RCJoh-@attglobal.net

Shane,

That sounds like an accurate read. Unfortunately, if it's correct then

the logical conclusion is that MTB races will only enjoy large turnouts

in the current lopsided manner no matter what. Kind of a bummer that

some promoters are at the mercy of something that has no other

connection to racing.

Still, it is good to understand that at all races before June attendance

will largely be driven by kids, families and students. Those held later

will have to struggle to get by attracting everyone else. Probably be a

good idea remember that when it comes to promotions.

Humm, ever wonder how year round school would change that equation? The

effect could be profound...



Rick



shane.-@comcast.net wrote:

 Rick,

I have been racing for the last 6 year in MTB and I have looked at the

number. The biggest drop is cause by school getting out. The kids are

on summer break and mountain bike racing isn't on their mind. Therefore

they don't show up and their parents that were racing with them don't

show up. In the last two years several schools have brought 8 to 10

kids a race. They stop coming when school is out. Then college is out

and those people have to get jobs or have gone out of state for the

summer.

Unless it is a complete down pour people don't care. People leave their

home knowing that they have a two hour drive and are hoping the weather

will be better in that other location. Or the weather is nice where

they are and end up sucking where they are going. Either way they have

just spent the time getting ready and the time driving. They are going

to race.

When Peter dropped out of the Oregon MTB series he said no matter he

does he gets 140 racers... Well the first year out of the series he was

lucky to get 80 people.



-------------- Original message --------------

From: RCJoh-@attglobal.net



 My interest in the weather was more to do with the earlier races as the

summer events are pretty predictable in that respect. Since the issue

of racing in the cold/wet has been raised as a negative motivating

factor I was curious to see if that would show up in the attendance

figures.

What I'm hoping to devine is intended to help everyone. On one hand if

we just stick to the established recipe for sucess we can expect only

races in April and May that are part of a series to be highly sucessful.





But, if we can reach some conclusions about what are the significant

factors behind that attendance peak we can perhaps improve attendance at



more events.

To me the key questions are:

Is the calendar date really as significant as it seems on the surface?

To see that big of a change there must be something behind it. Perhaps

April and May are just "magic months". Many have speculated but we have

not uncovered the rock where these missing racers go to hide under come

June.

How much effect does the weather (or perceived weather) really have? Is

there a "weather threshhold" where attendance can be predicted to

suffer? Or is all the talk about weather really just whining?



Rick



Randy Dreiling wrote:

 

There are 3 races in the "Summer" (oakridge, fall city

and lakeview)and all had great sunny days if I

remember right and has I said in one of my many

replies not sure if it was to this or the misinfo post

on my 12 Hour that went into a lot of race issue's

too...if you want other issue's look at my 12 Hour

reply and remember I am not trying to be rude or

whine, just explain what happens every year and how

other think effect race turn out.. Oakridge, Fall

City and Lakview can not race any sooner Oakridge and

Fall City because of spotted owls and Lakeview because

the snow is still on the course until late June.



I am glad this came up



Thanks

Randy





--- RCJoh-@attglobal.net wrote:



 Now we're getting somewhere, interesting analysis.

My questions then,

since you have the data:

For the two seasons what was the difference in the

total number of races

offered prior to the peak period?

Clearly the value of being part of a series is

significant. Was the

number of series races available after May

comparable for both seasons?

Weather has been sited by some as an attendance

factor. I suppose it's

too much to ask that there was some way to analyze

if there was a

correlation with attendance? For instance, could it

be determined if

attendance is better for sunny/warm races or are the

other factors more

significant?



Rick



shane.-@comcast.net wrote:

 Last year did not have a compressed schedule like

years past, at least

 for the series that Randy and Mike put on. Still

there was a

 significate drop in riders for the MTB series the

first week in June. I

 did a simple anlysis from the numbers last year

and the year before that

 Candi supplied. Races that had the greatest turn

out had these things

 in common in order of biggest factor:

were in April and May,

were apart of the high school series,

were apart of the Oregon MTB series,

were on Sunday.

Races in April and May had nearly double the

racers and in some case

 almost triple. Races that were in the high school

series had 40 to 50

 riders more. Races that not apart of the Oregon

MTB series lost 1/4 to

 1/2 of their attendance from years that they were

in the series. Races

 that were on Sunday had more people that races on

Saturday.

 I don't think that the schedule is skewed by any

other factor than sheer

 demand.

-------------- Original message --------------

From: Randy Dreiling



 Great question...one thing is that JR's stop

racing

  and they can be 15%-30% of the turn out at some

Mt

  Bike races.



Other then that I would love to know the answer.

  

Randy



--- RCJoh-@attglobal.net wrote:



>What I'd really like to know about this

attendance

  >drop-off phenomenon
is if it is causative or symptomatic?
In other words - is the cause of the

attendance drop

  >off because people
simply don't want to race after that date?
Or is the drop off a symptom of the highly
compressed schedule inducing
burn-out, and therefore, lack of attendance?
I'm not meaning to be argumentative, just that

  >clearly understanding the
situation requires an accurate diagnosis.

Rick


Randy Dreiling wrote:
>
> Number of racers at Mt Bike races drop by a

HUGE

  >> amount after May or June every year. Been
promoting
> 10 years and you can see the drop.
>
> Thanks
> Randy
>
> --- RCJoh-@attglobal.net wrote:
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Sounds good as long as we don't wind up with

yet

  >> more races stackedfrom late February through

May.

  >
> Remember the tread from a few months ago
discussing
> why is the racecalender so heavily weighted

to the

  >> earliest part of the season andgoes through

the

  >> doldrums just when the weather is at it's

nicest?

  >
>
> Rick
>
> brice-@hotmail.com wrote:
> Another vote for more Saturday races.Evan

Plews

  >wrote:
>
>
> How about some Saturday races for a change.
Doesn't
> anyone go to church on Sunday anymore? Bunch

of

  >> heathens anyway :)Actually that brings up a

good

  >> point. Are cyclists generally religious or
not???Kori
> Kunz wrote:
>
> In an attempt to decide which races to focus

on

  >> (since I would really like to do all of them

but

  >know
> that's not a sustainable approach) I'm

wondering

  >what
> kinds of MTB series are out there this year,

and

  >> which one offers the best prize money. Yep,

I'm

  >not
> looking for any more trophies on my mantel,

just

  >going
> straight for the mercenary incentive. Of

course

  >I'll
> also be weighing the amount of single track

in

  >> proportion to the distance to drive (and
conflicting
> road races), but the dollars will be a very
> influential factor. Mike? Randy? Petr? What
are
> you serving up this year? Looking forward to

it.

  >
> Cheers, Kori
> ---------------------------------Yahoo!

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