pogoman

This past Saturday was the first race of the season here in NJ. The race was organized by the Bikery/Shebell team from Montclair NJ. My team got to the race early to get registered and ready for the race. As we were waiting in line for numbers, the organizers (Ray and Jeff Smith) came up to us and told us that we couldn't race.

Of course, this would make no sense but apparently Ray and Jeff have a "beef" about my new team which happens to have started out of the same town as his team in on. Also he implied that we were "recruiting" cyclists from his team (because Lance must've overlooked these guys I guess?) He simply wanted us to leave inmediatly and not make a fuss about it.

Well, he got a fuss and with every reason to it. We went to the USCF official and told her about this, she said that we are allowed to race and that she does not object to it. However, Ray wouldn't give out our numbers. One of our guys even had pre-registered and they wouldn't give him his number.

In the end it was either to let us race or we would each write a letter to the USCF about this which is completely unethical and unfair from his side, he listened, and gave in. I'm sure the USCF would have had a field day with this BS.

Is this what cycling has come down to? he said he didn't run the race for the money but for the love of the sport.

What a way to show his love. A real shame, not only because I have never seen anything like this before but to see two grown men acting like total idiots.


ps. and no, we are not cat 1, 2 or 3. We are mostly cat 4's. You would think this is PRO 2. ....man...

fight or flight

oooh wow, I was thinking of joining a team here in NJ.

pogoman

Well, rest assure that there are plenty of other teams. Most of them are "normal" LOL

Brillig

Why don't you give him this url and have him post his reasons here.

fight or flight

Know of any good ones in or around Morris County? I'm in Randolph.

ImprezaDrvr

It sucks when people's personal stories get in the way. The shop I worked for in college was huge and there were a lot of guys that knew their stuff, but the owner was in it for a living and didn't get along with everyone. That mentality spread to such an extent that the shop manager would get pissed if a guy would go to ride for the local racing team that was sponsored by another shop in town.

All you can do is suck it up and try to right whatever's wrong between the two of you. His mentality will spread to his team, and you'll end up in a lose-lose situation at some point.

pogoman

his main reason was that he felt that we were recruiting guys for his team. As a bike race organizer, I don't think that's good enough of a reason to not let cyclists participate in a race. If that's the case then this sport is going down. Perhaps next time it will be.."I dont like you, you can't race" If you put personal feelings when running a race then the person shouldn't have a race in the first place?

ps. and no, I don't know his personal email. If you do, go ahead.

pogoman

I'll ask my buddy that used to live around the Randolph area, I believe there's quite a few teams out there

ImprezaDrvr

No reason to take it to a public deal yet. We dont' know both sides of the story and it might be worthwhile to hold up on playing with the jump to conclusions mat just yet. I would look into trying to bury the hatchet and see if you can't get some success that way. Not worth the bad blood if you're racing in the same races a lot.

pogoman

IMO, I think that's one of the other reasons why there seems to be resentment between to the 2 teams. He runs a store and everything about the team is the store. This new team is run by a different store so I can see that this is more about the money than anything else. Sure it makes sense (who wants to own a pizza place right next to another pizza place) but when placed in a position of running a race one must not allow to get personal feelings involved.

pogoman

Totally agree.
Which is why in the end, he let us race.
I don't think its about the bad blood, (me and the rest of the team just want to ride bike) but to have come to that point is truly not a true sign of sportsmanship. Why go through such stressful and embarrasing moment when it could've been resolved by talking in the first place? cycling like any other sport always gets a bit too political (no difference if its a pro team or a cat 4 team) but this was just a bit TOO much in my honest opinion.

ImprezaDrvr

I'm not saying that it wasn't over the line. No doubt it was. I am suggesting that you find a way to hash it out. Whether it's working with the shop that supports your team or going directly to the competition, letting it continue without so much as an attempt at getting over it won't go anywhere good.

pogoman

I told the team manager that by the time the season starts this would be over with...but guess not. My guess is that time will heal all that has happened and bygones will be bygones. I have been riding bike around here since I was 15 so most of the guys that are on both teams I have known for a ton of years.

Ray and Jeff, I don't know well enough, I just know they own the team, the shop and run the races around here. My hopes are that by the time it gets warmer and we ride together like back in the day this will NEVER happen again. I have seen some crazy stuff over the years but I think that experience top them all. I hope things work out as well. I would hate to see new guys, like juniors go through something like this.

webist

I take a regular Saturday morning ride which commences from a Bagel shop about three miles from my house. I usually ride with a friend. This past Saturday I arrived early and he arrived late. I peddled over to the first two of about 8 regular riders who start their ride in the next parking lot over every Saturday. Noting an impending rain shower, I said: "You guys hoping to beat the weather today too?" They stared right at me in complete silence.

My response? "I'm sorry. I didn't realize this was your day to be rude. Have a nice ride."

Brillig

And then I removed my rainbow fro and artificial breasts, put my clothes back on and rode away silently.

CAAD5AL

Marty's Reliable Cycles - good guys, good shops.

Fight or Flight, where in Randolph are you? I just moved from Randolph last Fall!

R600DuraAce

Too strange. However, it is not a good idea to offend the race organizer. You have to respect them for the effort to put out a race and all the troubles involved in it. It would be nice if you know this before hand. To band you from this a race is just ridiculous. I haven't encountered stuff like that. Well......

pogoman

indeed!

Avalanche325

If it is a sanctioned race, the sanctioning body, USCF, should know if the organizer is not being fair to the competetors.

fight or flight

I'm off of Center Grove around the corner from CCM.. I'll PM you!

I agree, Marty's is a great shop!

Corsaire

I had an encounter with these two a***hls not too long ago, while riding in Faifield, there was even thread about it:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...light=arrogant
They really give cycling a bad name. Bikery = bickery.
Corsaire

53-11_alltheway

I remember that thread.

pogoman

Hey Corsaire! I got a full experience like yours this past Saturday alright. Must be the cold weather or something.

scrantr

Give them a break. It must be really unpleasant riding 60-70 miles with that set-back seatpost wedged up your hiney.

DieselDan

Sounds like you could have a lawsuit, granted a smal claims suit aganist the organizer. You paid your money, he kept you from getting the product and service you paid for.