126kg to Cat 4 racer! What does Cat 4 mean?

Yeah mate!! Keep it up. You looks better than 126 kg. I just sharing how to lose weight fast process with buddies!

Check out The League International much more "user friendly" than the expensive British Cycling

Good on ya, Sam.

I too got back into cycling to lose weight and am now fitter than I've ever been. For me, I'm only really interested in competing against myself, faster times doing a particular course etc. (Oh, and off the bike watching clothes sizes gradually go down.) But whatever floats your boat...

A great advert for cycling, good luck next season.

Good luck Sam, as soon as you get a license you're a Cat 4!! If you manage to win a race you get 10 points and then your a Cat 3. Or if you get 10th ten times in a season you also go up to Cat 3, or 5th twice etc. Easy in theory, not so easy in practice as I found out last year by finding a number of different methods to do badly in a road race!! All the best, happy racing!!

Wow: nice work, Sam! Getting off the couch and on the bike is the hardest part, and look at you -- a picture's worth a thousand calories!

I agree with ilovemytinbred, get involved in TT's! they are the race of truth and doing the same course a few times is fun as you keep wanting to better the last time!..... if you are down in London one weekend, come down to the Addiscombe CC club run!

"it can seem like a hard task investigating who you have to pay for a race license, where you find out what races are on, whether you can compete in said races or even what a race license is."

Completely agree, eventually figured out that I should get a licence from BC this year. Turned up to a "go race" event at Redbridge cycle centre, for "Novices". I was the only one that turned up. I joked that it counted as a win, but it did annoy me really. I could have waited 2 hours for a later 3/4 cat race, but I'm pretty sure I would have been made to look silly so went home.
I then found a cat 4 series at Dunton, which has been recommended by club riders, went along to the last race there and loved it. Had to work hard but wasn't dropped, even had an albeit very very brief dig off the front. Was 24th from about 40 so was well happy.
Am planning on dropping myself even further into the unknown next year.

Be warned - once you get a taste for bike racing it's a hard habit to kick!

I started this year at the tender age of 43 and had plenty of ups and downs along the way, which are all charted in glorious detail here (best to start at the beginning for the full effect):

www.cyclingapprentice.com/why

Good luck next season!!

Nice going Sam

Good effort Sam ! You should have some good people at Stirling to put you in the right direction. There are quite a few races round about Central Scotland. Have you checked out the Braveheart site ? Plenty of events on there. I started with a club last year but don't race, though the training nights in the summer can be pretty competitive, (very). I'm not sure if I could race at the moment or ever really but maybe one day, good luck with the racing, I might see you on the roads round Stirling.

Have you considered doing some tts too? They are easy to get into and are well worth a try. I love em

I'd been riding for a fair while longer than you before entering my first race last year, as long as you know the basics of riding in a group and don't do too much work in your first couple you'll be fine! The pace might be a bit higher, around 18-22mph depending on the length of the race, but you'll enjoy it!

Good luck!

Mark

Nice one, Sam. I was in your position about a year ago - doing well in sportives, never raced before and wondering what it was all about. I've been writing a series of blogs about my experiences which you might find useful in parts:
http://www.shuttvr.com/tag/rookieveteranracer/

Best of luck,
Darren

Well done Sam, an inspiration to a lot of people i am sure. Unfortunately i cannot give you any guidance (i was going to say advice) but good luck with whatever road you end up racing down...