starting to race

[I am Spartacus]

Although it is getting towrds the end of season, have a look if there are still some club timetrials close by. A 10 is a great intro to performance/competitive riding. Club tens mean you just rock up (on any bike, no one cares) and pays your 2,3 or 4 quid 'on the door'.
Bunch racing for vets is actually very popular at the moment, more races than I can actually cope with in my area.
Check out the websites http://www.tlicycling.org.uk
and http://lvrc.org/
Races do demand good bike handling and awareness, if you have never ridden in close quarters to other riders before then picking up this skill in club rides or informal training rides with a couple of like minded mates only makes for common sense.

 

[bianchi1]

If you can hang on a couple of months most clubs will run a reliability ride in January or February. While these are not real races they are a good place to pick up some bunch etiquette, and if you get yourself in a fast'ish bunch it will give you a good indication of what racing is like.

You should be able to find a few over the winter, and they only cost a couple of quid.