I was talking with some of the shop rats and they had varying opinions on the racing subject. Some say racing is serious business and should be left to those that are really into it. Your rec riders and commuters enjoy what they are doing and don't need to strap on a number to justify riding a bike. Valid point. I like riding to work and doing group rides, they have nothing to do with racing really. I do like chasing faster riders because it helps me learn things that i wouldn't just cruising and i like pushing myself sometimes. But if there was a class for weekend warriors, would they race? Someone also mentioned that with only a couple races in Omaha a year, it's hard to get people into road racing. We'd need more smaller races in town to build fields. With low turnouts at our current road events, it would be hard to push for more races tho..
Another point brought up was the outlaw races that are popping up. The cruiser races at Schram, the alley cat races and scavenger hunts. These are laid back events more focused on fun than real competition. Some of these are hard to know about if you aren't in the right group or blog.
Pretty much the point was that there was something for everyone if you looked for it.
One thing i was thinking about was a twice a month mtb time trial series. Totally unofficial, free and based on those wanting to improve times on local trails. We used to do the weekly time trials in Irvington back in the 80's and it was a good ride to see how your fitness was doing. If there was enough interest, it wouldn't be hard to set up...
Enough talking in circles for now. Time for meds n bed...
3 comments:
i think "racing" has to be different and more challenging than just hammering on a group ride. there is something about a critical mass of people coming together, about 100's of hours of volunteer time (psycowpath, thor, club time for each race) that makes attending it a higher priority than other things they could be doing.
can a grassroots (unofficial) weekly or biweekly "race" find a following? only way to find out is do it. those who like racing a lot tend to ride with likeminded groups or rides. but adding an unoffical time keeper and results may be enough to draw people to it.
time trail is a good idea because for newbie racers, how to pass or be pass is one of the stressful aspects of racing.
speaking of racing, love the pic of your daughter talking on the phone in the middle of a race! too bad you didn't get a pic of her texting earlier. 8-)
Hey, great she's out there racing but she still has her priorities!
well if she had some competition...lol. Come on people, let's get them girls out there racing!
I don't know why i am fixated on roadies but there is no class for beginners like we have in mtb. The guy who has been riding for fun and wants to try a race will get decimated in a cat 5 race. If they want to build fields, then they have to make a true newb class.
Ya know i'd love to get a wed night worlds going at Boys Town. I've wanted to hold a crit there sense the 80's. It's where i trained daily back when i was a roadie. It would be best to find a park with vetter allowances for traffic control i'd guess. Something to kick around this winter...
I was thinking a floating trail time trail would be neat but to be truly effective, it would really need to be at the same trail imho. That way you could compare times and gauge improvement. The other problem with a dirt tt is having the trail open and dealing with trail traffic effecting your times. Much easier to pass on a road tt.
Jeez, this could have been another post..ha
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