.

Orwell/Tiernans/Lucan/Usher/UCD run a combined league with 21 races which is excellent, with the five clubs there is a good level of participation with races alternating between Brittas and Batterstown. Races on Thursday nights.

Swords CC have a single club league but with visitors and I believe good attendances. Also 21 races. I think if you join Dublin Wheelers you can take part in the Swords league. Races are on Wednesday nights.

chakattack

Dublin Wheelers are my "local" club but would Swords be better for racing?

full gas

no reason not to join dublin wheelers , great club ,and they are your local club ,so go fo go for it , as for getting results no reason if you get stuck in to the training that you could be up to an a2 by the end of the year if not better , just get the miles in for now and dont be afraid to get stuck in , you will learn fast

ED E

E@gle. wrote: »

If you are a student you can get the licensce half price

Nice, thats a good incentive:) That said I'm nowhere near racing yet...

blorg

chakattack wrote: »

Dublin Wheelers are my "local" club but would Swords be better for racing?

To an extent it doesn't really matter how local the club is as league races and often even training spins tend to take place away from the nominal location of the club itself. What you need is access to a good club league. I found this on their site indicating that they haven't run a road race league for a while.

But to the best of my knowledge if you join Dublin Wheelers you can take part in the Swords league. I don't think it matters much whether you are a DWCC or Swords member, key thing is just that you can race in a league. You might want to confirm this with a Swords member but looking at the league results this year there seem to be DWCC people in there.

You can also get a lot of practice time trialling in DWCC's own TT league which I wouldn't mind more of myself (not sure if they take visitors.)

RobFowl

Dublin Wheelers members are and will remain very welcome at the Swords club league.

Raam

blorg wrote: »

You can also get a lot of practice time trialling in DWCC's own TT league which I wouldn't mind more of myself (not sure if they take visitors.)

I think it was limited to DWCC and Swords riders only. I rode a load of them as did quite a few others from Swords. Contact them and let them know you are interested in riding it, assuming it is on again.

showry

Not sure if this has been asked already but what's the difference between a Full Competition and Restricted Competition license?
I was going to upgrade from a Club Competition to Full Competition this year but saw the Restricted one in between.

RobFowl

showry wrote: »

Not sure if this has been asked already but what's the difference between a Full Competition and Restricted Competition license?
I was going to upgrade from a Club Competition to Full Competition this year but saw the Restricted one in between.

It limits you to open TT's
(as well as full club competition)

Quigs Snr

All that training you are doing Showry, you should be lining out for the RAS. Full license for you. I will need someones wheel to suck.

DU.LLAHAN

chakattack wrote: »

Have been training sporadically over the winter (5-10 hr/week) doing long steady distance and weight training when I can't cycle (ice) with a personal best for the winter of 110 k @ 30.8 km/hr solo round trip.

Where would this place me as an A4 rider in spring? Will I get my ass kicked?

What advice can you offer for a racing newbie?

Just reading this thread and the following 2 questions came into my head What would the standard be for a4 riders? what distances covered?
I know nothing about cycling but want to.

blorg

Distance is really not relevant at all. I've done up to 325km on audax, over 1,000km multi-day, yet a 40km club league race will be punishing.

It really is about pace and finishing speed, not distance.

Open races vary, there are crit type courses which are basically an hour, other races may be 90-100km for S3 last year. I only did 2 open races, rest was the club league.

Only one way to find out! Joining a club and doing a league is a good idea.

Quigs Snr

Average C race is 80km. Some can be as little as 50km, some as much as 100km. Most are around 80. Pace varies - around 40kph on a flatish course, 37-38kph on rolling roads.. All irrelevant of course as you are riding in a bunch getting towed along and unless you have done that before you really have nothing to compare it to. There isn't really a "riding solo" benchmark to compare it to.

robs1

have to agree with the nothing compared to riding in a bunch.i done the ride for life cycle in killarney last year and rode with the group for the whole time and could not get over how much you are dragged along.i usually just go out by myself but am looking into joining a club for the new year and getting my license sorted out.

showry

Quigs Snr wrote: »

All that training you are doing Showry, you should be lining out for the RAS. Full license for you. I will need someones wheel to suck.

Jesus Quigs, I hope for your sake your ambitions are loftier than that.

bikenut

blorg wrote: »

Open races vary, there are crit type courses which are basically an hour, other races may be 90-100km for S3 last year. I only did 2 open races, rest was the club league.

Quigs Snr wrote: »

Average C race is 80km. Some can be as little as 50km, some as much as 100km. Most are around 80.

I'm new to organised cycling (hoping to do Orwell club league this year but maybe an open race as well). Could someone explain the difference between S1/S2/S3, A/B/C, and the A1/A2/A3/A4 everyone's talking about. Is A1-A4 the new S1-S3 or is C equal to A3/A4?

Do these only apply to open races or are they used for handicapping the club league?

I know I'll be A4 but just interested to know.

"organised cycling"..that sounds a bit like organised crime.. probably not the best word but you know what I mean.. talking of crime, I'd take a zero tolerance approach to interval training - that stuff really should be illegal.

IM0

bikenut wrote: »

Could someone explain the difference between S1/S2/S3, A/B/C, and the A1/A2/A3/A4 everyone's talking about. Is A1-A4 the new S1-S3 or is C equal to A3/A4?

forget all that except the last bit, there is a new system now
A1-A4, all you have to worry about is A4 as your new and have to start off there.

Do these only apply to open races or are they used for handicapping the club league?

they are used to handicap the club leagues usually. but also more 'how your going lately' too

I'd take a zero tolerance approach to interval training - that stuff really should be illegal.

its a somewheat necesary poison for racing perperation
you cant do the time..dont do the crime

Raam

Has anyone successfully paid online for their license?
I get this error...

Payment failed:
[ test system ] Using test system. Please use pre-approved test cards ONLY

Beasty

Raam wrote: »

Has anyone successfully paid online for their license?
I get this error...

Payment failed:
[ test system ] Using test system. Please use pre-approved test cards ONLY

Get your card approved - PM me the card number, expiry date, name on card, home address and CVV number and I'll sort it out for you




then I'll resurrect the "should have left the credit card at home" thread

Home:Ballyhoura

Raam wrote: »

Has anyone successfully paid online for their license?
I get this error...

Payment failed:
[ test system ] Using test system. Please use pre-approved test cards ONLY

From Cycling Ireland:

ONLINE REGISTRATION

26/01/2010
Payment function currently unavailable


Please note that we are currently undergoing some construction on our new website - to make it more user friendly. Apologies for any inconveniences for those registering, and those trying to contact us.

The online process is up and running, but we will shortly be providing more info to explain how to re-register, as some people are having some difficulties.

The online payment function is currently disabled, as we are working on some related features. If you need a licence urgently please email info@cyclingireland.ie and if you want to pay for it with immediate effect you can either post us cash/cheques, or email us your credit card details. You can also try calling us, but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to take your call.

Home:Ballyhoura

Quick question, what racing licence category would a 11 year old girl apply for (will be 12 in November)? Is it true they have a 2 year handicap on boys or something, so would it be an U10 (which seems to be free) or U12 (€5)? Thanks

Home:Ballyhoura

Home:Ballyhoura wrote: »

Quick question, what racing licence category would a 11 year old girl apply for (will be 12 in November)? Is it true they have a 2 year handicap on boys or something, so would it be an U10 (which seems to be free) or U12 (€5)? Thanks

Anyone? I will just ring them in the morning if I get no response, thanks guys!