Crit Etiquette Question
07-08-11, 07:00 AM
#51
Senior Member
I can't either.
CDR, forgive me, but I'll use your Bethel Spring Series as an example. Here's a guy who has spent as much time giving back to the sport as he has participating. He runs a great series. He also has a clinic, but he has to run it at 6am or some gawdawful hour, and he has to eat the costs. Another hour for the cop. Another hour for the marshals. He is in a large club so he has enough riders to volunteer, but it's just that, volunteering. You don't know from week to week who is going to show up, and you have to add the time in for organization before the clinic starts.
It would be very simple for USAC to fix this. Add a one-time $50 clinic fee to every new licensee. No clinic, no race that week. Subsidize the clinic sponsoring clubs, or run them regionally through the LA. It is just wrong that clubs have to eat costs to make racing safer for everyone.
CDR, forgive me, but I'll use your Bethel Spring Series as an example. Here's a guy who has spent as much time giving back to the sport as he has participating. He runs a great series. He also has a clinic, but he has to run it at 6am or some gawdawful hour, and he has to eat the costs. Another hour for the cop. Another hour for the marshals. He is in a large club so he has enough riders to volunteer, but it's just that, volunteering. You don't know from week to week who is going to show up, and you have to add the time in for organization before the clinic starts.
It would be very simple for USAC to fix this. Add a one-time $50 clinic fee to every new licensee. No clinic, no race that week. Subsidize the clinic sponsoring clubs, or run them regionally through the LA. It is just wrong that clubs have to eat costs to make racing safer for everyone.
First off, two of the "Never Do" things I covered in the first two clinics occurred in the first two Cat 5 races, resulting in crashes serious enough that one guy missed 3? weeks of racing. He told me that the clinics ought to be mandatory because literally an hour after I said not to do something, someone did it and took out a bunch of guys. (Tip: don't swerve around stuff in the road - either keep your eyes up or take it like a racer and roll over it).
Second, it would be great if USAC made it mandatory. The worst part of Cat 5s is the whole "I dunno what to do" thing. By charging some fee it would help encourage promoters (and even just clubs) to hold "how to race a bike" seminar. This would have to be standardized, and that means structure, work, etc, on USAC's part.
Third, regardless of what USAC does, my goal is to seed the racing scene with a bunch of competent racers. I don't care how strong they are, I just want them to be competent. So for 2012 the Cat 5 race will include a mandatory clinic, so about 45 minutes of racing, about 45 minutes of clinic.
Of course that puts a lot of responsibility on me - I have to have enough "course work" to make the clinic productive and entertaining. Last year, with a small audience, my clinics ended up almost like coaching sessions, and I covered whatever the guys asked. For 2012, with about 50 riders per clinic, it'll be a bit more chaotic (and therefore a bit slower as far as topics covered).
At this point I have to think about how to get the clinic bit productive and entertaining. I have until March to get it done.
07-10-11, 05:49 PM
#53
Overacting because I can
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: The Mean Streets of Bethesda, MD
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Not sure why there aren’t more Cat 5 clinics – in cyclocross, at least around DE-MD-VA, there seem to be plenty of pre-season clinics. Granted, cross has some fairly discrete skills that can be taught in a small park, but a few road racing pointers on something like cornering effectively (both holding line and gearing) would really smooth things out.
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“Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm." (Churchill)
"I am a courageous cyclist." (SpongeDad)
