Originally Posted by
Teamprovicycle
so then what is the point of usa cycling because there is no other organization out there running events, if i want to race i have to go through them , as well as the event hosts , if a person just wants to compete they cant, they have to jump through hoops and pay money to be a racer , its kind of pointless , im having a hard time mentally finding a reason to get excited for an event knowing im just going to spend cash to get really not much rewards , i mean i get a piece of paper and 4 free pins , but damn could i get a headband or a key chain , it all seems like a scam where a bunch of people just do it to do it , and the usa cycling gets lots of free money and power ..
Bicycle races are incredibly expensive to put on, and they do not generate the participation numbers that running or triathlon events do. That's why you often don't get a t-shirt. I really wish that USAC had not stopped requiring all clubs to put on events, because there are a lot of people who have no clue how much work and cost is required to put on a race.
And you can look up USAC's finances online. They aren't rolling in it. A lot of the money that goes to USAC from racing fees goes to insurance coverage of racers. USAC pays out a lot to insure riders who are injured in crashes. Masters and Juniors nationals cover the costs of pro and elite nationals. (Pro Nationals loses money every year.)