3 THINGS I WOULD DO IF I WERE THE KING OF USA CYCLING
WELLLLLLL, AFTER A HOT SHOWER AND SOME TIME TO REFLECT, I've driven back to the circuit race to soak in the vibe. We had an interesting finale, leaving many heads shaking...
... and me asking, how could we fix it?
It's not just the issue we had, it's bigger.
But, here's a specific example.
On the final lap, after 90 minutes of racing, after covering moves and fighting for position the pro field came by us...
... with 2 miles to go.
I'm a sprinter, and as any sprinter can tell you, the final 2 miles have a lot of drama. Everybody with a shot wants to be in the perfect position, and we're all counting on the speeds to remain high...
... instead the race official reined us to a near stand still.
When all the pros and their caravan of cars were final through, we had about a mile to go. Frankly, I didn't care to much because we were still all in about the same position...
... but, that's not how a lot of guys felt.
There was much yelling for a protest finish. Their big idea was to slowly roll in together.
And, I'm thinking What the hell? Protest what? We invested a lot of money and time to be here: entry fees, travel, lodging, training, gear and bikes. All told, it's an embarrassing amount...
... to let go to waste.
Meanwhile, the 60 guys behind the boisterous, whiney lead 20 have no clue what's going on up front, and when we make the final turn and the road opens up they come galloping through like an unruly herd of buffalo.
Not ideal.
So, what would I do if I was king of USA Cycling?
I would expand my kingdom and take care of my people.
Here's how:
Bring in professional staff
In most cases, races are put on by a local promoter who knows the community and the ins and outs of getting things done. Bonus points for those promoters able to obtain significant sponsorship cash.
The execution of the event on race day can be overwhelming, this I know from personal promoting experience. Having professional staff come in and take care of logistics would be an incredible help. More importantly, it could standardize the product being offered.
Most promoters are part-time at best. They are awesome in every way. However, it's an awful lot to ask volunteers with little to no knowledge of racing to take care of hundreds of wound up competitors on raceday.
How to do this? Charge more.
As pointed out above, the entry fees are minuscule compared to everything else we put in to it as competitors.
What about promoters who have enough races to have staff? Listen to the input and ideas they have to bring everybody's offering to a new, higher level.
Most of us have been to an event like Leadville or BWR or QuickNDirty or OverTheHump or CBR and know what a quality experience it can be. Those events, and many others are thriving. They aren't cheap and it shows in the product delivered.
In addition to staff, I'd bestow the local promoters with sponsorship dollars from our national parters and let them keep any local sponsorship money for themselves. In other words, I'd do everything possible to make sure a reasonable profit was turned vs. a stinging loss of cash.
Own Community and The Data
Part of this equation would be to have ALL races in one database. Easy to find events, with a standard format for navigating everything from Registration to arrival at the Start line.
Further, all racers would listed there. We could easily see who our competitors are and this wouldn't be just for seeing what they are up to. It would be the place for racers to connect. So many times I've met a really cool cat at a far away race and never been able to easily stay in touch.
How to do this? Offer this for technology free to the promoters and racers.
Use an ad driven model to boost the hundred or so we already kick in. It doesn't have to be spammy, carefully curated ads from companies who love what we do and make things we would love to have could be wonderful.
Race Numbers
Can't we all have a permanent race number?
3 characters - numbers and letters.
Then, we can have a standardized race number size and print it right on our jerseys.
No more pins.
No more giant numbers covering our pockets.
No more ruined jerseys with a million pin holes and tears.
No more race officials yelling at the poor racer who failed to follow their particular race's peculiar number placement.
Racer check in would be much smoother, too.
A Final Word
We all love our sport. All our lives have been changed and generally improved. We are healthier than most of the population and have made terrific friends.
We all want it to grow.
Everybody.
Promoters.
Racers.
Fans.
You.
Me.
Oh, and for those of you still reading, with all the chaos of the final mile I managed another 2nd place...
... and I'm pretty happy about that.
Got a different opinion? Something to add? I'm down to collect all ideas and consolidate before sending to the real king.
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Pulled off the dark desert highway. My head heavy, and my sight dim.
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163ish (no scale)
8 hrs
0 Pull Ups + 0 Power PushUps + 0 Heavy Squats (minimumish day)
0 minutes recovery
60 minutes reading + Journaling