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Southern California Road Racing vs Rest of County
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Ever since I moved to San Diego, I've heard people tell me that the road racing scene in Southern California is better than anywhere else. I didn't get into racing crits or road races until I moved here, so it's hard for me to compare. From what I can tell, there are a ton of races which help riders gain racing skills. Are the riders here really that much stronger or better racers than other places in the country though?
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Re: Southern California Road Racing vs Rest of County [xrookiex] [ In reply to ]
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Anecdotally SoCal has great crit riders and good road racers, NorCal is reversed from SoCal. I would say California, Colorado, Florida produce the best talent and have the most active race scene.

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Re: Southern California Road Racing vs Rest of County [xrookiex] [ In reply to ]
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xrookiex wrote:
Ever since I moved to San Diego, I've heard people tell me that the road racing scene in Southern California is better than anywhere else. I didn't get into racing crits or road races until I moved here, so it's hard for me to compare. From what I can tell, there are a ton of races which help riders gain racing skills. Are the riders here really that much stronger or better racers than other places in the country though?

boy sets fire fan? or just a rookie who isn't sXe? heh
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Re: Southern California Road Racing vs Rest of County [xrookiex] [ In reply to ]
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it's tough but it's good for ya!
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Re: Southern California Road Racing vs Rest of County [xrookiex] [ In reply to ]
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I've lived in Boulder, San Diego and now Texas. My two cents below:

Colorado was the most difficult in my experience because there were more pro level riders competing in the local races. Even a local weekday crit or group ride could have a dozen pros on it. It took me three solid years of racing to make my way from Cat 5 to Cat 2. I swear nobody racing in Colorado works and everyone is a full-time cyclist!

SoCal is close behind but it is a different style of racing. It is more heavily dominated by the ultra competitive Master's scene. The speeds are much faster but that is due to there being more crit events. Don't get me wrong, the road races are certainly very fast and competitive in SoCal (for example, US Pro Champion Eric Marcotte raced week in and week out in most SoCal events) but Colorado was in a different league. It took a few months to make the jump from Cat 2 to Cat 1 while living there. I think it's because of the tremendous level of fitness most racers in Colorado have from training in the mountains all the time.

Texas has a very good road racing scene and is very similar to SoCal. Some very fast young riders as well as Master's. Not many domestic pros though. Course layouts make for some fast racing.

Lars Finanger
Odyssey SwimRun
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Re: Southern California Road Racing vs Rest of County [larsfinanger] [ In reply to ]
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I haven't raced in CO but concur, and will add that Nor Cal is pretty similar. Up until the UCI changed rules you'd have Levi, Brookwalter, Horner and whole teams Bissell showing up at weekend races. That will harden you up in a real hurry, and courses that aren't that selective are suddenly monsters. Heck, Lance, Levi and Horner showed up for the Nevada City Classic crit when he made his comeback. You still get domestic guys like Ben Jacques-Maynes (Pro Challenge KOM) toeing the line when not elsewhere.

Masters is also hyper competitive but more in road racing and less so crits than So Cal. Tons of former pros who have retired to geezer racing, which keeps you honest.
Last edited by: Carl Spackler: Aug 30, 14 22:21
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Re: Southern California Road Racing vs Rest of County [Carl Spackler] [ In reply to ]
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I think Colorado is probably the toughest place to go race if you don't live there. There is always a base altitude around 5k feet and everybody and their brother can climb like a monkey on crack.
Southern Cal just has so damn many riders, and the masters seem to be as tough and as deep as anywhere. If you race in smaller fields and go to Cali (North or South) the field size is amazing. I don't think they are better engines than anywhere else, but they polish the skills in big fields probably as good as anyone. They start young and learn fast.
I thought Illinois was pretty tough a long time ago, but that may not be as true as it was once. Texas in Spring is hard cause a bunch of riders from the Midwest go race down there to get the earlybird races. Lots or riders in Texas too. Austin races always seem to be big fields and plenty hard.
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