Is it just me or has the racing scene changed?

So many points raised in one post. 

First up, I'd say yes, road racing is quite elitist. Not so much in the equipment stakes, but certainly in mental positioning of many road racers. The reason for that is that it has a ridiculously hard point of entry level. 

A 4th cat rider still has to be very fit to be competitive, and alongside that fitness will also need to have developed a core set of riding competences too. 

From that starting point, its no wonder that a lot of road racers may come across as being a bit snobby, a bit aloof around the 'hairy legged chancer'. However, generally speaking, this does not last beyond an initial perception... most racers are fairly modest, and enjoy sharing something extreme with like minded individuals whatever the level. 

As for race popularity, I believe this is an unintended symptom of an initiative implemented by BC a few years back. 

Essentially across the country BC instilled a number of paid officers tasked with increasing participation in sporting competition. These people, by hook or by crook, have inevitably ended up with a significant influence in how regional race calendars look. 

These officers have KPI's around participation levels and grass root engagement. To achieve these, their focus is naturally around 4th and 3rd category events (as these achieve both; high participation levels and bringing new people into the sport) and they work hard to ensure organisers promote relevant 3 /4 cat events to this end. 

Its a win for the organiser as they get fuller fields, and for the riders that get in as they get an experience of riding in a big bunch like the tour de france.

So all good then?  Not quite.

3 and 4 cat events are being organised at the expense of E1 level events, which are being replaced with 234 cat races. This on one level makes total sense, there are loads less E1 cat riders so the calendar can't sustain as many of these events. 

But if you are an Elite or 1st cat rider, there are now very few events to ride, so many 1st cats have deliberately dropped back to 2nd cat. 

The knock on of this is that 234 races are faster than ever, and so now we are seeing 2nd cat riders doing the same, dropping a category down to 3rd cat so they can be competitive. 

Which means three things; 1, the development route for a budding racer is buggered... 2, the entry level to the sport is getting increasingly hard... 3, there are more eligible riders able to ride the events most people are trying to ride, so more people missing out on rides. Organisers have to select fields on something, and choosing riders that are part of a club actively supporting road racing seems fairer than many criteria, however it means that those wanting to try before the buy, are struggling to get rides. 

As for Power talk. Yes its annoying, but its also the biggest step forward in cycling in decades, so understandable. 

I have nothing to add on the cycling snobbery front, maybe Yorkshire isn't just as Yorkshire as it used to be. Plenty of money spent on bikes round by me, always has been to my mind, no one blinks when someone turns up on a clunker, quite the opposite, most want the clunker to beat the carbon electrics.

For my two penneth, my club has a set of routes which hasn't changed much ever, you can clearly see that the average speeds over the past few years have just shot up, and they keep going up seemingly, the whole club has just got faster and faster, the slow sunday group now averages 19/20, the fast group can average 23/24mph... the whippets, have got whippety'er.  It's changed our Sunday rides from being a come along everyone ride to being un-apologectically elitest indeed. (Don't get me wrong, we have rides all through the week for all types of rider, but the Sunday club run was the one which started it all, has now changed it's tone.)

My point being, that the sport is more mainstream, there are more people doing the sport, which means the 'top tier' gets squeezed, spaces in races aren't growing, but the demand for them is, yes I think racing is becoming more elitest.

What's the answer though?  More races - who's gonna run them, it's a thankless task at best. Open up the field to accept more people per race - that's a no go for safety reasons.

I think it doesn't seem inclusive if you let yourself think that way. It is very easy to think like that, I have done now and again but just get on and race with the kit you've got.

Cycling is quite an equipment driven sport so it will naturally seem like that, and racing even more so, unlike say running where you need some trainers and a pair of shorts plus t-shirt.

Training with power is just a time effective way of training, so people will talk about training and power naturally. Everyone does say CX is more inclusive though, and this is probably also because it's not effectively race over if you get dropped like it would be in road racing.

More marketing, more problems!

I used to race in the 80s (!) and there were proper tnucs round then, even when clubs were small. They had the best bikes and pro kit (benottos, colnagos, campy record) and never said hello. We just ignored them, or beat them. Half the club was like that, the other half really nice people.  Later me and mates moved to MTB when that kicked in because it was a lot more fun.

I don't really do clubs but there are two local clubs, one known for being racy and the other inclusive. I have ridden a couple of times with the latter and they are nice. I suspect the other club are intense. I guess if you want the intensity you can certainly find it, and if you want a more fun approach then you should find a nicer club, go MTBoing, CXing gravel riding. Road racing has always had a large proportion of arses in it - it's  a hard sport and those who take it seriously can get a bit wrapped up  in it.

The other point above is true too though, you are never quite sure what kind of rider someone is until you get to know them a bit and see through the gear. Sometimes it's the unexpected kind wheel at the end of an epic that really counts, not the attitude at the start line....

You can't buy results though, so get yourself into cat 2 asap

It's not just bike racing. Every amateur sport is like this now. People spend more money on it, pro-level gear is more accessible, everybody's trying to get some bragging rights for Instagram or the office. Before the internet came along, if you wanted to participate as a high-level amatuer in a given sport, you had to go and compete for a few years, rub along with people, learn from them and buy your gear from a shop who probably had to order it in for you. Now you can just do some cramming on Google, order your gear from Wiggle and turn up on day one ready to look down on people with aluminium frames and Decathlon shorts.

Well obviously; you have to take it more seriously than anyone else does, otherwise what's the point? What if a photographer from Rapha happens to show up to document the epic suffering you're dishing out, those black and white photos of you cresting the 3% mountain finish behind the industrial estate aren't going to make the cut if you're on some Fred bike with mismatched gear. It's a race mate, ether treat it with the respect it deserves or don't bother turning up. Next time, I want to know about your fasted training the day before, what your current blood sugar levels are, how many shades darker your tan lines are from the Mallorcan Training Camp, and wear your Isotropic HRM Sunglasses with HUD ffs, you look like you only just started cycling last week

What area was this? Yorkshire like the name suggests?

I tried a bit of crit racing last year and although the winners were generally from the bigger clubs and 'teams' there were still plenty there who were on 'reasonably priced' bikes and just there to test themselves. Unfortunately though, racing has got very serious due to its greater popularity and people are prepared to spend their hard earned on it and/ or spend lots of time training really hard to earn equipment sponsorships. Give it a few years and maybe the buzz from being a great cycling nation might die down a bit, the money will dry up and we can go back to how it was.

On the flip side though, club runs and even more casual groups are on the up too. There's often a load of different rides with different average speeds because there are more people getting into the scene. Is there a need to race any more if you aren't super serious about actually winning? I've found since I moved to where I am and keep slightly more regular hours that I'm overwhelmed with opportunities to have fast rides, or slow rides and if I really want to experience that racing buzz I'll go and do a closed-road sportive feel like Wiggo as I speed past all the choppers.

You could always try CX, I hear thats quite friendly.....