Originally Posted by
kevinabbot
Collegiate I think. It's good to know that downhill isn't a big thing, but I want to do distance races. Crits don't seem like my race because my opitimal race would be really hilly terrain and most crits are just laps in a city.
Why I asked is schools and conferences are different. Some schools are really into the points competition. Points are more based on participation than racing (they are both), but they will go many places deep and even finishing gets points for your school. There IS participation awarding.
So if you are at a school with a cycling team, you will likely do both, and maybe a TT, or TTT - for the good of the team.
From
https://www.usacycling.org/college
"Collegiate cycling is organized into eleven geographic conferences, each of which organizes local racing seasons, manages results and rankings, and makes collegiate cycling happen on the ground. "
I can't speak for the other conferences but the
RMCCC ? Home of the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cycling Conference kids even have a gravel race (road bikes on dirt), and depends what you mean by city
https://www.strava.com/segments/20439906?filter=overall, but yes, crits have laps. Some quite tough.
If you want to do extra work qet on the sites and find the races on Strava.
Of note is that the collegiate road racing season is a few months long at best and may have races canceled by snow in some areas - esp this year.
The MTB is fall is very big. Cross and track also, but less big. It takes bikes.
I would be the first to say select your college for what it will get you in your life (most prestigious schools tend to be weak on the cycling side), but the cycling part is very different between schools.