I think it comes down to friendship. That encompasses a lot, like similar values, beliefs, manners, etc. You put a friend who you like and respect and make them a bike racer, they'll be a bike racer that you'd get along with well. So look for the racers you consider friends.
The burrito comment is good. That's a good way of saying what I'm trying to say.
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Sept 1 is transfer season, so I'll say it here first. I'll be joining a new team for 2010 mainly because one of my best friends is going to it. Regarding the burrito comment, we (and our wives, who are also very good friends) were having dinner after each Tue and Sunday race we did together, and if we went to a race, we'd try and help each other out.
There are other reasons too.
1. 2 year minimum sponsorship, so kits won't change annually.
2. Decent numbers in the groups I'll race with (I'm a 3, it looks like there'll be 10-15 4s and 5-10 3s).
3. Decent prices on kits.
4. Run by a guy who is an executive in real life, so he has his stuff organized.
5. Team will support charitable rides, and I'm going to be helping with one in 2010 and beyond (I hope).
6. Team will support rider development, like holding clinics. That's something I've wanted to do for a while.
7. Actual teammates will need to gel on their own, nothing is forced.
8. Local enough that I can go to the monthly meetings.
9. Similar racers, meaning a bunch of them do crits.
10. Team will support my race series with racers who will race and racers who will volunteer (volunteers race free, but still).
In fact, I like the idea of the team so much that I decided to be a 2nd sponsor (sides of jersey, not title sponsor, but not a pocket sponsor either). I'll be sending them payment this week for the agreed total sponsorship amount for 2010.
I have not sponsored a team I've been on (except my own) since, well, since I've had my own teams.
Okay, I lied. If you look carefully at some of the TriState Velo kits (out of PA somewhere), you'll see CDP on them (Carpe Diem Promotions, a USCF club that's no longer, it's now CDR). 2005-2007 I think, but we gave them money from 2002 or something.
cdr