Road racing comprises two disciplines: road racing and criterium racing. Road races are anywhere from 30-120 miles long; the shorter races will usually be circuit races, held on relatively short circuits, which the riders cover many times. Longer road races can either be raced on longer loops or as point to point races. Road races test a rider's endurance, as they are raced at a high average speed. Courses vary from pan flat to brutally hilly. As well as allowing riders to show there expertise at such disciplines as sprinting and climbing, road races also allow riders to show their technical mastery of skills such as riding along no-handed at 30 mph while eating lunch, or urinating while travelling along at a similar speed.

Crits are short and sharp. They are held on courses that should be around one mile long and should have at least four sharp corners. Because the courses are short, crits are often held in spectacular town centre locations. Crits hurt more than just about any other cycling discipline. They are raced from the gun, meaning if you don't get clipped into your pedals quickly, your race is probably already over. Crits are either raced to a set distance or raced for a designated amount of time. They are shorter than road races and are thus raced much harder from the start. If you're racing a crit properly, you should see blue spots floating through your field of vision and your lungs should seriously hurt. Crits are, obviously, great fun.