Originally Posted by Psimet2001

I'd take his statements with a grain of salt. They have had a direct mission for the last year or two of trying 100% to legitimize online racing. You don't partner with the UCI to offer a virtual rainbow jersey if you're just trying to get people off the couch.



...because that is literally the definition of both of those terms. If you're a racers race. If you are not racing but love to ride a lot and with good gear then you're an enthusiast. The entire industry refers to markets that way because that is the way it is. The only issue is when people start to take some sort of offense to be referred to as enthusiasts. I have never understood that. They somehow feel as though they are being talked down to....and yet they have no interest in racing.



I hear this often and understand why people would think that but it's the complete opposite. As an OEM wheel company, team owner, race promoter, president of a USA Cycling Local Association, AND shop owner I have been working with all other shop owners for over a decade. Shops despise actual racers. The people they love are the enthusiasts who try to seem just like they are racers. We used to call them posers, Freds, etc. That's the elitist element that creeps into shops. None of those guys are actually racers though. Actual racers don't have time to care about most of that crap. They're too busy doing another interval in the basement ready to puke and afraid to eat anything. The vast majority don't care what anyone else is riding on what they are wearing. Racers wear team kit. All the time. They also don't spend money in shops. Shops hate (actual) racers.



Not very many actual racers do. If you've raced you know your place. The only people who act like that are posers.... and cat 3 masters men who think they walk on water. The rest let their legs talk and usually want to talk about anything other than bikes or racing.


That's the primary fallacy. We aren't trying to be like Europe because....well the US will never be like Europe. It is impossible to develop the same culture for bike racing that exists in Europe and attempts to do so have always failed. They all ignore that we are a car centric culture here and that won't change. They ignore the fact that we are the size of 3 Europes and you can't have cohesive racing across this expanse of land without 3-4 times the amount of money that is spent in Europe. That's never going to change and the whole approach needs to change.

Not reading this particular article but guessing it's the one that was written by the guy who has never put on a race but was telling everyone how to put on races. I wish him luck.


Most on here don't believe it but I've been told repeatedly for years that I fall squarely in that helpful group. I just don't mix a lot of words. It's the engineer in me. People really seem to take offence at being told they aren't a racer. I've never understood that. No one is saying everyone should be. Also there is nothing special about being one. You simply pay your money, get a number and toe the line. I did it myself 2 weekends ago and I have absolutely no business being on a race course. It's not like there is a pre-race physical anyone needs to pass.

The part that gets old is listening to non-racers talk about racing and racers. I'll go out on a limb and guess it's similar to being a woman listening to a man talk about women's or reproductive rights.

It just gets old to watch people who obviously have this built in need to measure themselves against others and to compete with them have something internal that keeps them from trying racing in real life.