Still thinking whether to race or not?
I was in this situation once, and I expressed this to a friend of mine.
He said, "You have to make a decision whether you want to pretend or contend"! "Which is it"?
Naturally I said "Contend".
That is how racing started for me.
It is a completely different mind set to pretending.
All of a sudden you will have racing goals.
Non-racing rides will have a more specific goal in mind (training to contend the unknown and win).
Cycling becomes more purposeful and personal.
You will no longer be a person riding a bike, but a racer.
Racers race. That is what they do.
If you are thinking about racing, then the racer in you wants to race.
How about it? Want to think like a racer? Then join a racing club.