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I'm not 100% about how the money makes it's way through but BC's reduced rates help juniors hugely with race entries, licenses and stuff.
We collaborate with a shop chain to get a crit series going for the yout' each summer. As a result we have a lot sprogs keen as hell and racing. This is all funded by our membership fees (less than £30 a year) and membership numbers have just risen and risen over the last couple of years and it's all good. We're now having to run 2 chaingangs and 'social' ride in the week and 4 rides at weekends (including one specially for kids once a month).
It's still really expensive to host a proper road race, but we manage. It's always a bit of a slog getting marshals.
If you ride a bike it makes no sense to me not to be in a club, even if it's initially just for the insurance.
Exactly. People forget (or are simply unaware) that countries with enviable cycling for transport 'infrastructure' (which we know really just means drivers not being cunts) also have an incredibly healthy club and race scene for all ages and abilities.
In Holland for instance, you find that prominent local businesses sponsor the local cycling clubs, in a similar way that Rabobank sponsors a pro team and national riders. There are more closed-road races in western Europe than most on here could conceive. -
What I meant was elite success doesn't directly financially assist the likes of the LCC, though that's my assumption.
Certainly not directly. It's all good, though--sport and everyday utility cycling can support each other. It's not a massively strong link. I envisage it a bit like the link between motorsport and everyday driving. Some people will really be fans, other people will be influenced much less directly, e.g. through benefiting from R&D that goes into new products for the racing market.
It is necessary, though, to decouple perceptions of everyday cycling from perceptions of bike racing. Everyday cycling still has an image of being impossibly hard and dangerous, and that has to change.
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It is necessary, though, to decouple perceptions of everyday cycling from perceptions of bike racing. Everyday cycling still has an image of being impossibly hard and dangerous, and that has to change.
Exactely** this.**
There are many reasons why people are inspired/encouraged to cycle and racing a bike I suspect is a small one.
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Not sure I agree with that on a country wide basis.
Obviously in London there has been a shift in perception to a certain degree as people have realised cycling is a great way to get around. It's happened in other urban areas (such as Bristol) too. But there is another breed of rider you're forgetting. I see an ever increasing numbers of weekend-warriors/freds/callthemwhatyoulike who are buying sports bikes on cycle-to-work and riding for fitness. They're prime candidates for dabbling in a bit of racing after a couple of years.
Don't forget the freds!
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Not strictly accurate given that hippy will probably consume a burger, too, it's just that he's paying for them. :)
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Just try to make sure that he doesn't just turn up for Souths, Rob ...
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We need a sensible, balanced and scientific piece of research to discover what's happening with more cyclists on the roads:
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/consumer-news/59734/cyclists-break-more-road-rules-motorists
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Now, if cycle sport encouraged Skully to take up cycling, I'd be well impressed.
hehe
This below from Oliver is where I'm at. I'm really confused as to why everyone I know who isn't a cyclist, and many who are, assuming that I must be SO excited about the amazing TdF and Lympics and isn't just it great? No not really, everyone seems to be just watching telly. I love cycling. I don't like cycling very fast. I enjoy riding just in itself. I'm not interested in watching other people cycling fast. Sport is a kind of bullying, to me. I guess sport has bad connotations for me. A kind of disengagement happens to me when people around me get competitive. It puts me off cycling with other people, quite often.It is necessary, though, to decouple perceptions of everyday cycling from perceptions of bike racing. Everyday cycling still has an image of being impossibly hard and dangerous, and that has to change
.This sort of point:
Obviously in London there has been a shift in perception to a certain degree as people have realised cycling is a great way to get around. It's happened in other urban areas (such as Bristol) too. But there is another breed of rider you're forgetting. I see an ever increasing numbers of weekend-warriors/freds/callthemwhatyoulike who are buying sports bikes on cycle-to-work and riding for fitness. They're prime candidates for dabbling in a bit of racing after a couple of years.
Don't forget the freds!
... is interesting about sport uptake on a general level. But what I'm really hoping for is that lots of people who are, say, hiring bikes, might think about buying a trailer and bike and doing their supermarket shopping without the car. Or going on holiday on a cycle, not for itself, but as a way of getting somewhere. Doing something with a bicycle but not cycling for its own sake. Practical cycling. This would be real progress for cycling, in my eyes.
As were some other good points here^^^^^^^, from jmf, hippy, rpm... I'm genuinely wondering why I'm so 'funny' about sport now (time for some competitiveness counselling?!)
I wonder if this idea of a proper cyclist and not proper cyclist in London has waned a bit since Ken Livingstone instigated the Cycle Hire scheme? I reckon London's drivers are becoming really more patient with slow and wobbly cycling.
/Borishater -
Identify with your outlook Skully whilst containing some of that kick needed to get into races of all sorts.sustrans are now ramping up the numbers of staff doing workplace cycling promotions, and there does seem to be a big leap needed for large numbers of potential converts. If every habitual short distance driver is gonna make their aspirational switch to biking, biking promoters are gonna have to get people hooked on stuff other than fast races, suggestions-
Lower costs,
Exact times.
Health and fitness,
Improved lifestyle,
Carry on please... -
But what I'm really hoping for is that lots of people who are, say, hiring bikes, might think about buying a trailer and bike and doing their supermarket shopping without the car. Or going on holiday on a cycle, not for itself, but as a way of getting somewhere. Doing something with a bicycle but not cycling for its own sake. Practical cycling. This would be real progress for cycling, in my eyes.
A decent harsh winter will sort all that out.
Seriously though, all that would be wonderful. But it's not 'cycling' as percieved by most, any more than walking to the shops is seen as an activity. People don't drive to sainsburys and think 'right, now I'm off motoring!' donning driving gloves and an air of responsibility. They just do it.
If you think about it, though, when cars were reletively still a luxury, that's exactly what people DID do. Only society attitudes have changed.What you actually want are lifestyle and society changes. It's not about the bike.
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This below from Oliver is where I'm at. I'm really confused as to why everyone I know who isn't a cyclist, and many who are
[snip]
I wonder if this idea of a proper cyclist and not proper cyclist in London
Get away from the idea of 'being a cyclist' or 'being a motorist'. It's a bit like 'being a policeman' or 'being a surveyor'. People assume that it's what you do inflexibly. We're all mixed-mode users. There's no need for a great commitment, just use the mode that's most appropriate for your trip. People always think that you have to 'give up' something, e.g. 'the car'. This is nonsense. 'Cyclist' or 'motorist' are just sectarian, and are often used to divide and rule, as in the article spindrift linked to.
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Sport and Uptake.
To take up throwing the javelin for anything other than sport would be eccentric, but cycling is different.
I have always assumed that racing cyclists are a distillation from a base of utility riders. If there are few ordinary cyclists there will be a scarcity of racing men, but if half of one percent of new riders get to turn a pedal in anger, every type of race will be better supported.
Lack of knowledge by the non cycling public is clearly a big deterrent to anyone thinking of starting, and I believe the other side of this coin is that since the vast majority of racing cyclists do big non racing mileages it is to be hoped that their example will encourage the others to follow. The experience of competition greatly increases knowledge of cycling, so even long retired former racers can pass on vital information to beginners – my own first tutor was my Grandfather who had stopped racing half a century before I started.
However, I see plenty of problems ahead. Will an increase in utility riding bring unwanted legislation – compulsory use of cycle paths for example? Will the creaky club structure be able to cope? There’s a reference further up this thread to “wizened faced old choppers, wordlessly beasting each other over grey drizzly hills” That might well be referring to me, but at least I can still ride; what worries me is seeing a road race that depends on octogenarians for marshalling, or a time trial which relies on a time keeper who can only just walk with the aid of a stick.
My own club, along with many others, has seen a big rise in membership in recent years, but we find it’s generally the same old faces who turn out to do the necessary organising and marshalling jobs.
Enough, I’m getting off the point, which is:-
For me, racing and utility riding go hand in hand.
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For me, racing and utility riding go hand in hand.
Good for you but not the case for everyone.
How many racing cyclists drive with their bikes in their cars to ride/race starts?British Cycling's 'Go Ride' scheme is all about bike handling for racing (Ride one handed to pick up your water bottle rather than signal to drivers) and for spotting talent. They do a little every day cycling training but not the amount they could do. The bring some racing norms like helmet compulsion/promotion to everyday riding.
I asked Shanaze Reade once how her success could inspire young people to make trips on a bike and she said she doesn't ride on roads (too dangerous)
(Though looks like she could be going clubbing on her BMX:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FbeXfuYEgbM/Tz21znz7CMI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/c5y3KqmdZGk/s1600/shanaze_reade_5_141.jpeg
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Good for you but not the case for everyone.
How many racing cyclists drive with their bikes in their cars to ride/race starts?In 2006 I rode a 25 on the West of Oxford course which was won by Nik Gardiner who had ridden out from his home near Bristol. Having crushed the opposition with a short 55, he got back on his bike and rode home – a round trip, including the 25 of something over 130 miles. However, Nik was preparing for the 24 hour Championship which he duly won (504 miles that year) and I’m afraid we’re not all capable of mile eating on that scale.
About 25 years ago, one of my club mates, quite a talented rider, attempted his first 100 on another of the Oxford courses. To his credit he has always tried to avoid car travel whenever possible and on this occasion he had ridden out from London on the Saturday and camped near the start. I don’t remember his time, but considering his ability it was definitely sub-optimal. I asked him how it had gone and he said: “I might well have gone faster, but around 75 miles, when I was starting to feel the distance, I just couldn’t get it out of my mind that after the finish I’d got to take down that bloody tent, pack it onto the bike and then ride home”.
He’s still competing, but he often drives out to events nowadays.
Bike racing can be used as an example of the motor car creating a need for its own use. Long ago when there were few cars, we could start a Bath Road time trial just West of Hounslow – now we have to travel another 50 miles because of the spread of traffic lights.
In our twenty first century lives there are bound to be times when a car is the most convenient way to travel, and bike races often come into this category. My point about the competitive cyclist’s bike use is that in order to have sufficient fitness for it to be worth even arriving at the start of a race they have generally done a big mileage. I know there are exceptions, but they are unusual.
I have an article, written for the still born lfgss coffee table book, entitled “The 300,000 Mile Commute”. This is an account of Martyn Roach’s rides to work, and while the title is self explanatory, some of the younger people here are probably unaware of Martyn’s racing career, so I’ll give a very brief summary. He first came to national level notice at the age of 21 in 1968 by winning the BBAR at a record average speed (the first at over 25 mph). Although often thought of as a time triallist, he was a successful roadman, winning international events and eventually turning down a pro contract with a continental team on the grounds that he did not want to take part in their ‘medical programme’; there is a good account of his career in Peter Whitfield’s excellent book ‘Twelve Champions’. I mention Martyn here because he is an excellent example of the interaction between racing and utility riding, although he probably needed a bigger mileage than the average rider to achieve racing fitness. He would lead excellent early season training rides, generally spending most of the day at the front and never pausing to look at a map even on the most obscure back lanes. These rides were not for the faint hearted, but Martyn liked to hide how far he was really going, only giving his companions information on what he called ‘a need to know basis’ which would generally be something like ‘we’re turning left in a hundred yards’. He reckons that the commuting mileage is a little under half his lifetime’s total.
Finally two photographs (if I can load them, that is). These were taken on the first of my ‘Hard Day’ rides, and I reproduce them here because they show good close formation riding – a technique which economises on effort and is best perfected in a road race bunch or a team time trial. We did about 110 miles, which is more tiring on a frosty day than in midsummer, so labour saving methods were valuable. Perhaps more importantly we were motivated by the desire to race later in the season – ‘every mile pays a dividend’.
So to repeat myself: more riding encourages more racing, more racing encourages more riding.
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... and here's where you posted them originally:
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Thanks Oliver.
The second I wanted to post hadn't been used before so it's irritating it wouldn't load. I had reduced the number of pixels thinking that would help, but it seems to have made matters worse.
I'll try once more......
Here it is - in unedited (and better) form.
Incidentally, if you look at our bikes, you may notice that great expense **has **been spared. We like to keep our good machines for actual racing.
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Oliver Schick
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Is cycle sport encouraging uptake of cycling?
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@Skülly
Not really. Where do you think the gold medal talent comes from?
It's talent spotted young in Go Race programs and school sports days and all that kind of thing.