Great monetarily for the industry and promoters.
For the sport...I dunno.
It is his word versus ours. We like our word. We like where we stand and we like our credibility."--Lance Armstrong.
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Average age of a Cat 5 in the DC/Metro area is 34.7 years old.
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That is younger than I would have guessed. Wonder what the average field size is like?
USAC gets a fail on innumerable levels, its expensive to race and a PIA to promote an event. Things like OBRA and collegiate racing are what builds the sport
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Reason why is numerous 35+ 'masters' elligible riders won't race masters and get their head handed to them. I'm amazed how fast the 35, 40, and even 45 age groups are in Masters. FAST!
So newbies or guys/gals looking for a reasonable placing will opt to ride Cat 5.
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35 seems old for an average age.
in CO the 35+ open class is often as competitive as P/1/2s. They are all ex elite riders (1,2 and pro) that still ride a ton and they're typically smart too. I get shelled regularly whenst trying to ride w/ them on longer uphill sections of training rides = NFW would I want to be a 2 again - especially here.
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it's really hard to get into bike racing... it's not like signing up for a marathon or triathlon...
the sport is not designed to be accessable to the general public
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Whether or not that is good for the sport would depend on what the trend is over time. If 8 years ago it was 37 then the trend is positive, if it was 29 then the trend is negative.
Hard to say with the data you provided.
The more the merrier, but we obviously need youth involved.
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I will break it down for you
Cat4/5: having fun
Cat 3: delusional
Cat 1/2: unemployable
masters: divorced
women racers: the wet dream of all of the abovethrow in power meters, the internet and naturally asocial behavior - we are an island of broken toys:)
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Jah has it just about nailed. Personally, I'm in the fourth of his categories, but I cheat the time space continuum by being married to someone in the fifth category.
Masters races around here are fast, as I'm sure they are pretty much everywhere. I'd love to see more kids involved, and more twentysomethings as well. For both of them, the sport is moving in expensive directions. Kids have a Thone going on with trying to get into Harvard and playing video games And other sports and million other things that they do that makes cycling seem prohibitive. Most of the guys in their early 20s who I know who race, it's actually socially counterproductive for them. It's terribly all-consuming.
In general, every amount of effort that USA cycling spends at the top of the pyramid is wasted. Deal with the bottom of the pyramid and the top takes care of itself. This guy Steve Johnson sounds like a complete horses ass. He in barest himself in that article about OBRA. If he said what he really believes in, he has to go today.
For disclosure purposes, I am a partner in November Bicycles. This fact probably colors everything I say. I'm clearly not to be trusted. -
+1 Jah
Like others, I would have guessed the average age was even higher. In the Northeast it's not uncommon for masters 5's and 4's to have a separate race, there's just so many of them.
It is an expensive sport, always has been, and the carbon age has put it beyond the reach of younger people on a budget. When cycling became the new golf the industry took notice of the affluent newcomers. Arguably, American masters with their deeper pockets have indirectly put the price of racing grade equipment beyond the reach of most. Even many folk with plenty of disposable income are stunned by current prices of bikes and accessories. Good for some manufacturers, bad for entry level enthusiasts. Not a sport for the masses and unlikely to ever be so. Outside of the pricey racing world, recreational cycling continues to grow.
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In Texas most races offer a 40+ and a 35+ 4/5 race. Gives the older newbie a place to get his feet wet without having to mix it up with newbie 20 yr olds in straight cat 5 races or getting killed in the 40+ race.
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where is the Like button for Jah's post?
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+1 Jah. Very funny.
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Jah!
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+1 Jah.
Excellent recap of the current amateur racing scene here in the US.
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What Jah wrote can be applied to any amateur sport on the planet. Yes, let's stigmatize competition, it's much better to be a fat ass underachiever razzing from the sidelines. As for money keeping people away that's horseshit, cycling requires commitment to succeed and most younger people aren't prepared to make that sacrifice, especially in this day and age. Getting a 20 year old to voluntarily wear lycra (to the amusement of their friends) is a tough sell, especially when there is much more adulation in other sports.
For all the good they've done me, I might as well have stuck them up my arse. - Mark Renton -
And Madonna's 50+. We're all getting old, and I would warrant a guess that my bike has just about the same amount of plastic.
but the money can't be everything keeping kids away from racing; you can get a perfectly good used bike from an upgrading cat-4 for ~500. USAC entry fees, on the other hand, are pretty killing. And lycra is somewhat intimidating, but not so much as it used to be.
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JS I think you have to take it tongue in cheek - otherwise I would be (given multiple racing disciplines) divorced, delusional, and unemployable. I can say at least one of those is definitely not true, another has significant evidence against it, the third? Jury's way out on that one.
The closest thing to "beer league" sports we get in cycling is cross. The cross crusade stuff bears out the validity of that direction from the standpoint of increasing participation.
Every sport I've played post high school (cycling, sailing, swimming, windsurfing, tennis) has a similar thing going on - late 20s early 30s is the left side of the bell curve of adult participation. What sports DO early 20 somethings play? Flip cup and beer pong mostly. It's something that cycling can certainly do an endlessly better job at addressing, but it's not just cycling's issue.
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If only there was a current, highly successful American professional cyclist to draw attention to the sport......
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Yo Mike: Brilliant.
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As far as youth sports go, they are all expensive unless you are competing thru the taxpayer funded public school sports leagues. Elite baseball, soccer, gymnastics etc. are just as as much $$ as cycling. These programs are constantly fundraising, begging and appealing to the community for additional $$ to go to Nats, World Series etc. You just don't see cycling kids panhandling on the corner to go to Nats. Maybe they are too busy training.
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But that's greater DC. A typical college town it'll probably be, like, 24.
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I wonder how much it matters?
If you look at the ProTour level you see lots of riders who did not come the traditional channels. Tri's, Cross, MTB, even Gran Fondos.
I had dinner with a friend last month. Former European Pro, been around the sport for years. He had little interest in the Pro Road sport. Wanted to push other avenues for development. His words: The good ones always rise to the top
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