Road Racing in our area.

Despite living in an area with some of the busiest roads, we are lucky to be close to probably the UK's most successful local road racing league, the Surrey League, founded in 1974 by ex pro Keith Butler. There are now around 150 league events a year held in the Surrey/Sussex region. These are not just single day road races but include evening and handicap races, circuit races at Goodwood, Dunsfold, Eelmore and Chertsey MOD, stage races over 2 , 3 and 5 day, time trials and hilly time trials.
The League is affiliated to British Cycling (formerly the BCF). To race you will have to join BC and take out a BC race licence as well as joining the Surrey League. Entry fees are usually £8 to £11 per event.

This does make the cost of starting in road racing quite high but the Surrey league does pay some of the money back at the end of the year. The prize money is accumulated through points won in races over the season.

Surrey Cycle Racing League - SIS/Fit-For Beginners Races.

Check out the Surrey League's Road Racing Calendar
There are 4th Cat beginners races which are to be held on traffic free road circuits at:
Hillingdon Cycle Racing Circuit, Springfield Road, Hayes, Middx, UB4;
MOD Chertsey (Quinetiq), Chobham Lane, Longcross, Surrey KT16

Riders will be put into small groups and will race under the supervision of a qualified coach or an Elite standard rider. You will be taught the basics on how to ride in a fast moving group, how to corner, follow a wheel, make a break from the group and sprint for the finish. The races will be fairly short but you will get a chance to race more than once. Between each event and at the end you will have the opportunity to talk with the qualified coaches and Elite standard riders and pick up tips and gain from their experience.

These races are open to any rider that has not raced before and those British Cycling members who have only a 4th category racing licence.

Any rider who is not a member of British Cycling will need to take out a day membership for insurance purposes.

The cost for BC members to enter each day of racing is £12.00.
The cost for non-BC members to enter each day of racing is £16.00.

Surrey Cycle Racing League.

The Surrey Cycle Racing League is the UK's largest and most successful road racing league. The Surrey League, as it is more commonly known, provided racing for over 1400 riders during its extensive 2004 programme of events for all abilities and ages.

After a cycle racing career that saw him as National Amateur Champion in 1962, National Professional Champion in 1964 and spending four years racing as a professional in Belgium, Keith Butler started the Surrey League in 1983 after promoting his first road race the previous year.

In 1983 the Surrey League had only 16 affiliated clubs and promoted 28 races. In 2004 the Surrey League had 77 affiliated clubs and promoted over 100 days of racing. Events are held most weekends between the months of February and November and on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evening during the summer months.

The Surrey League promotes races for all abilities and ages. During the summer months the Surrey League run events every Tuesday evening at Goodwood and every Wednesday evening at Eelmore for all riders, including Youths, in a traffic free environment. These events are ideal for those new to racing. Although the Surrey League is aimed more at the “grass route” level, it does promote many events for Elite riders including one of the longest stage races in the UK, the Revolutions 5 Day.

As well as promoting road races the Surrey League also takes teams of riders to many events at home and abroad. The Surrey League can be seen regularly competing in Ireland at the Tour of the North, the Tour of Munster and the Ras. The Surrey League also enter a team of women in the National Women's Team Series which has rounds all over the UK including a round in Ireland.

Contacts.

Chief Executive Keith Butler This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Membership & web site Glyn Durrant This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Results & Rankings Kristin Durrant This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Race Entries Melanie Prince This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Coach John Leitch This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

League of Veteran Racing Cyclists.

Another option for those aged 40 and above is the League of Veteran Racing Cyclists which promote Vets races in the UK. This is an inexpensive, but the downside is that there are few races in the South.
The races are organised by age group, 40 - 45 GROUP A, 46 - 50 GROUP B, and so on. There are usually two races in each event ABC & DEFG.

This year the LVRC national AB championship race is at Fareham in Hampshire.

Crawley Wheelers Road Racing Secretary - Bernie Simpson - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it