Soliciting the opinions of those far more experienced that I...

A friend of mine works for a rather large events company and is considering
trying to sponsor a road race (ostensibly for the purposes of attracting
participants / attention to a rather beautiful region of the world).

Given that I am not a cyclist in the competitive sense,

What is it that MAKES a cycling race appealing? Assuming the event is
well publicized and EVERYONE knows about it, what are the criteria
that make or break participant numbers?

Scenery?
Time of year?
Weather?

What would it take for you, the serious cyclist, to travel internationally to
participate in said race?

Any and all opinions/anecdotes on this (and related matters) much appreciated!

Justin

There are plenty of people on this forum with more experience of participation in international cycling events than me, but for what it's worth, here are some of my thoughts:

To market the event as a race may well alienate the great majority of cyclists, including the majority of those on this forum, who would not describe themselves as competitive cyclists. Rather than try to sponsor a road race, why not try to create an event that is a personal challenge along the lines of a brevet, carried out in a large group but with an atmosphere of comradeship and cooperation rather than competition? Such an event would surely have much wider appeal - and be more fun for most - than a road race. So if success is measured in terms of numbers of participants, my guess would be that an event primarily targeted at the non-competitive cyclist would have a better chance of succeeding.

Your post brings to mind the one occasion in my life when I travelled internationally to participate in a cycling event, a one day ride over four Alpine passes. The sight of thousands of cyclists winding their way up the mountain roads is one that I haven't forgotten. The event was a race for those at the front, and a fun ride for the rest of us. For myself, participation was motivated by the following factors: location, time of year, weather, number of participants, and most importantly challenge. And on a long distance forum the challenge that is likely to be most attractive is that of cycling long distances (200km or more for a one-day event). If your location can include some mountains then so much the better! Up to a point, the bigger the challenge, the more that people will be willing to travel to try to meet it.

I'm curious, where is this beautiful part of the world anyway?

Have you posted this question in the Racing forum (subforum of the Road forum). The races we do over here are things like 24-hour races. Is that the kind of race you're talking about?

For me to travel internationally for a cycling event, it would have to either be at least a 24-hour event ... or a very well-known event attracting thousands of cyclists.

For example, I have travelled to France twice to do the Paris-Brest-Paris (1200K); to Australia to do the Great Southern (1200K); to the US to do the Last Chance, Gold Rush, BMB (all 1200Ks), and the UMCA 24-hour TT, twice.

I'd travel for those and other events similar to them again. As for shorter events, a couple that attract me are the Seattle to Portland double century, and one in South Africa, which is quite short, but which attracts thousands and thousands of riders. The South Africa one attracts me not so much because of the event itself, but because I could go for the event, and stay a while to tour. It would give me an excuse to go there.

So ... "What would it take for you, the serious cyclist, to travel internationally to participate in said race?" -- it would have to be worth my while.

And ... "What are the criteria that make or break participant numbers?" -- how well-organized the event is. Weather, scenery, and time of year have nothing, or next to nothing to do with it. Hold an extremely well-organized event ... with excellent volunteers, accurate cue sheets, a well-thought out route, back-up plans for emergencies (medical and mechanical), a variety of food provided for the riders, etc. etc. etc.

Definitely need more information about what kind of "race" this is to provide helpful input. Ultra-distance? Team event? Time trial?

Assuming you're talking about an ultra-distance event, keys to even getting into the game would be to make sure it'll count for the UMCA's Ultra Cup. You'll also want to make sure the event is in a sensible place on the calendar -- super long or challenging events early in the season won't be popular, and you'll want to make sure that you don't conflict with other events on the calendar that your potential pool of participants might be riding (for example, scheduling anything in August or September of last year, with PBP being Aug. 20-24, would have yielded little enthusiasm). Note that you'll need to check not only the UMCA calendar, but also the calendars of big randonneuring organizations and of local ultra-distance clubs to get a sense of what else your potential pool of competitors is riding.

Once you're on the calendar, I think a lot of attracting participants is putting on a well-organized ride. People will cross oceans for something put together well. Take a look at how the National 24 Hour Challenge is put on for an idea of what the gold standard is for ultra-distance race organization (in my opinion). Grand Rapids is convenient to no one, but the event draws 400+ riders a year from all over the US, Canada, and even Europe (the Danes, Irish, and Kiwis have been represented in the past few years). Barry County, Michigan, is hardly "a rather beautiful region of the world," but people show up because of the high quality of the event's organization.

Good luck. Curious to hear more about the budding event....

i think challenging is the main thing - throw in some distance and mountain passes, and make it in seattle, and i'll sign up! i don't travel to ride though.

Bicycle races are, very specifically, highly competitive events.

Usually a competitive race will do a series of loops around an area, at fairly high speeds (30mph). Cops have to block off the route. It's totally different than running, where you can have a bunch of elite runners followed by amateurs of all speeds. A real road race is sanctioned by USA Cycling and/or the UCI.

Bicycle rides are not really competitive and appeal to the general public. This is what he wants to arrange if he wants to draw people to the area.

If I was him, I'd find out the nearest cycling event. Approach the organizer and volunteer, in order to find out how to actually run one. Then network with the local bike shops and bike clubs to pick out the routes. Then, talk to the local politicians, police and relevant community groups to see how they feel about having an event like that.

And don't be surprised if some of those folks are not particularly responsive....

Race = roomie takes me for an early morning easy spin. Hammers come down; fixed vs 20 speed felt w/campy

That .. is racing.

Best workout ever ... outdo each other

To be perfectly frank, what makes or breaks a bike race is the prize list. You can run it up and down an alley behind a soup kitchen and if there's thirty grand on the line you'll have to have a field limit.

Like the rest, though, I'm thinking you don't really mean "race".

If you just want to put on a nice bike ride with lots of participants, make it in a scenic location with low traffic roads, plenty of rest stops with good food, and pleasant volunteers.

HTH!