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Old 04-09-14, 05:15 PM
  #12  
Brian Ratliff
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Near Portland, OR
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Bikes: Three road bikes. Two track bikes.

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Originally Posted by Racer Ex
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Tell me how the guy with the loose helmet was just as safe without the program if he was in a citizen's race.
I think we can all agree that a basic equipment check before the Cat5's roll might be something worth bringing back.

And I don't necessarily disagree with the notion of a cert. But I don't think it's wise to just throw up a barrier to entry on a sport that is already starved for participation. First, cat 5 fields are traditionally fairly large. I think it's something more than a couple coaches donating an afternoon of their time can handle, especially when most of the demand for these courses will be bunched up at the start of the seasons. Our first road race in Oregon might have two fields of 50 riders for Cat5. Who has time to give an hour long, hands-on class to 100 riders the day of a race? Who's going to organize a the classes to prep over 100 riders the week or two before the season starts?

Second, once you put up a barrier, if it does have unintended consequences (lack of rider participation, for instance; maybe women's racing disappears altogether), it is very difficult to walk back. People who want to race will be quickly informed of the barrier when they attempt a race. Those who loosely want to try racing, when informed of a barrier, might decline. If the barrier is later let down, word of that might be very slow to get out. A barrier to entry must be paired with a serious drive to increase growth, otherwise you risk starving the sport of participants.
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"If you’re new enough [to racing] that you would ask such question, then i would hazard a guess that if you just made up a workout that sounded hard to do, and did it, you’d probably get faster." --the tiniest sprinter
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