Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Giving the finger to the UCI

Check it out: Promoter Breaks Ties with Pro XCT Series.

Get average sport and beginner racers (and folks who have never raced) psyched about racing these events, and you'll have money for prizes. Nobody is going to pay to watch, it's a participant sport. Sponsorships only cover so much. As a promoter, your income is going to come from entry fees - so the more riders have a great time and come back next year, the better you'll do.

Spend all your time and money kowtowing to the UCI and USAC (and ignoring the amateurs), on the other hand, and you'll end up with 20 "pros" vying for a big steaming pile of nothing while a few disinterested spectators and the occasional parent stand around the finish fencing looking bored.

It amazes me that USAC hasn't figured this out. F*&$ the Olympics - I want to see a full field in the women's junior beginner. THAT is when you'll be able to make a living racing a mountain bike.

7 comments:

FixieDave said...

Couldn't agree more!!!!

cornfed said...

Amen!

Anonymous said...

Ne'er a truer word has been said.

And last time I checked USAC wasn't even doing so great at the whole Olympic thing anyway...

Joshua Stamper said...

At least you guys (in CO) have the option of dealing with the ACA instead of the USAC. As a promoter I would gladly be done with USAC if I could find a viable comprehensive insurance provider for CX. I still take on a ton of risk for organizing free events that are not "races", and I have to worry that some A hole is gonna sue me because he got lost and took a digger.

T-roy said...

Can i get an amen! There are some good things happening across the country for our youth. A teacher friend just sent me info. on NICA (Nat'l Interscholastic Cycling Association) and hope we can get folks across the US to get this going. Y'all have some great programs out west in the schools. I hope we can get it going on the east coast. Check it out @ www.nationalmtb.org

Dan O said...

Exactly - the sport needs to grow from the bottom up, not the top down. Get enough people racing at the lower levels and more talent will rise to the top.

Another aspect is kids -where are they? When my 10 year old son and I hit the local races, there's the usual pile of adults and just a handful of kids. Mountain bike racing is great for kids.

Two local series here in the Seattle area have done a good job in recognizing kids: www.indieseries.com and www.mfgcyclocross.com

Still - I'd expect way more kids at these events.

Walt said...

Riding bikes is just *good* for you...I'd trade every olympic medal the U.S. has ever won for crowded bike racks in front of every school.

Racing is fun, but USAC has managed to screw things up so badly it amazes me. Hopefully they will go belly up sooner or later and some other org can take over (I've been really impressed with the OBRA races in Bend).