If you want to go bike racing, it definitely helps if your dad?s a drug trafficker or a Saudi arms dealer. That kind of thing. Or at least has the bank account of one. But most of us aren?t as lucky as that. Because it’s difficult to go racing on a budget. Most of us are overworked and underpaid and by the time her indoors has had her fortnight in the sun once a year, the kids have had another pair of shoes and you?ve put food on the table for the umpteenth time today, there’s probably not a lot left over.

But if the wife?s disappeared with your (better looking, but dull as dishwater) next door neighbour, the dependants have gone to try and catch chlamydia at university and all of a sudden you find yourself with the odd spare weekend and a few extra pennies rattling around in the bottom or your piggy bank, it?s probably time to go bike racing. It?s not cheap, but you can go racing on a budget if you know how. And if you do it right, it might just be the best thing you?ve ever done. So to whet your whistle, here?s the top five ways to go bike racing on a budget, in the UK.
CB500s

They might not be the sexiest bikes on the planet. And if you?re going racing to try and get your end away, a Honda CB500 (or ?Pig? as they?re affectionately known) might not be the route to go down. But for going racing on a budget and for smiles per pound you could do a lot worse. A reasonably competitive bike will set you back about £2,000, and it?ll hold its money fair...