I think there’s some confusion between competitive sports and recreational/participation sports here. Many sports have tracks that cover both of these - take soccer, for example. Young kids play it (recreational/participation), older kids who perform well get the opportunity of getting into a competitive track that may lead them to a professional carreer, and many adults play it recreationally. But there are many sports where the “adult recreational/participation track” does not really exist - pure track & field, for example. There are zillions of participation events in road running, but very little on the track (an amateur javelin-throw event would be interesting…). You will find tons of recreational adult hockey, soccer, baseball, basketball leagues, but no water-polo or olympic handball ones.
Cycling is the same - there is a (pretty small in North America) development track for young atheletes, leading to professional levels, but a pretty small “recreational” full-on racing scene (what this thread talks about mainly), mostly because you get a lot more appeal from mass-entry-friendly events such as fondos. You see exactly the same thing in running - count how many track meets open to everyone are held in your area, and compare that to the number of road races.
Hmm, have r read the whole thread but coincidentally I looked online for a road race in July (in the UK) but couldn’t find anything. Too many Sportives get the limelight.
My cc has a local events list but it’s uninspiring.
@rocourteau makes a good point, however, the numbers of participants locally and in Socal have diminished even since the early 2000’s. The number of events as also diminished while the number of “events” as increased. Maybe it’s just the fact that event promotion with the internet is so much more effective that it’s possible to make money? I’m grasping at straws here but, the timing is interesting…
Right - I think we are all on the same page here. I’m doing Steamboat Gravel this year, mostly because we received a generous discount and we’re bringing probably 15 people. I’m sure it’ll be fun. For me, racing XC and long marathon races is what got me into road. I wanted a road bike to help with training. Then upgraded that road bike. Upgraded again. Realized I was pretty decent on it. Looked into local races. Got dropped. Didn’t race again all year. Stuck with xc. Tried again the next year. Did a lil better. Still dropped. Then I didn’t get dropped. A light bulb went off. Kept training. Kept racing. Kept picking people’s brains on how to get faster, tactics. Joined a team. And now XC is on the back burner. But will still dabble. Might do Breck 100 this year. Those trails and race is a monster.
I was on road-results.com and saw an omnium in Nebraska where my in-laws live and just took a peek even though I don’t know anyone out there. There were 4 Cat 1/2, 6 Cat 3, 13 Cat 4, and 9 Cat 5. That’s some really sad participation numbers. It’s tough to organize races if no one is showing up, and I continue to think the points above regarding competition vs participation are totally relevant.
Have a look on the British Cycling website calendar. Filter for road and then what ever area you want. You’ll find plenty of road races.
I’ve seen a downward trend in some racing this season. Personally, I’m reconsidering my risk/reward balance. Seen a lot of near misses in races this year, and in Sunday’s race, the standard of riding was shockingly bad, verging on the dangerous. It’s made me think about whether I actually want to race on the road any more, and controversially get all my racing kicks on Zwift:(
Full disclosure, I have not read every post in this thread.
This year, three events into which I’d entered (two crits and one road race) got cancelled one week prior to the event. In the case of the road race, it later came to light that the organisers had received 13 entries for a possible field of 60. I can’t expect an organiser to swallow the remaining costs for hosting that event so I understand their decision. What did have me scratching my head was the fact that for the past 3-4 years, this event was a complete sell out well before the flag dropped. I double checked school holidays etc and there was no clear reason why participation would be so low. The cost for entry was £25.
On the negative side of things, I find it pretty hard to pick myself up after completing a specific training block, with a focus and taper, to then have nothing at the end of it. This for me would be the reason I’d stop racing. The sheer level of commitment you need to even be competitive in a 2/3/4 field is no joke. If you feel like you’re sacrificing other things, such a social occasions and such-like, to then not even have the experience and thrill of competing is tough to swallow.
I have my first road race a week this Sunday. I’m pretty nervous about it all told.
This doesn’t help!
Supposedly 80 Cat 3/4 places available, but there’s definitely a different vibe to a running race. Because entry was only online through British Cycling, I needed to upgrade my provisional licence to a full (£20), then another £25 for the entry itself. I suppose that means there won’t be any ‘fun runners’.
I would be happy not getting spat out of the back, and at 4w/kg I would hope that I will at least be able to hang with the group.
I think Sunday was a combination of factors. A field that was too big, with a massive spread of ability and experience. The roads were incredibly busy, and there was nothing to split the field - no decent climbs and nothing too technical. As a result the field stayed together. People were taking crazy risks, crossing the white line to move up in the face of oncoming traffic. The commisaire black flagged it because of the standard of riding. Same thing happened in our national vets RR. The responses from the riders were appalling, demonstrating that folk didn’t know how it should all work, eg expecting the NEG motorbikes/marshalls to stop traffic for the race rather than the riders taking responsibilty for their own safety. Despite both races being black flagged for the same reasons, folk continued to ride in the same dangerous ways, but yet there were no DQ’s.
If you’re going to do one thing before your race on Sunday, study the Race Smart section of the British Cycling website. I’m not sure many people in the race had actually done that.
That’s plenty strong enough for a 3/4 race. What you might not be expecting is just how surgy the race will be. It will go from cruising to full gas in the blink of an eye!! That’s really what wears people down!!
Road/Crit racing has almost become a game of dodge the crash in the south east of the UK… Too many people turn up with a £4k bike think they’re gods gift and yet have no idea of how to race.
It got to the point i used to sit on the front of the group for the entire race just to avoid the carnage behind me… did get very fit and could control things quite well but not really condusive to the last lap sprint!
Im even finding the same problem at some sportives, where people seem to think theyre racing for points!!
Another problem is saturation Im in essex within a normal week (mon to fri) I can think of at least 5 race series within an hours drive more races than racers.
And finally Women’s racing needs to be more than a tack-on event.
But meanwhile Im sticking to track - at least you have to pass a ‘test’ before you can ride!!
You’re not doing the RLSCC Frizz Hill RR are you, per chance? If so, you won’t need to worry about pack riding. Last year the ride was so splintered that it was hard to tell who was leading and who was out the back.
Anyway, if you are, good luck and I’ll see you there
#RoadNeverDies. it’s not dead but going through a change. The biggest disrupter IMO is Gravel and Zwift. Gravel has mass starts which is a big draw to everyone; lower level riders like toeing the line with pros, and the environment is much more inclusive and fun than a normal road race. Promoters are doing a much better job at creating an after-party environment.
Road needs to shake things up, maybe do more mass starts…gran fondos are way more popular for the same reasons above, and with big prizes, even the most serious roadies are leaning this way towards the $
I’m an officer in the LA and help run a series of events. We are seeing a significant decline in participation with slow but steady declines since a peak of about 6-7 years ago.
Our state 40k TT used to draw 250+ riders and now 60% of that. Genuine road races struggle as they are “too hard”. There are die hard crit fans but the level of dumb moves is on the increase and older guys don’t want to get crashed out so they race less or will only time trial.
Demographics, our time trial series is 12 races April through August, the largest fields are now 50+, 55+ and 60+ Some new guys coming into these age groups as they retire and/or family demands lessen and they have time to train and focus on doing a race series.
We also run some “casual” TTs. These events have maintained steady state pretty well last five years.
Seems to be the hard core competitive series and road races taking the hit as too hard or too long. The lack of younger riders is a real problem over time as are promoters aging and retiring or moving out of mid Atlantic.
CX is also down from peak. CX was a huge fad for 2-3 years but that is over. Mtn bike and enduro on the rise.
Yes. Our club (now over 25 years old) runs 4 weekly (and 6 overall) group rides. Overall attendance is at an all time high for recent times. While I have only been a member for 4 years, my observation is that the biggest contributors to growing interest have been the level of organization and skills training.
Photos suggest closed roads. Sadly in the UK, there’s isn’t many (ie maybe one series that I’m aware of) closed road races for amateurs. (I’m talking races, not sportifs or fondos).
