Originally Posted by
Racer Ex
I can't think of anything worse than a 65 year old former champion shoved in among a bunch of 35 year old 4's and 5's.
I know this wasn't directed towards me but I thought I would pop in and add - it happens around here a lot. With Chicago having the largest Polish community outside of Poland we have gotten very used to Polish nationals who were ex pros who show up and pimp the 4/5 and masters 4/5 races. It's crazy but it happens a lot - 3-4 guys a year. They pretty much stay out of the scene and then just show up and destroy everyone/everything until everyone starts complaining. Usually takes about 4 races. Then they get forced upgrades and disappear again.
It seems to be a different opinion than what most Americans would have. We would like to keep our achievements, etc. These guys have a very Euro attitude about it. It's about paydays. They will do anything to win and get paid. If the system puts them into entry level races then they will tear them apart and get paid.
Originally Posted by
Racer Ex
What's interesting is looking at this over a season...I did that last year when they were trying to kick me and a few other guys into the P1/2.
While the numbers of 4/5 and master 4/5 racers would seem to be the market, the actual total entries over a season generated by the "upper end" masters is really significant. The top end guys race 4-6 times as many races on average and if you pull them out of the total revenue stream it's a big hit.
If you do a value added analysis (providing mentoring, sponsorships, and support for juniors Etc) the impact of what would appear to be a smaller segment of the racing population is actually really big.
I agree to an extent. Our next largest fields are Masters 1/2/3 30+ and 40+. No one around here would ever dream of removing those fields. In reality I was talking more about the P/1/2 fields. No one pays to watch them race and in reality they do little to nothing to help the sponsors.
Example: I have 3 teams under my club. 1. PSIMET Racing - club riders 4/5 2. PSIMET Elite - CAT 1/2/3 under 30. Enzo's-PSIMET - Masters elite team headed up by past 50+ TT and Road Masters Nat Champ Wayne Simon. That masters team is amazing to watch. Small core of guys but tuned to win and/or podium every race they enter. They have torn apart the Open Masters scene around here but are also all 1/2's.
So Wayne is talking to me early on and is, I believe, a little upset because I was sponsoring my Elite and the Enzo's squad with free race carbon tubulars. He asked at one point where their wheels wee and I said I was working on the Elite team's wheels. He let his guard down and went on the run with, "Rob we need to have a talk about how 'Elite' your Elite team is." implying it was more important to get the Enzo's squad the wheels because they were the shiz and would be on the podium all the time.
My response was something akin to, "Wayne - Elite team gets wheels. They are racing with cat 3's for the most part. My target customers and markets are Cat 3/4/5 and Masters 4/5. These are the people who actually buy wheels. You guys getting podiums is nice. It looks good, but it doesn't sell any wheels. What sells wheels is they guys looking at my wheels in their races. They are usually home mowing the lawn by the time you guys race."
I still stick by this. I have since equipped the Enzo's team with wheels and it looks nice and draws attention:
but I have told them the benefit I get from it is the perception of "validity" from the M1/2/3 crowd. P 1/2's don't buy anything and honestly don't care what they are riding. That's like the worst group for me to ever spend a dime on for sponsorship.