How to enter a cycling race.

One night last week I saw a post on Facebook calling out for more female participants in the Goulburn Great Divide Race. The organiser was appealing to the women's cycling group for more participants to support the event so it could continue. 

So, being all obsessed with cycling as I am, I thought this might be an interesting experiment. 
I set myself a challenge to find out what it takes to be a competitor in a cycling race and what it takes to organise one.

What I want to know about the race before signing up.
As a first time racer before getting myself into anything crazy, I had a few things I wanted clarification:

• How long is the race? 
• What is the route? Road surface, elevation, turns 
• Is it safe? Is it a supported race? Are the roads blocked off? Will I be safe?
• What's are the other competitors like? How fast are we talking?
• Where and when do I need to be there?

Sign me up already
When it came to actually registering for the race it was all a bit confusing. 
I was sent to the race event website but then couldn't enter the competition because I wasn't registered as a race. 
So first you need to register with  Cycling Australia and nominate a membership "type". The website's a bit confusing but the types are:

• Race Elite - For all the crazy bike races; nationally & within clubs
• Race Masters - For club races (this is what I needed)
• Recreational - Commuters 
• Non-riding - Fans of cycling

The Steps to register in a race:

1. Register with Cycling Australia with a club 
2. Register for the race via Cycling NSW (or whoever is organising the race)

What should you do when you stuff up your registration?
I stuffed up the Cycling Australia membership and couldn't enter the race. But I was able to call up the office and was relieved to find a real person offering help.

Registration complete but where is the info pack? 
I received the registration complete email, but still waiting on the complete details of the race. Details are to be released the tuesday before the race, so the wait begins.
Not sure what time I start, what I need to bring, where I should be meeting people. 

Some info I found

Strava activity from last year's participant: http://www.strava.com/activities/178669297/segments/4178269918
Route I created in mapmyride: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/829471375
Last year's results: http://nsw.cycling.org.au/Events-Results/Results/2014-goulburn-great-divide-road-race-results - First place time was 1h21 mins. That's fast. 


So the 1 week countdown to the race....