Another Monday, another weekend down in the race calendar. Let’s see who really showed up to race this weekend and who should have stayed at home binge watching OITNB S3 like I did.
On Sat, in the park we all know is the lesser of the two, BrittLee Bowman of Stan’s NoTubes p/b Velo Classic won the W P/1/2/3/4 race, Kim Granlund won the Cat 5 race and Lynn Murray of Dave Jordan Racing won the Masters 40+ field.
On Sun, the White Plains crit brought glory for Donovan Clarke of CRCA/Health Warrior in the M 1/2/3 race, Cassandra Maximenko racked up another win for Stan’s NoTubes p/b Velo Classic in the W 1/2/3/4 field, Simon Ouellette of Andre Cycle Kaycan RDS won the M3/4 field, John Kim of CRCA/NY Vision won the M4 field, Sean Miles of Kissena won the M5 field and Matt Inconiglios of Stage 1/fusionTHINK – VOSS won the Masters 40+. Down in rural NJ at the Historic Riverton crit, glory was again bestowed upon our own Mike Margarite of the CRCA/Weather Channel team in the P/1/2 field, Dori Buckethal of Annapolis Bicycle Racing won the W1/2/3 field and Justin DiPalma of The Performance Lab won the M3/4 field.
Congrats to all, and here’s to the rest of you making better choices next weekend…
Was the CRCA behind White Plains crit? If so, or whomever the promoter is should really take notice. The 1/2 field at RIverton had more NYC racers signed up than the 123 at White Plains. That should tell you something about having high entry fees coupled with low payout. People will drive elsewhere. The better NYC racers drove 2 hours to race instead of doing one that was a few minutes away. I think those putting on these super expensive races need to look at their framework and revise if they want their races to grow and last a long time. Overcharging riders and giving out weak prizes will not sustain a race. Just look at Battenkill for example.
It was not the CRCA, FYI.
Thanks Josh. My bad for calling out CRCA. The rest still stands true.
Festana, consider though:
a) overall registration numbers for White Plains were 334 vs. 180 at Riverton (BikeReg numbers, no idea about day-of numbers)
b) fees were $35 for White Plains ($45 if you were late) vs. $30 for Riverton (and $35 for Pro/1/2); looking at e.g. Orchard Beach or Harlem, you cannot call White Plains super expensive
(I am not associated with White Plains Crit, or even Battenkill. Organizing races is expensive, and my guess is that most promoters are lucky to break even.)
those entry fees are ridiculous. at least they’re made up for by the cheap bike prices
Festana, I am one of the promoters of the White Plains Crit. While I agree with many of the points of Not a Robot on registration fees, we definitely did not award as much money to the P/1/2/3 as Riverton. Similar to Riverton, we donate all net proceeds to our designated charity. This is not a for profit endeavor and we sacrifice a great deal of time and personal funds to make sure this race happens. Overall, our prize pool was about the same but we had many more fields. We also handed out about $150 in cash premes out of our funds during the race day. Having said all this, we want to grow the P/1/2/3 field while still being mindful of the amount of prize money we have available to award. It’s something we will definitely look at. Feel free to contact me directly via the website (www.whiteplainscrit.com) with other suggestions or if you want to talk directly.
Craig, I just want to say that you and Aki did a great job this weekend and I wish more local promoters were as pro as you guys. My only complaint was the hot weather. How about moving the event to May….
Yeah but Rivington had a house after party and bbq going plus the premes were $300 bucks… Give up now White Plains.
Is prize money a major factor in deciding which race to do? Seriously, drive to Drive to South Jersey for the chance at an extra $50 payout? Is that behind the numbers? More primes for free T-shirts and Kenda tires?
I don’t believe it. Riverton had Philly guys and more PRO field – attractive for some. White Plains is a great race venue with great organization – better for others. Don’t listen to the 3 comments (including mine) on this website re. prize money.
Sounds like there were two great options in the region for crit racers last weekend, which is a great problem.
Upcoming Harlem race is a great example. The entry fee is $45, payout $1500. That’s not too bad. Except paying out only 5 deep is kind of lame in my opinion. An NCC, Cat 2/3 field pays out 3x as deep.
I suggest you try putting on a race to see what it costs. Unless the promoter can find a generous sponsor, it is difficult to offer high prize amounts.
My experience of the White Plains Crit and other races organized by Aki is that they are very well run and good value for money. In this instance registration was a breeze, parking was easy, bathrooms were available, the races started on time and the results went up very promptly. For me the value of the prizes is a low priority. Others may have opinions that differ. That’s my two cents. Great race. Well done.