Originally Posted by
gsteinb
For me there were two issues with TTs. First, I’m historically finicky about my positioning. The slightest deviation gives me issues. It’s probsbly just in my head, but it’s akways been this way. Going from an aero position to a climbing position was making me insane.
The other issue was the realization that in order to ride a TT bike well I’d need to spend prodigious amounts of time outside on it. That was a deal breaker. I know too many people who have gotten broken or dead. I did two fit sessions on my TT bike and hung it up. Been trying to sell it. I might jump into eddy stuff, but the vision my wife and I have cobbledbtogether is ten hill climbs and the other weekends in the Adirondacks at our house where I can train on the mountain. Driving south down 95 to some flat TT just doesn’t hold the same allure.
got it; good luck with whatever path you choose.
fwiw, TT bike is finicky. Ben may or may not have mentioned how I injured myself by raising the saddle on my TT bike by 1 cm. I've been dealing with the aftermath of that for the past 20 months and haven't really ridden my TT bike for an year. Whenever I do get to ride it, I will most likely be doing miles on my smart trainer though, for the exact reason you mentioned. It'll most likely be EMX stuff for me for most of next year, unless i have some significant breakthroughs with the knee issue.
Originally Posted by
Heathpack
The cycling population in general. It’s not something that costs money. It’s imbuing the sport with a culture that racing is fun, not serious business worth doping over. That the “haves” in any endeavor have an obligation to the “have nots” if you want your interest to remain viable. It’s cycling belonging to local clubs comprised of individuals who think part of their obligation to the sport is to introduce new people to it, to mentor people through the process, and to participate at a level beyond racing- volunteering at races, leading non-hammerfest group rides, partnering with local communities. It’s developing a sense that anyone who wants to race is important to the sport, not just men who race crits. And then acting like it- not having different masters age brackets for women than men at a track competition, for example, when doing so make zero difference to the administration of the event or the bottom line dollars and cents.
I have been trained professionally at the highest level in my field. Part of that training is being told you are a “have”. Your obligation is to provide opportunity for the have nots. Probably 75% of people with my training lecture gratis locally about once a year. Fewer of us take on major time commitments. I’ve personally spent 5 years on a committee that organized and administered our certifying exam, and 4 years on a committee to develop an international course in neuroscience (which we took from zero resources to the biggest source of income for our college and now funds research projects for people in training programs). You are always going to have people who will volunteer and complete their tasks well, if they are given the structure and opportunity and you expect it culturally. And I certainly have taken on big endeavors that were thankless tasks, the thankless aspect comes with the territory.
Mostly in bike racing though, my experience is if I suggest something and I’m told: 1. Stop complaining, 2. You don’t understand how it works, 3. <Or I am literally talked over as if I am not speaking at all>. I’m told as a “have not” in the sport to fix whatever problems I see myself, if I think things should be done differently. I don’t get a sense of being part of the sport- “great points, *we* should see if we can incorporate them into racing” but “you have no idea what it’s like to be a promoter and if you have such great ideas why don’t *you* promote a race”. Not universally, actually- at our local non-USAC TT, I made a suggestion to the promoter in regards to the organization of the new race series, which were initially rejected but upon reflection were later incorporated and I was publically given credit for the change I suggested.
Am I still racing TTs? Yep, for the time being. I’m drawn pretty strongly to mountain biking these days which has way less cultural frustration for me. But the main races I do- Piru and Fiesta Island TTs are run by awesome racing people who really do have such a great vibe, I enjoy those scenes a lot. I didn’t re-up with my race team because they made USAC membership mandatory this year and I’m not sure there will be a USAC-sanctioned TT on our LA schedule this year. I did stay a member of the (race-oriented) club and convinced my employer to sponsor the club (again, last year it was the team), to the tune of $1000. But I literally do nothing with the club (because even the easy club social century turns into a hammerfest on the way back home, you learn there is never an fun social easy ride, ever, no matter how the event is advertised). The club/team organizer, who I am friends with and who is a good guy, has mentioned he wants to organize 3 flat club TTs this year. If he does, I’ll probably stay with the club. Otherwise, I’ll talk my boss into sponsoring the local women’s mtb group in 2020 instead. Not sure if that will draw me away from time trialing or not.
while i agree with the bolded sections of your first paragraph, but if the "you" to which you refer is the cycling population at large, then much of what you wrote is irrelevant to what promoters could do. Btw, there is a very good reason why people tell you to make comments only after you promote a race. It's the old "don't judge others unless you've walked a mile in their shoes" principle. I mentioned before how my collegiate team once hosted a very lucrative crit in NYC. For a few years, the head organizer was a young lady. She was quite sympathetic to the demands of female racers before she needed to do the heavy lifting herself, but that changed when she took charge. This is what she wrote to two other female teammates of mine, when the latter (who just by coincidence didn't have that big a role in promoting the event) complained about scarcity of races; emphases added.
While we can say that "if you don't have races, women won't race," it's not quite as simple as that. Because regional races aren't under one umbrella, pulling finances from and making profit for one entity. It is each promoter for him/herself. And while over the long term it might promote more women in racing to have women's races, each individual event promoter sees a women's 3/4 field as a time and money suck. So while it continues to be the individual promoter's choice, they will continue to cut the lower women's fields because that is the economically logical thing to do. We can complain about it, but it's not going to change anything until we show up to a race with a solid 50 women ready to jump in the field. It may be unfair, but the fact is that we have to bring the women before they put on the races. Think about [the race my collegiate club hosted]; the last wave of the race. It was freezing, raining, and windy. Some of us had been there in those conditions for 10 hours already, and we had to sit there for an extra hour so that 6 women could race. There were more marshals standing outside getting soaked to the bone than there were women out on the course. During the men's pro field, there was an actual race, including 10 day-of registrants who paid $40 each for us to be there in the rain. I didn't really understand that until I had to be there for so many hours in the rain for nothing.
I don't like it either, but that's just where women's racing is right now.
as a threshold matter, I find it somewhat disingenuous for you to reference to scheduling of track events in the conversation when discussing the issue of cost. The highest outlay for a road race promoter, by far, is the police presence and closure of roads. Of course they could add additional master's races at little additional cost at a velodrome, b/c the promoters just need to pay for another hour or two of rental, but this math simply doesn't carry over onto road racing.
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Lastly to Rob, thanks for all that you have done and contributed. You have given much to the community and should not feel obligated to stay another year to deal with the headaches.