Originally Posted by
chewybrian
That's easy. The spectacle of the large crowd is one thing, but the real reason is that it's the oldest event in the world. It has the authenticity of the Kentucky Derby. It doesn't matter if there are better horse races in California or New York, even if they pay out more money, or have better horses. It's THE Derby, and everyone who gives a hoot about horse racing wants to be there.
It's the same with PBP, no? I could save a lot of money, maybe have a more challenging or enjoyable 1200k ride here in the states, but it would never be PBP. Holding it every four years only adds to the urgency to be at that event.
+1
It's like: why are so many people at PBP? Because so many people are at PBP!
I do think Richard's sense of LD cycling is grounded in a real decline. I think it might be partially the result of a shift away from competition. For example, most of the people I know who "randonnuer", have never even attended an Audax sanctioned event, much less a competitive event - they think of it as too formal, even though it is technically non-competitive. To get these people out, you need higher attendance. There needs to be a bit of spectacle about the whole thing. Like PBP, it has to be an experience.
I don't know about the rest of the world, but the Audax club in my neighborhood is good and bad in the same sense. My club will host 24 brevets in a given year, one fleche, and a bunch of populaire's (less than 200km events) - and I live in Canada where these are all in a seven month period. This is great because no matter your schedule, you have plenty of opportunity to qualify for PBP or plenty of opportunity to squeeze in lots of brevets. It's great for the hardcores. It's not so great for building the sport and attracting new members. The result of having so many events is that they are all sparsely attended. There were only two other people in the first brevet I ever attended. If there was only one 200km brevet this year, probably nearly a hundred people would attend. At that point new people start attending just because so many other people are.
So, how to have the best of both worlds?
My proposal. There is never a lot of promotion for LD events, but most of the existing attention seems to go into the 1200km events - which are not very accessible. I think local clubs should do the opposite and pick a single 200km (or maybe overlapping 200, 300, 400) event to promote every year (buy yeah, still run all the smaller brevets for the hardcores). Push everyone in the club to show up for it. Tell them to talk their friends into it. Throw up a web page. Try to get it on local television. Start from an easily accessible location. Have manned control points; turn it into a slightly more supported event. Sell t-shirts. Turn it into a spectacle, an experience. Make it more than just another chance to clock in some miles.