I have few ideas how to "grow" our little pond of cycling. And by "growth" I don't necessarily mean attracting new riders by meddling mediocrity by making things easier but instead making races harder and more challenging. Kinda like gran fondos. What?!? You say? I'll explain.
Sports go through bust and boom cycles like many other areas of human interests. Cycling is not an exception. I've been lucky enough to participate and compete in few different activities through out my life and got to experience all of them on relatively high level growing up in Czechoslovakia.
I've seen ski clubs come and go, cycling teams being formed and dissolved and skateparks being built and later torn down. I've also seen Czech and Slovak skiers repeatedly reach top ten in World Cup, Czech and Slovak skaters being in world wide magazines and getting paid for goofing around on plank of wood and Czech and Slovak cyclists winning few bike races over the years. You guys heard of that Sagan dude, right?
In skiing I was member of generation that had few guys (including my dad) that realized that riding on tiny, mellow Czech mountains with snow coverage lasting few month will never lead to quality racing. There was a boom of parents who managed to put their whole life on hold both personally and financially, formed elite teams and basically moved to Alps (in my case months of van camping in snow) and trained like the best. When we came back, those of us who had success saw their clubs blossom, attracting new talent and few generations of racers later we are out there with the rest of the world. Also help and growth didn't come from official racing organization. Do it yourself, do it the hard way and results will follow. Oh, and there's only one category for racers from the age fifteen. There was so many naysayers that wanted more programs for kids and beginners rather than supporting elite level. They were wrong.
In skateboarding it's little bit different but it's still relatively same. There were few skateparks built in the nineties that were really easy to ride and very beginner friendly. Nobody really liked them after a while and most people who started riding quit very soon. It was never any Skateboarding association or even park building company that made things happened. People who reached out to their town leaderships and forged ways with mayors explaining to them that hard to ride parks that are not made for beginners are the way to go. I was one of those teenagers going to town meetings and halls and eventually ended making sure we had hard to ride park. Within a year there was a crowd of riders and star emerged. Few more exceptional rides followed. Participation was and is up. How many categories are there? One or two. Amateurs and Sponsored. No coddling mediocrity. People who wanted make things easy and accessible were wrong.
Czech cycling always had all what I keep talking about. Very few age categories. All adults racing together separated not by "category" but instead ranking allowing them to race. 140 guys in State Championship. Kinda fun. Here in the States it is very different. Coddling mediocrity by having multiple silly categories doesn't serve growth. Combining fields (making them larger and harder to race) leads to more exciting and fun racing. Have you ever raced any Gran Fondo? It's one giant field of racers. So much fun. And it's hard. You have fun when it's hard. No wonder that events that are actually fun are on come up while "racers" insist we need more people racing in Cat 4 masters 45-48 field. Make racing hard and fun and give support to elite riders who win these things.
Not sure (from experience) if it will lead anywhere to expect changes from official racing organization. OBRA can't even do that as they said many times. And to be clear I do think that OBRA does amazing job facilitating races and organize the whole behind the scene shebang. Nothing but respect to judges and all officials out there. Progress is up to promoters (you know, anybody who wants to reach out to possible venue and forge ways with cities, property owners etc.) to make things happen and make things hard and thus fun. It is up to racers to show up at those events (and yes, I'll be racing any and all Gran Fondos I could handle just like I did in past few years). I'm not angry at Gorge Roubaix organizer. I'll try to line up. I am however laughing at folks soliciting "donations" from teams to race additional $5000 to keep our silly extra race for twelve special categories as it is really short term solution and slap in face of every other race organizer out there who wouldn't hold the whole OBRA hostage for $5000 on top of race fees. Again it didn't come from promoter themselves but it just doesn't make sense to have TWO races for extra one time $5000 fee when there's already one amazing Gravel Grinder in Gorge lined up. Where could OBRA help? By recognizing racing in those events as racing. Come up with formula how combination of size of the field and participation of high ranking riders could produce meaningful results. Award winners of hard races, gran fondos, grinders or whatever you want to call it.
I believe that would make it more fun for everybody and lead to growth.
Sorry about the rant. Just my two cents.
> On Jan 23, 2017, at 5:44 PM, T. Kenji Sugahara via OBRA wrote:
>
> I totally understand where Brian is coming from. In the past when
> times were good and we racing was popular, no one had any issues.
> However, racing is facing a significant downturn nationwide. We are
> not the only ones- and like everyone else, we have seen a decline in
> traditional racing. Indicative of this is a letter that was sent out
> to one of the stronger racing regions- the SCNCA (see below).
> Traditionally we took a hands off approach with "let the market
> decide".
>
> However, with the downturn it became apparent that we needed to work
> better and have everyone on the same page. To that end we made some
> structural changes so we can work smarter and collaborate much more
> effectively. Whereas many of us operated in silos, it became apparent
> that we needed to have everyone on the same page. We began using an
> online collaboration tool this fall that has been effective in
> generating ideas and getting people talking. We had a strategic
> planning session with promoters to highlight some of the priorities of
> group and help shape the calendar. Joel is working on a number of
> initiatives including outreach to many community organizations and
> many groups that wouldn't commonly be associated with bike racing- and
> we hired Jen Featheringill as well to replace Charlie. We have had
> folks like Adam Artner step up and offer to help. We are constantly
> encouraging promoters to try new ideas. While some may question and
> ask whether we are a bike racing organization anymore- we need to
> continue to innovate and try new ideas. With changing demographics,
> changing training patterns and changing in our environments, we need
> to continue to adapt.
>
> Races are getting harder and harder to put on with a triple whammy of
> increasing costs to run the races (our costs to promoters have
> remained static for 10 years), more difficulty obtaining permits, and
> changing tastes in events. We are working on both the local, state,
> and national level to try to help with some of the issues- engaging
> with people to address issues with obtaining permits and opening up
> new areas for trails and events. Further, we have been working with
> our partners in the tourism industry to help promoters with both
> funding and other opportunities.
>
> Oftentimes we work in the background, doing our day-to-day things.
> Answering e-mails, meeting with people and generally making the whole
> organization run. Can we do better to communicate? Absolutely- and
> we'll continually work on it. If you can help us, please do! We're
> always open to feedback and ideas.
>
> We should take a second to thank all those involved- as our
> organization would not run without the selfless and devoted people.
> Mike, Candi, Catherine, Joel, Jen, Tony, Kevin, Kelli, Andrea- and of
> course all of our board members, officials and promoters.
>
> But most importantly- thanks to all of YOU!
>
> k-
>
>
>
> "On behalf of the SCNCA BoD, I would like to welcome you to another
> year of racing in the Southern California/Southern Nevada Cycling
> Association.
> Calendars for both the SoCal Cup(still confirming a number of events)
> and races within our association can be found at www.SCNCA.com
> If you will notice, most of your favorite races are still going
> strong, with some exceptions. We have lost a number of good races,
> notably road races, and some very good criteriums due to the lack of
> participation and the cost of doing business. Our racing customer base
> is changing and there is a need to service our long term competitors,
> as well as those who have not been in the sport for very long. It is
> difficult to do both with consistency because riders want different
> things, have different goals. One thing I know for sure, and that is
> that we need much better participation and support at our road events
> or these will be a thing of the past. Road Races are costly to
> organize, even those that are bare bone events.
> New races are also a difficult venture, as Organizers find themselves
> having high expectations and little return in way of participation and
> support from USA Cycling (as we have a free market and competition
> with another event on the same day is very difficult, especially for a
> new race).
> As we all know, bike racing is a difficult sport with a very high rate
> of attrition. Grand Fondos and fun rides are on the rise, and I think
> we all understand why they are so attractive, especially to new
> riders. So in an effort to make bike racing more attractive and fun
> for newer riders, the SCNCA has spent a significant amount of time and
> resources developing new programs for newer and less experienced
> racers. You will see these "Beginning Racer Programs" and racing
> mentorships popping up at many of our local events. Attending a BRP is
> where you can learn "HOW" to race your bike in a friendly,
> non-threatening environment. If you are an organizer that is
> interested in adding a BRP to your event, please contact Sean Wilson
> at seanwilson@scnca.com
> This has been a tough year for the SCNCA, membership was down, rider
> days were down, and reasons for that are many, there is not just one
> thing driving the downturn.
> On an up note, we are making headway with juniors entering the sport,
> and support for juniors has been VERY positive, track participation is
> up, we had a great yearend party with Seth Davidson and friends, and
> we have another year to continue to do good things.
>
> On Mon, Jan 23, 2017 at 10:51 AM, Brian Abers via OBRA
> wrote:
>> As both a private and Team USA cycling coach and competitor, I am very concerned about the direction OBRA is heading, the loss of races, and how its leadership is dealing with theses issues. Lack of transparency in what the board is doing, as well as questionable focus in direction and organization should be of concern to us all, which is why I am endorsing Norrene Godfrey, and would urge the OBRA membership to read her posted bio, and cast their votes for her as board member in the current election this weekend. Having worked with Norrene as a rider, coach and in the somewhat contentious relationship with USAC track and PVC committees, I am confident she will be a strong voice for the ridership of OBRA. Thank you for your consideration
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>
>
>
> --
> Kenji Sugahara
> Executive Director
> Oregon Bicycle Racing Association
> Phone: 503-278-5550
> http://www.obra.org
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