Fun Ride v. Club Racing
WRITTEN 21 April 2008
It's difficult for us "cycling snobs" not to write about what is happening in cycling at the moment.
By cycling snob I mean those who have been around for "years".
Those who remember the days when it was rude not to wave at a fellow cyclist on the Auckland waterfront as it was likely you knew them. Those who remember when steel was still an acceptable bike frame material and carbon fiber was a rarity. Or when being a cyclist meant having a licence and racing at your local club, not doing Taupo, Tour of Northland and the Mechanics Bay world champs!
So what has happened? The growth of the sport as a recreational activity has grown exponentially in the last 10 years and there is now a culture of athleticism amongst the average person. These days, when you say that you are a cyclist, it seems everyone is a cyclist too or knows someone who is a cyclist. So how do you define yourself as a cyclist? What does that really mean?
Recently I completed the Rotorua to Taupo "fun ride". No longer would any sane-minded person call this ride, or anything similar, "fun". The Rotorua/Taupo slog was followed by a prize-giving where the first three places in each age group were presented medals and flowers. That then makes it a race, not a fun ride, but with a certain atmosphere of achievement and collegiality that made you feel a little warm and fuzzy (and tempted to go back next year).
This all made me wonder what motivates a person to train and complete an event like that, yet not pay $100 for a licence and race at their local club every Saturday?
My experiences of local club racing in recent weeks answers my question.
Recently I raced at Counties Manukau. The race has always started at 2pm in Manukau, South Auckland (which may as well be Waikato). Having spent my Friday night quietly at home with a DVD and then my Saturday morning quietly mooching around the house, I started my journey to the race around 12.15pm and by this stage I was in a bad mood. I have wasted my Friday night, and on Saturday, as I progress along the southern motorway, it starts to rain. The race goes fairly smoothly but by the time I get home it is 5.40pm and a good chunk of my weekend is spent. There was no free entry bag and the general mood of the riders and officials was sullen. There were certainly no warm and fuzzy feelings floating around.
The following week, I received an email from my club secretary informing me that I had been allocated to a team, and that I would be marshalling that weekend at the club race which I had been planning to race. My first reaction was anger. I fully appreciate the difficulties faced by clubs running racing and the need for marshals, but the approach wasn't exactly explanatory or friendly. As a firm believer in user-pays I thought 'why should I have to marshall?'. I certainly don't marshall at Rotorua/Taupo, which is covered by my $70 entry fee.
A squirmish email requesting a swap was unsuccessful. So on said race day I was early and was told if I handled entries I would not be required to marshall. My warm up may be sacrificed but yes, I would get to race. Well, after a seven minute warm up we headed straight up the first hill in the race, and needless to say following a lung-bursting 10 minutes of climbing I was dropped. No worries, I thought, I'll sit on the back of the D grade! Well silly me. This is an absolute "no, no" in club racing. I was not allowed to just sit on the next group to come along (as I was firmly and officiously informed by a woman in the bunch). So I sat on the back of a seemingly slow D grade bunch and the worst part? I wasn't allowed to sprint them in! So there went my Sunday, no real race and a waste of a day all because our club system is based around volunteers and for one day I had to be a volunteer.
So what motivates your average "cyclist" to train and race for a fun ride? I would say a user pays attitude, the anonymity of a bunch of 3000 people and the warm and fuzzy feeling of the "fun ride". Oh and not having to marshall!
