When Lemond Speaks....
04-15-12, 09:46 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Edmonton AB
Posts: 520
Bikes: 2011 Colnago World Cup, 2012 Eddy Merckx AMX-2
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
When Lemond Speaks....
The cycling organizers should listen:
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/lemo...the-battenkill
He brings up a great point about Masters racing and Tri. The largest categories are over 35 years old.
When I was 18 I wanted to race but it wasn't that easy to get involved in Canada with a limited cycling community, lack of information, and equipment costs.
Roll forward 20 years. I now have the income to afford equipment that far surpasses anything even pro's rode 20 years ago for about the same price or less. The internet has made it far easier to find the cycling community and events. There are at least 5 times as many publications and they're in english now.
I can enter and get to any race now and to top it off I have two boys who will have good bikes.
The Masters categories are growing and as a result, in five to 10 years we should have a really healthy U18 and U23 groups.
The bike fest/race/fondo model is a good one. Look to the Strada Bianca as an a great example of what can happen.
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/lemo...the-battenkill
He brings up a great point about Masters racing and Tri. The largest categories are over 35 years old.
When I was 18 I wanted to race but it wasn't that easy to get involved in Canada with a limited cycling community, lack of information, and equipment costs.
Roll forward 20 years. I now have the income to afford equipment that far surpasses anything even pro's rode 20 years ago for about the same price or less. The internet has made it far easier to find the cycling community and events. There are at least 5 times as many publications and they're in english now.
I can enter and get to any race now and to top it off I have two boys who will have good bikes.
The Masters categories are growing and as a result, in five to 10 years we should have a really healthy U18 and U23 groups.
The bike fest/race/fondo model is a good one. Look to the Strada Bianca as an a great example of what can happen.
04-15-12, 01:05 PM
#2
Randomhead
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
Posts: 24,399
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Liked 3,699 Times
in
2,519 Posts
It seems to me that we have a real problem with junior racing. There aren't any pros if there are no juniors. Masters will take care of themselves
04-15-12, 01:49 PM
#3
Budget Cyclist
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 26
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Im 19 years of age, been riding for two, own a decent rig, been looking to get into racing. I'd love if more colleges / high schools adopting cycling as a team sport, however I believe it's the cost of the equipment that holds everyone back.
04-15-12, 01:51 PM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Burnaby, BC
Posts: 4,144
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3 Times
in
3 Posts
They should just buy a bunch of old ten speeds from CL and let the kids have at 'er. You don't need fancy brifters to race a road bike.
04-15-12, 07:03 PM
#6
Senior Member
Liability. (MTB & Track don't have this issue. Here in CA, they have a HS MTB league.)
