Cost$

First, the good news:  not all of these costs that I'm about to describe have to come at once.  You can easily spread many of them out, and perhaps the cycling team you are on can defer some of the costs through sponsorships or club bike pools. Cycling is not an inexpensive sport, but it is comparable to many others (skiing, golf, dirt bikes, and equestrian sports come to mind..). Unfortunately, many items used by Juniors are literally outgrown in a season (maybe twice) - making the sport far more expensive to Juniors than to masters! This is the basis for our Classifieds section - you can reduce the cost of the sport by using used equipment (and even clothing), as used equipment typically sells for about 1/2 the original price.

Equipment Costs Bicycle (used) $ 500 Racing Wheels $ 300 Extra tubes & tires $  60 Helmet $  50 Pedals/cleats $  75 Trainer $ 100 Computer/HRM $  70 Aero bars $ 100

Clothing Costs Jersey $  50 Shorts (get a good pair!) $  50 Arm/leg warmers $  40 Jacket $  30 Rain jacket (clear) $  20 Shoes $ 100

Basic Tools Floor Pump $ 40 4/5/6mm Tri (Allen) Wrench $  6 Chain whip (2) $ 30 Cassette tool $ 10 Bottom bracket tool $ 15 Headset wrench $ 10 Crankset removal tool $ 15 Spoke wrench $  8

Travel Costs (4) overnite trips (lodging, food) $ 500 gas, mileage $ 150

  Of course, all of these are estimates, actual costs may vary widely.  But they will add up, so be prepared!