Originally Posted by
Doge
I believe the correct answer is nobody in your list.
Nobody owns it. Used to be clubs.
This is correct. No one owns it, and no one wants to do the work.
Most of us are working professionals who race bikes as a hobby. We all have responsibilities, and we fit in cycling in between. But if you want to see a race happen, sometimes it's up to you to make it happen.
As I mentioned, we've held a small winter race series for close to 10 years now. We are fortunate that we can hold it on a small, oval, lightly banked, auto race track, which eliminates the need for city or county permits and police. It makes the venue cost low.
A couple of years ago, the track we used lost its management company. I spent my spare time tracking down the owner to arrange access. Then I reached out to other clubs who also used the track to put them in touch with him so they could hold races there too. It took a lot of my time to get it done, but I did it because I wanted the races to happen.
That said, I've since stepped down from my team's board. After running the club for three years, I was worn out.
People aren't coming out to race. Why is another question with a lot of theories but no solid answers. If the race isn't at least breaking even, why continue putting it on.
I mentioned a Gran Fondo earlier. We did that for three years. The first year we spent a ton on cops and made about $2,000. The second year, we added a raffle and moved it where we didn't need police. We made about $1,500, but turnout declined. The third year, we made about $1,000, and turnout declined again. The guy who organized the last year said he would have gladly have donated $1,000 to us to not have done the work. It just wasn't worth the effort.