It was a completely delightful weekend in the NYC area. There were races, there was sunshine and there was joy for some. For the others, there was pain and frustration and dawning realization that no, that new $3k wheelset you got doesn’t mean a guaranteed podium spot in the park race.
In PP on Sat, Alanzo Greaves took home the win in the M1/2/3 race, Samuel Hamilton of CRCA/Foundation won the M4 race and Walton Frances won the M5 race. Full results here. Up at the Silvermine TT, there were almost as many fields as racers so feel free to click here and peruse the results at your leisure.
On Sun, there was a FBF race but I can’t find the results so feel free to post them in the comments if you know where they are. Down in Marlton, NJ where they apparently hate women but love raging police officer racers, Frank Leach of Metra/Cycles 54 Cycling Team won the M1/2/3 race, Joseph Hydrick of Alliance Environmental won the M2/3 race and Matthew Mory of QCW Cycling p.b. Breakawaybikes won the M5 race. Full results here.
Up at Catskills, the only results I could find of the last USAC sanctioned edition was through stage 2, which are located here. Expect full results to be posted here when available.
Dieter goes out in style with a poorly organized race which he wants to blame on USAC. You are only as good as your last race Dieter, and you’re terrible.
What happened at Catskills? Dieter is bellyaching online about participant complaints.
Looks like he is pissed…
There are lots of great people in cycling and a few assholes. The assholes ruin it for everyone.
I was at Catskills, and it was great.
There was a snafu with the TT results, but they had it cleared by morning.
Everything else was fabulous– in my field, at least.
New rule at our events: act like an asshole to our staff or officials and you’re done, on the spot. Period. No result, no award, nothing. Just get on the car and go home.
Hey “DieterStyle” – f### off.
I hear that your races next year will not be USA Cycling sanctioned, does that mea under http://www.usacycling.org/decision-on-uci-rule-12019-delayed-until-2015.htm that as a USA license holder, I cannot compete?
I have no idea. Call Steve Johnson. Maybe he’ll answer the phone, but I doubt it. Word is he’s checked out with the keys to the drawer…
They conveniently ignored this in 2015…
In any case, if they levy a fine, I’ll pay it for you.
You”ll pay the fine, just like you post results for events I actually pay you for??? Your credibility is gone, Dieter. Just like the people who show up for your races.
You must have been one the assholes harassing my wife and kids last weekend… Go away.
Nope, wasn’t there last weekend I have learned better then to participate in your messy events. And not everyone who is critical of the appalling way you run your races can be branded an asshole, dickhead.
Great perspective…
Get out of the sport. You’re ruining it for everyone else and nobody wants to be around you anymore.
Funny, because your suggestion is basicaly what people are telling you to do by not showing up to your terrible races. Good luck with your fondos, I am sure you will discover new ways to blame others for your failures with those as well, fuckwad.
Your math sucks.
Blame? I’m not blaming anyone. I’m just making a business decision designed to match the changing marketplace. If it has the ancillary effect of selecting out the anonymous 2% in the sport who are, let’s be honest, pricks like you then all the better.
You can have the last word. You’ve earned it.
If you fear USA Cycling that much, then you probably should not come anyway. It’s a bullshit scare tactic.
Eiffel one I’m happy to see these races go away they do little to develop the cycling body. These races are entertainment for the ultra cyclist seeking a challenge. It reminds me of runners
I’m happy to see these races go away these races do little to develop the cycling body as a whole racing the Devils kitchen is entertainment for the ultra cyclists seeking a memorable challenge. reminds me a lot of ultra runners. These promoters need to fall in line with USA cycling distance and time specifications for categories then they will see a large turnout and the cyclists will come away with a feeling of racing not training why is a CAT5 racer racing 70 miles. In addition these races are too expensive and offer little return I am not racing for medals or milk , that’s for time trialist and runners
Some of the best news I have heard for a while. The guys hosting some of these long distance races are really missing a great opportunity to host great events. They need better organization, more incentive, and need to give people what they want. Who gives a sh*t about a Devils kitchen.
Be my guest,
The races aren’t going away, by the way.
Dieter, just curious, have you ever polled your previous racers (via an online survey) to try to ascertain the reasons for declining race participation? Tokeneke had over 400 riders this past weekend, which (I think) has been a somewhat consistent number. And Bear Mtn has had high attendance since its reintro. As has Capital Region RR. Though these are just three data points, I think races w “good” courses are still doing well. I’m genuinely curious. I wonder if people just don’t like the Devil’s Kit climb but were willing to try it once.
Here is a fairly complete look at major regional road races.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1C8t7wBvPNBAAP8Ot2uI_wndtmfesbNiPglT9BexlOm0/pubhtml
Racing peaked in 2013 and it’s losing participation at a fairly predictable pace. New England is still strong, though it’s lost far more races than NY, on average, so the participation at their events is probably skewed per event in contrast.
There is also this https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=bicycle%20racing
Also, Fitchburg is a 3-day crit series that was brought back in 2013 (you’re welcome) and has historical appeal. Apples & oranges there as compared to putting on a road race like GMSR or Battenkill.
This is interesting. As an outsider (no longer in the NY area), it seems your races lost more people at a faster race than the others – especially TOC and TOB. Also, where is the Hunter Mountain race info in this database? While the other races are down, the races you do seem to have taken a bigger hit in participation. Not disparaging you or your races, just looking at the numbers year to year. Do you have any idea or thoughts as to why that is?
By comparison, we’re taking about the same hit as all other races with everything else factored in (regional preferences, proximity to major cities, etc. )
Greene County (Hunter) went from 3 races to one, so I am not sure which one you are referring to. We had 400 in 2014 as the NYS RR Champs in June, though those races are not likely to return in 2016 as we only had 130 or so this -past June with a single event…ouch.
I can’t speak for other events, but here are some possibilities for ours:
1. We charge more for our races, so maybe that’s part of it.
2. We don’t have an obvious charity for people to have an emotional tie to (but don’t get me started there…we donate far more to charity than the so-called volunteer/charity events…lots more)
3. We compete against gran fondos upstate and regionally, and more people are choosing those instead of racing these days.**
4. I personally think prize money to all but elites is corrupting the sport, so we don’t focus on that.
4. I called Josh an ass?
** Our gran fondo at Battenkill grows every year and we’ll be paying more attention to that going forward.
In any case, given the trends, 2016 is probably the last year for both Battenkill and Catskills and we’ll be out of cycling entirely – too much BS (racer lawsuits, lack of leadership nationally, I hate losing money, etc.). Someone else is welcome to take on the risk for the next decade.
Interesting and helpful data. It’s obvious the ridership is down across most of the races. I would encourage you to collaborate w other organizers and do a survey to get to the heart of “why are you racing less”.
This is fascinating. Do we have any idea as to what’s causing this? Do folks just have less disposable income than they used to? Is it the end of the “Lance Effect” that had increased cycling participation for years during the Aughts? I can personally attest to racing less as a result of how expensive it has become.
Oh Dieter, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that the trolls commenting here represent the local NYC racing community. If you polled the podium winners at your races, I think you would be hard pressed to find people who frequent this site. The readership of this site is just not that high, and it is lowest with people who race the most, the same people who make the effort to race events like yours.
More importantly, remember that this site exists for two primary reasons; to troll the cycling community to increase page hits, and a place for Dan Schmalz to blog about training. Everything else is window dressing.
Look at Josh’s post at the top of the page. He couldn’t be bothered to find the results of your race. It’s not about providing valuable content. They can’t even get the most basic information correct. Better yet look at the “Hopeful Friday” post for Aug 7th, there is absolutely no mention of the Tokeneke Road Race on Sunday – a staple of the road race calendar and there had to be more than 100 racers from NYC there.
This site is not about the NYC racing community, it never has been and it never will, it’s about feeding and promoting trolling. The guys running the site will deny this, but it’s not a well-kept secret that they are some of the trolls writing these comments. I would not be surprised if Josh was the one who provided the first comment.
Don’t fall for it. Don’t feed the trolls, and you would be wise to just never visit this site. It does nothing to support or represent the racing community in NYC, and It certainly doesn’t represent the views of the majority of racers who go to your races.
1. I actually tried with the same amount of effort as I do for all races to find the results of Catskills and they were only posted through the second day on the Catskills website.
2. This site is run by guys who provide content to the community for free, meaning we don’t make a dime on running it, so page hits matter not. Our ability to analyze that stuff is actually kind of appalling.
3. Josh is way too busy with his life and doesnt care enough about Dieter to post comments as anonymous people.
4. Tokeneke is absolutely mentioned in the Hopeful Friday, I suggest new reading glasses.
5. Dan sucks.
I’ve been around the block a few times in this sport so I really don’t fall into any traps. I just an not afraid to defend myself and our events against the idiocy that’s sometimes spewed here for the few readers that are left. We make mistakes, sure, but my primary job is to have an optimally safe event, and that’s what we had at Catskills. The marshals were there, the police were there, the pace and support cars did their job. The results got delayed.
Dan doesn’t suck.
Josh is a wiener, dammit, did I not sign out to comment first?
Ass.
In Josh’s defense, the results for Catskills sucked for at least 48 hours after the event. The time trial results probably still suck, but I think they consistently suck between riders so the general classification only sucks a little.
Otherwise the event went well and there is only a small chance of a participant suing me this year. Small victory.
Dieter, one suggestion (which may no longer be applicable if you will not be holding USAC sanctioned races in the future), include the insurance fee in the price posted on the bikreg page rather than having it show up as an add-on fee that shows up only when you go to checkout.
I’m guessing you did that to highlight that the fee is going to USAC and not to you, but (based on my experience and those of others I have talked to) the effect was to make riders feel like the intent was to hide the full cost of the event. It felt like a hidden fee that I’d get hit with by an airline or a rental car company. I doubt that was your intent , but though it would be helpful for you to know how it was perceived.
You are correct. The national federation profited from insurance charges in excess of $1M per year for the last several years. The true price on the open market is about $1.50: they are selling insurance without a license, and that is illegal in most states. Now you know. ‘Funny thing is, the new CEO admitted it in a recent correspondence. Oops. That might leave a mark.
Needless to say, there will be no surcharges for Battenkill or any of our events going forward… No licenses, no junior gearing, etc. Helmets required when racing.
If you think you are getting a good deal with US*C (annual licenses, and what else?) you are mistaken. You are funding something other than what’s being advertised.
24 hours to I Will FBF and Charlie has yet to update overall standings on http://www.nycbikeracing.com/#!results–standings/cwve
Also, tokeneke was in fact mentioned.
Troll this!!!!
If Central Park was in the condition of prospect park, how long would it take before it was repaired?
You must not have noticed the massive potholes by the lake on the westside of CP that have been causing flats since at least April, the “pave secteur” at the top of Harlem Hill, or the long and longitudinal cracks plaguing most of the northern end of the park.
I have noticed the holes in CP, but it’s child’s play to PP. unborn child’s play !!!!
Free Prospect Park, Funny you mention it. The Wall Street Journal had this today:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/states-farm-out-park-maintenance-1439235766