Originally Posted by
gsteinb
but of course guys will move laterally to stay and win. I know a guy who for a time was one of the better riders in NYC. I swear he literally down graded over time from 1 to 4 and then took 4th Battenkill as a 4 (he lost to David Anthony who eventually got popped for doping, though admitted he doped his whole cycling career -- meaning you had an ex 1 and a doper in the top 4). Those had to be good time for @
DieterDrake
Honestly, I didn't really pay any attention to who won what and how or with what in their system at Battenkill (or any race for that matter). I was too busy trying to make it good event. I remember David got caught at GFNY though, and thinking at the time how sad I felt for him that he felt he had to do that. He is a very nice guy.
I think people are missing the trees for the forest here. Racing is something people try for a bit and then move on to other things, and where USA Cycling has failed is that transition point. Expecting members to be racers for life is entirely unreasonable and not attached to any measure of practicality. I know a race in Upstate NY that once had close to 800 Cat 5s alone. Only a very very small percentage of those people are racing today. They've either moved on to non-competitive cycling or to other things entirely. If USAC wants to survive (yes, this is a concern - USA Swimming is filing for bankruptcy, for example) they need to send the message that it's ok not to race and to try other formats. I don't think I'm alone in stating that the racing crowd has tried to set itself apart from the rest of the industry. That has not served it well...