If you want to get into road racing you will need several things over and above getting fit:
1) A helmet
2) A racing licence - which you physically need to take and give in at races.
3) Enter a race - usually in advance.
Everything else is non-essential, although it does mean that you will have to endure the (at times) unfathomable British Cycling website.
Many people recommend joining a club. Although I haven't done so, this is good advice. It will give you some experience of riding in a group very close to other riders, and will give you a chance to learn etiquette away from the speed of racing. Road racing is either a) on the road, or b) on a closed circuit like Hillingdon or Crystal Palace. Both have pros and cons. Many people start out circuit racing due to their being no cars to hit.
There are lots of rules for cycling which you can find here:
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/staticcontent/bcst_rulebook_and_constitution
Thankfully most of them are common sense, and there is no test to check you have read them.
You will need a racing licence though. If you want to score points you will need a full race licence (Silver or Gold). If you want to just have a go then a Bronze licence will do. More details are here:
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/membership/article/compare-membership-packages
Details of forthcoming races are also on the BC website which is searchable by date, race type etc etc
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events
If you want to road race you will need to enter in advance (although it is possible to enter on the day you won't be guaranteed a ride). Some of the closed circuit races are easier to enter on the day.
You can also keep track of your progress, and those of any other BC member. Mine is shown here:
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/points?person_id=134086&year=2011&d=4
As with most things in life it is more difficult to explain than it is in reality. Once you have the three things above turn up and have fun. That's the most important thing after all.
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