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Even in the days before road racing really existed in Britain (Pre 1942, apart from the Isle of Man and a few closed circuits) I'm pretty sure most of the then young people would have preferred to race en ligne rather than *contre la montre*if they'd had the chance. And as Tester so rightly says that's what young people should want to do.
Time trialling has many advantages, but for any ambitious young rider it will probably be a sideline. We can't all be Anquetil.
I'm not sure that many riders have ever been keen to ride a twelve - it's something that's far more enjoyable in retrospect than in anticipation - or when you're actually out there doing it.
However I am strongly opposed to taking the twelve out of any BAR competition (that, Hippie, was the reason we met as competitors in the 2011 Kent CA event). It might increase numbers to remove it, but it wouls severely detract from the interest. Aside from the fact that it would be an obvious dumbing down, a reduction in standards, it should be remembered that from the 'story' point of view it's the longer events that are more worth writing about. You try to find something interesting to write for a report on a 10! A twelve usually provides some drama because things can go wrong but be overcome by ingenuity or just sheer grit.
So let's keep the twelve as long as we can.
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clubman
skinny
You’re right about young people. Time trialling just isn’t attractive to them, road racing has got all the allure.
People also don’t seem to keen on 12hours now. Perhaps a rejuvenation could happen through reducing it to 100mile. So 10,25,50,100. Would increase competitor numbers.