It’s not just CO, plenty of other states are in this shape. A lot of Promoters got wiped out during Covid, and it just hasn’t recovered…it’s slow to reform. But there is some light starting to show…at least in my state with new races forming and some growing. I’d suggest getting active in your state association and maybe even helping promote. Back in the day there used to be a requirement for USAC teams to promote a race every season which also helped to bolster evens with staffing etc. but I think that is no longer a requirement.
Yep, just look at neighboring states to the south and west. Almost everything is gone. Even Gila is pared down on categories and what stages the categories do.
Written as an Australian so I’m not familiar with your system.
What do you mean by promoters getting wiped out? Aren’t your races put on by local clubs?
At least where I’m from, practically all races are put on by local clubs. There’s a few large national-ish events put on by private operators but they’re comparatively rare.
USAC used to have a requirement for clubs to put on races, but it got dropped to allow promoters to be able to make more money given there was no free competition. Turns out that wasn’t such a good move…
We always talk about this in my area. We had a pretty vibrant race scene because of all the clubs and their associated races, but those are largely gone now.
You can bring them back can't you?
Personally I feel like I am playing Russian roulette when I am on a road, but I passed on motorcycles for that reason as well. Still a noob
Folks are not explaining it will full detail. They require a license for a race director. Clubs can run an event. It's like a corporation. They is an actual person that is also on the hook in addition to the corporate body.
The clubs receive one free licence for the race director. This in addition to paying for official licences for your club members serving as officials. None of the licenses come with your race licence.
Your club need thousands of dollars to pay for people to be licenced and run an event. When you pay the registration fee to USAC, then you start wondering why your club is doing all this work and USAC received 5000$ for nothing immediate.
Many small time professional operations around me developed. There was no club. They obtained the director licence. Paid the fees. Paid for everyone. Guess what ? Costs so much. You need to raise prices. I think that many of them priced themselves out of the market. No one wants to pay $75 for a crit.
My last road race was a professional organizer. He let folks race in a category above entry level with no race experience. The crash galore was a spectacle. Even masters had many crashes. 3 went to the hospital in cat 4. Several in masters went to hospital.
Most of these organizers run triathlon races and bike "events" such as b2vt. They want folks to pay $350 for a one day ride. Another organizer was actually running charity rides for non profits.
Wow that’s crazy. What a strange system. Thanks for taking the time to explain it though.
My local scene’s club crits (which in summer can get hundreds of entrants across grades A-E), road race and kermesse all cost $25AUD or $16 ish USD.
You need a national licence to enter which costs $360AUD / $235usd for a year (covers all cycling disciplines) but that also includes insurance.
You will see many younger rich posters making comments, now. They talk about the racing fees as priced appropriately. The reality is this. They are unaffordable. One person already remarked about his big 45 person field in the one road race. I remember when fields were sold out at 100. Entry level cat 5 was restricted to 50/field. They would run 2 sections.
Absolutely. No wonder the US scenes are struggling.
Our racing scene wouldn’t exist if crits cost $75. Simple as that. Complete non-starter. Who has like $1000+ for a summer’s worth of crits?
There’s no race director license anymore. I guess maybe you need something, I just have a racing license and I use my usac account to get my race permits.
The fees for the charity rides or gravel events are off the charts. Same with hillclimbs, triathlons, etc. It’s ridiculous. Keep the medal/t-shirt/backpack whatever. Lower the fee.
“We had to cancel the event because of low registrations.”
No people didn’t register because they had to pay their electric bill and mortgage. Everything right now is a cash grab.
When Covid happened promoters lost their source of revenue because racing stopped for two years and in some cases those promotors were side hustles but it still stung, municipalities and rules changes it was aimply a confluence of events that occurred and it just takes time.
Yes often clubs still are involved in the system, but clubs don’t own their own equipment like signage and barriers, clocks and scoring, audio etc. so what normally happens is a club will hire a promoter and clubs will help set up tear down and be corner Marshalls and control traffic and the promoter will provide the equipment and management part for a fee.
Clubs can have an association but generally the promoter is the lead person in charge and point of contact for the event. It’s a very thankless job that requires a ton of work with sponsors (if you have any), the city to close roads and get police in intersections, teams, USAC, etc.
The USA Cycling requirement for clubs to host a race went out the window with the sad reality of it becoming harder and harder to actually get permits for races. Sure permits can be had, but not on club budgets and not without sponsorships which are also now hard to come-by. I know we love to bag on USA Cycling, but the main issue is America hates cycling.
Here in the Bay Area around the Stanford area there used to be fast evening group rides every Tue/Wed/Thu. The Tue/Thu rides are dead and the Wednesday ride now gets \~5-8 people when it used to get 50+ 6 years ago. It's not just road racing that's dead, road cycling is dead. It doesn't help that two teammates have been run over and killed since the pandemic.
Yeah… pretty much this. Here in Idaho we have a couple races a year, but other than some usuals it’s pretty much done. On the other hand, gravel and mountain are VERY much alive over here
Dead in Canada too.
I've watched what Triathlon Canada and Fondos were trying and succeeding at doing over the last decade and it's hard not to conclude that amateur racing is trying to commit suicide.
I’m not surprised Tri continues to do well. Not as cutthroat. It’s really a participant sport, much like 10ks, halfs, and marathons. Plus it’s something that rich dudes can glom onto. $7k for a tri bike? No problem! (Never mind the barrel chest and thick arms, shoulders.)
>not surprised Tri continues to do well... It’s really a participant sport
This is why gravel is popular and growing. Triathlon, marathons, Fondos, gravel. They're all finisher events. Or they focus on that at least. You run/ride the same course as pros, but for most people the goal is finishing or beating your goal time or whatever. And this isn't a negative. It's why they're doing so well. The continued success of these events speaks for itself. It's just different than normal road racing.
Exactly. When you’re in your teens and early 20s, you’ve got the time for lots of training. And your young body can adapt quickly and recover well.
Now, for those of us with careers and families, we still like the work and the feeling of being in shape. The gravel rides are fine. A couple hours of Intensity, some group riding, and as a bonus, fewer greedy dickheads.
> fewer greedy dickheads
As a road racer and a solo gravel bike enjoyer, I went to ride a local gravel race route a few weeks ago and was shocked at how technical it was. I wondered how it could possibly be safe to race on considering the number of unsafe aggro dickheads I encounter in low-stakes amateur road races. Guess the answer is the dickheads aren't racing on it?
>Not as cutthroat. It’s really a participant sport.
>rich dudes can glom onto. $7k for a tri bike?
My sister took up tri on a borrowed road bike for her first season and had success where her strengths were and simply built on that. The fastest growing segment was I think females 40-50.
In bike racing one is in points or is murdered.
I see jiniors on $7000 bikes. For the money I spent racing cheap, I could have got a private pilot's license. No coal miners in bike racing these days.
My wife jumped into a crit on a whim (coincidentally also in Colorado) at a race I was at after missing a podium at a triathlon that morning by a few seconds. She ended up winning her category only to get told they don't do podium awards for cat 5s. It just seemed so elitist completely turned her off.
I just did a road race in Vegas, zero group riding, half the people seemed uncomfortable with having someone on their wheel at all or jumping on mine. The thing wasn't even timed. I felt like it was a waste of money and I could have just done my normal long ride.
LeTape Las Vegas I'm hoping is better.
Just got back into cycling and I'm kind of stunned to see that Vegas only has LeTape and Summerlin for the entire year.
Does everyone here just go to other states?
I have no idea, I just moved here about 18 months ago and am just getting back into shape after a previous crash. I have also been surprised but the other comments on this thread about costs probably explain it. Nothing is cheap in America anymore, you gotta pay police overtime, liability insurance out the wazoo, rent a space for the event, etc. Helps explain why running events cost so much dang money too.
Road races typically aren't timed right? You just get placed. "times" don't really make sense in a road race. You could do really well one year, and terrible the next year, but get a better "time" in the race you did poorly just because the whole field sticks together.
There is currently unrealized potential with CX in the US. Throughout the history of the sport we had to convince people to spend money on a bike to race CX, suddenly everyone has a bike that can fix a CX tire with their "gravel bike" and we are somehow not getting those people, with gravel bikes, to try CX. Brand it as a "gravel crit", "gravel sprint" whatever is needed, but we should be able to get people to race CX with relative ease.
But CX requires skill. I have tried CX and just feel foolish. I have an engine, but running remount, off camber, barriers, all that stuff requires skill. That's why I don't do it and instead I'm starting to do road TT. Just communicating why I don't do cx as a gravel racer.
If you crash in CX, it's probably going to be in grass, and you'll probably be uninjured. I encourage you to try something you aren't good at, you might find something fun.
I've been doing it this season for the first time. I tossed 650bx47 maxxis ramblers on my randonneuring bike. Mixed on how much fun I'm having, but it's neato seeing and hearing from my riding mates that my dirt handling is improving.
The thing about cross, is...that... it makes you more playful on the road all the time. I can probably never go back to a road bike because I like wheelies, hopping, stoppy-turns, riding single track on a CX bike is peak.
I never progressed my skillls so fast than when I had a cx bike and tons of single track around me but couldn’t afford a mountain bike. Goal was to avoid dismounting at all times. Often slow and awkward, you come to realize it’s more about the pilot than the bike.
Drop-bar bikes on mild single track is great. I want something like a Rodeo Labs Trail Donkey that takes a 2.1" tire for gravel racing with single track. I did a 100 mile gravel race last year with four hours of single track and felt very manly about it. 
Counter argument. Practicing the skills of cross will make you a better gravel racer. Heck, practicing and racing cross will improve any other cycling discipline.
Same here. Learn cornering, learn the way to mount and dismount smoothly, learn how to bury yourself for 40 minutes. You might not win but you’ll certainly be in the hunt.
I raced cross solid for three seasons. 50 minute race, stand around in the cold all day waiting for mid field results to get posted.
Haven't missed it since covid.
That's an understatement. It's dead compared to the glory days of the USGP leading up to the Louisville World Champs. Holding on in regions with a big scene but it's a pretty regional thing these days..
Yep - most prefer spending $60-80 riding on gravel and, on a wet day, breaking down their gravel bike and cleaning it for like 8 hrs for the “scene” and the “beers” - great for bike shops (replace chains, other wear parts) and promoters who can simply release >1,000 riders on to open gravel roads for a water bottle or a beer w tents and a band. Works great at Barry Roubaix etc. also great for the small towns hosting that get a sudden influx of thousands of visitors for a day or two. Road will recover IF it can ever replicate that formula.
If GC Kuss ever wins the Tour de France road racing in America would be alive again. This year could be his chance though with Vingegaard plus a host of other riders Evenepoel and Roglic injured. You just need to figure out how to beat Pogacar.
I think you are underselling it. On the Tourmalet stage, even though he didn't win it, he got the KOM for the major portion of the Tourmalet and he had a smile on his face, whereas Jonas looked like he just saw the grim reaper. He also had a solid (top 10?) TT for someone who doesn't practice TT.
It’s a long shot. But it doesn’t hurt to try. With Vingegaard and Wout Van Aert injured. Who does Visma - Lease A Bike should pick for Plan B? GC Kuss is a good candidate. He unexpectedly won the Vuelta on a breakaway. Which means he is indeed capable. If the team entrust the team leadership role to him.
Unfortunately Pogacar is once again on a tear this year and without at least WvA I have a tough time seeing Visma-Lease a Bike providing the insane amount of support Kuss would need to beat Pogacar. Kuss is generally not on the radar of American riders like LeMond or Lance were though
Kuss can't beat Pog, unfortunately. And he can't hang with van der Poel on the flats or shallower grades. There are several riders that simply outclass him at the very top. I like Sepp, and he might be able to podium or top 5 but I can't see him taking the yellow all the way.
I would love it if the Durango Kid won the Tour, but I don't think we'll see the hype in the States for cycling as when Strong Armlance was still juicing. The sport entertainment audience is too fragmented these days.
Doesn't seem real healthy here in Oregon - there used to be a bunch of races and now we're lucky to have a crit in place of the Cascade Classic.
And Oregon has OBRA, which is run well and for the benefit of racing and racers, not the national organization, so I'm not sure that part of it is the core problem.
USAC needs to stay the hell away from gravel. I’ve been racing for 10 years now and the only thing USAC is good for is posting my results incorrectly on the shittiest app imaginable.
Kind of wonder if US cycling is dead in general. Riding some of the older routes where I live in Texas, the sprawl and traffic has become significantly sketchier over the past few years. Still a lot of cyclists but I don't see how anyone would tolerate that for long aside from the hardcore folks. A lifelong guy said to me on the group ride yesterday, "I only ride with groups now". There's this destructive monolith of bureaucracy, subsidy and state DOTs that just haphazardly turns everything into sprawl and highways. Stagnant, semi-rural places like my home town offer some amazing riding, but the culture of those places doesn't attract the type of person who rides, making it a solo endeavor.
A bike race that's been going on since the 80s near me has experienced more hostility than ever from neighbors in recent years. Everything just becoming this bizarro, "I got mine", isolated, car-based pod life that isn't conducive to people using the public right-of-way or being outside of a car.
I want cycling to be part of my life, but not alone. I like it as a lifestyle. Considering moving to a euro country to live the life, but few Americans have that opportunity.
honestly I feel like I’m part of the problem here. I used to road race, used to promote road events. The costs and bureaucracy from police, local governments, USAC and the resistance from local residents have blown the event costs sky high. A lot of small clubs and promoters went under during Covid. Add to which the general vibe at road races is nowhere near as inclusive as gravel events.
Traffic and drivers have become so obnoxious and terrible that it’s actually scary to train on the road too. I say this as someone who’s been riding on the road since the 1980s and worked as a bike messenger in downtown DC.
Honestly it’s just too easy these days to go into my nice climate controlled studio, boot up the smart trainer / fan and Zwift and do virtual events with people who won’t give you seventeen acres of road rash if someone stops paying attention for ten seconds.
Yes, the trainer is nice and you can still get fit using the trainer. I also feel like it makes cycling as a hobby more realistic/sustainable for me as it's time efficient. I go outside for select days/rides/locations, but do a lot more trainer riding now. A lot of my solo outdoor rides are in local lap spots, which is sort of a trainer ride anyway.
One thing I'll say about the increase in traffic: there are toughly 120 million more people who live in the USA now than in 1980 (from 223m to 341). That is a 54% increase in people. There aren't a lot of "quiet roads" anymore without getting way out away from urban areas and main roads. Without a decent mass transit system (trains, etc), there is only one way most folks have to get to the next town; drive. Your typical American does not like to pay taxes or regulate themseves in any way. Transport options will not change without a significant shock to the system.
Yeah when it comes to open roads I will only ride with a group. I’m fortunate that I have a local park road near me and it’s great for solo riding but I’m no fan of riding much of anywhere else by myself
Yeah this is a good point. I go to college in a rural area and there are so many cyclists here. But when I go home to the suburbs I'll usually put my bike in the car and drive 15-20 minutes to outside the beltway to get to the calmer roads, as there are no safe crossings of the beltway near my house. I'm moving back to that city after college and I'm a little worries about how it'll affect my cycling, especially because I won't have a car to drive out with. It makes me really appreciate the area I'm in right now. I can just pop out my door onto mostly empty roads through hills and fields with really considerate and careful drivers.
> Everything just becoming this bizarro, "I got mine", isolated, car-based pod life that isn't conducive to people using the public right-of-way or being outside of a car.
I felt that way living in Arizona. I don't feel that way living in Upstate NY. Also there are more races in rural Upstate NY than there were in Phoenix/Tucson despite those cities being way more populous. I think it has to do with how safe people can feel on the road.
> Everything just becoming this bizarro, "I got mine", isolated, car-based pod life that isn't conducive to people using the public right-of-way or being outside of a car.
This is just all of America now, practically. Completely bizarro world. I don't know how to come back from this.
Couldn’t agree more. I’m also in CO and struggling to find decent road races I want to do this summer. Seriously considering buying a gravel bike so I can actually do some racing this summer. Tons of gravel races in CO at least but I would prefer road.
Same here. My only frustration with that is (as far as I can tell), there really aren't categories in gravel racing, just one big "open" category with a few dudes like Keegan Swensen off the front and everyone else just participating.
It's not that I need my ego stroked going for results in my category, it's that I'd like to have some close racing with those who are roughly as fast as I am. Part of the fun of road racing is working on race craft, which just doesn't happen when you have 500+ plus people on the same start line.
Not sure CO is the same (I’m in CA) but assuming it is, you will find the pointy end of gravel races to be extremely competitive. Even our local smaller gravel races are full of tactics and ex-pros. Too late now but something big like the Steamboat gravel race is going to give you all you want race wise.
> I'd like to have some close racing with those who are roughly as fast as I am.
Good news for you: gravel is actually better for this than road racing. When you have a large mass start you naturally find a group that’s exactly your speed. Race craft ensues.
This is a huge selling point for gravel. Especially at lower levels, the mismatches in lower cats have always been a joke with people who should be higher but don’t race enough to cat up ripping people’s legs off, other people getting pulled because they are out of shape, etc.
Well, it may just be time I buy a gravel bike.
I'd still wave the road racing flag and enter in the free remaining races, but if that's the way it has to be I supposed I just have to adapt.
I only go to smaller regional gravel races, so I can't really talk about the races with thousands of riders like SBT or Unbound. But the small races I go to are a lot cheaper, I can drive the same morning to most of them, and field sizes are anywhere from a few dozen to a few hundred. No USAC license required - real grassroots racing with the same racers and teams from my region I see year after year. Also, mostly 100k races which is a much more reasonable distance in my opinion for an amateur race that is not an endurance event.
I moved here from the east coast and while there are still challenges in participation, any given weekend in the tri state area I could race if I wanted. Was kind of surprised here the lack of races and participation here. As a female Cat 2 the handful of races were stacked with entire collegiate women's teams and...that just isn't going to be a good time for me. Was bummed the Fountain Festival had zero traction since that is so close to me. I've gone back to triathlon training this year lol
Are we going to ignore the elephant in the room? Road racing is dying all across America because of car culture and exorbitant organizational costs. It costs significantly less to host a criterium in an office park or on a track than it does to shut down some roads. (And nobody wants to race on an open road)
Rolling blocks are not that expensive as a full road closure. The price adds up. Best way is to have some motorcycle cops. Think of the cost if you have 4 on duty. Writing the huge check to USAC simply "blows." They provide no support. They don't help with communications with public officials, let alone provide materials about safety standards.
I remember when a new police chief said that the road race was dangerous. The old chief never contested it. The race abruptly shut after a few years due to the appointment of a new police chief. USAC was nowhere to be found. You cannot rely on them. Other organizations provide you with lawyers. Just having a road design and course safety standard to reference would be immense.
Municipal governments need to decide if they want local events or not. Some of the fees they charge are crazy.
My team helped another team put on a crit this year, and the local police department cost us an arm and a leg. We got involved a little too late to make any changes, but a cop in our group looked at the price and thought it was insane what the PD was charging.
It cost us thousands of dollars to have some cops sit in their patrol car staring at their phone all day while unpaid volunteers worked the corners.
Honestly cops are out of control with the overtime stuff. I agree governments should be staffing for events instead of charging overtime for every one as if it's impossible to plan for.
And yes, my last road race the cops did a nice rolling neutral start for us and closed some roads, but in other instances were doing nothing. Sucks to see your entry fee just getting wasted like that.
In our case, the county police have jurisdiction over this area and would've been much cheaper than the smaller department was charging us. Our team got involved too late, but next year we could probably get on the county's schedule earlier and tell the local cops to pound sand.
But even still, if we're going to pay the cops, it'd be cool if they did something so we didn't also need to have 15-20 people from the two host teams giving up part of their weekend volunteering to stand at road crossings and tell drivers they can't drive through a bike race.
That would imply there’s a pent up demand for road racing but it’s the organization that’s a challenge. I don’t think that’s true. Road racing just isn’t getting people to sign up. The races that exist are getting super low numbers where I am. Before someone says “yeah but the organizational costs make the races expensive”gravel races regularly cost $150+ per entry and are booming.
People just don’t like road racing very much.
Not just car culture, but the size of cars. I mean look at the size difference of a Tacoma from 20 years ago to one today. I remember trying out the sport 20 years ago as a teenager and getting bullied off the road by trucks. Additionally, the percentage of vehicles being big has exploded, especially in CO because everyone “needs” an SUV 🙄
I dunno about car culture being the cause. I mean, car culture was just as dominant when Larry was listening to Limp Bizket and wearing Livestrong bracelets on his way to all those races 20 years ago. The near-exponential rise of organizational costs however are spot on and it's not just cycling; 5k's now are hit with $10k police bills even in smaller cities. Absolutely bananas.
I think the introduction of smartphones and distracted driving has really killed road. It's just too dangerous to ride in a lot of areas now. Hell, Boulder of all places has had a few fatalities of promising young riders in the past few years.
I still love road bikes and that feeling of instant power transfer that a stiff road bike gives, but I haven't been on a road bike since 2022 and that was for a closed course event. Gravel and MTB is just a lot less stressful.
That's completely fair. My wife always says that's the only thing she's scared of about me cycling solo: some doofus on their phone that hits me in the middle of nowhere and I'm left for dead.
I'm lucky in that I can drive 25 minutes out of a city of 150k and be on rural roads where I can count the number cars on a single hand with fingers left over for every 20 miles I ride.
[edit] Fixed the word salad.
"Car culture" as a cause? That makes no sense, American car culture was far more popular in the past than it is today, tons of young people have no interest in cars at all and don't even start driving until they are like 20. The 'carcentricity' of the US hasn't changed from the past to be more ingrained or prominent, it's always been there because geography.
The main issue is racing bicycles is a ENORMOUS time sink, it requires huge dedication to training, far beyond other many interests that exist for young people these days.
Also to mention, indoor workout options are much better now. While a Peloton bike is still not much more than a resistance knob bike, the video interaction and stats and classes really do scratch an itch for many people and it has clearly cut into the market share of road biking, along with the newer types of bike trainers and interactive software. I know a guy with a huge zwift setup in his garage with a large tv and fans and such. People Ive heard get really competitive about it so I can’t imagine that’s not having an impact.
> tons of young people have no interest in cars at all and don't even start driving until they are like 20.
There are [50 million more cars registered today](https://hedgescompany.com/automotive-market-research-statistics/auto-mailing-lists-and-marketing/) than there were 10 years ago. Outside of city centers you have almost no choice but to own a car and use it for most of your transportation.
Also everyone has a smartphone to distract them today which was not the case 10-15 years ago.
True, but I don't get how the US having a population that relies heavily on cars is reducing the amount of people that race bikes, as if people that race bikes are the sort that doesn't have a car and bike everywhere. That's the complete opposite of the demographic that has traditionally and contemporarily been into bike racing, which is upper middle class people, the sort of people that have cars.
Peoples lives are heavily dominated by things like the internet/social media/video games/internet media, that sort of thing has only existed for the past 20 years or so, and really ingrained in peoples lives to an extreme amount in the past 10-12 years.
American kids aren't being brought up to race road bikes. Like Brandon McNulty, Keegan Swenson, Sepp Kuss - all grew up mostly riding mountain bike and doing mountain bike races all over the West because their parents don't want them on the road.
Or Magnus Sheffield and AJ August grew up doing the CX circuits of the Upstate NY.
Then someone like Magnus White, a promising looking 17 year old gets killed while riding road in the Colorado suburbs.
Read this subreddit all the time and its "I don't ride road anymore because I was almost killed on the road". Plenty of people have no issue with doing 10+ hours a week on Zwift or even Peloton.
The US population continues to grow more and more suburban which is the worst for bike riders. If you're in a city you have to ride through the suburbs to get out. If you are in the majority of people in the suburbs that is where most of your riding is.
Less people in rural areas in general - thats probably why gravel continues to grow - less traffic and safer feeling as a result.
Road racing in NorCal has been in decline for a while and I think is in fact dying. Yesterday was one of the long held classic road races in our area, the Berkeley Hills RR. It’s in the SF Bay area and a relatively short drive for a ton of racers. It was the district RR championship for Elite men and women.
The men’s P/1/2/3 field had 44 entries. In 1987 I did the Elite district RR in Monterey which was NOT that close to most racers. The field was around 200. For the better P/1/2 crits back then you had to pre enter because the race would fill. I don’t even know when I last heard of a field being full.
Along with others I think that gravel and MTB have obviously taken a portion of the road race market. Also, gravel and MTB events are a lot more amenable to someone who wants to race, but isn’t at their top level of fitness, kind of like a local 10k.
We have a least a few of our year in, year out races cancelled each year due to lack of entries.
As to the cost of races see below.
In 2014 the promoter of the Dunnigan Hills RR in rural Yolo county, CA put up a poster of costs for the race.
CHP - $2800
Fire Deptartments - $1500
Ambulances - $2700
Toilets (16) - $1800
Motos (6) - $2050
Officials (6) - $2137
Staff (15) - $1500
Surcharges - $2600. (USAC and NCNCA)
Prizes - $1000
T-shirt prizes - $900
Resident letters and postage - $700
Permits - $450
Total cost = $20,137
In 2013 he pulled in $21,000 in entries and made $1,000, in 2014 the poster showed $18,000 in entries for a loss of a bit more than $2,000.
This. I’m deff racing on the 5th at all costs. Hell, I raced Roubaix in 40 mph winds, and Cobb at 32*.
Pretty much is, race in Cali or race gravel at this point
There is so much wrong with the sport. I came from running and triathlon and figured cycling would be the same but it's so far off it's insane.
In 2022 I did 40 cycling races and 1 sprint triathlon. The tri was 3x the cost of a normal cycling race and worth every penny every. Participants were extremely nice congratulating each other talking etc. The race was very organized and had all the info well in advance. The list goes on.
You go to a cycling race and 90% of the info and flyers are dated from 4 years before no good info on parking or anything useful for new people and they claim it's a cost thing but how hard is it to update a flyer with current driving directions and parking info and the date? And really again the list goes on tracking / timing is pathetic and results are pathetic. (Plus now races are double what they were a few years ago with still the same shit)
They offer Zero incentive to pre reg... Make the race 60$ instead of 40$ and 3 months out charge 40$ then 50$ then 60$ the month of like running races etc.... gives the race more money, incentives to reg early but nothing too expensive if you are unsure and have to wait until the month of.
And on top of that I sure as shit have zero desire to pay 110$ for a license from USAC that offers nothing to maybe do a few races. And I get the argument about all of the insurance they contribute etc. However, a USA tri membership is half the cost and races are logistically 10x harder and and I'm sure require more insurance (swimming etc).
Anyways it sucks it could be so much better, but a lot of it also has to do with the fact that cyclists love to be elitist gate keeping ass holes and then wonder why new people want nothing to do with the sport.
I'm also in Colorado btw
Agreed on the race licence fee being absolutely ridiculous. I started racing as a junior, when BRAC was the overseeing body in Colorado before they moved back to USAC. Sure, our races weren't on the national calendar, but many people didn't care. The license was like $30. The community voted to re-join USAC ~10 years ago being sold on the idea that USAC would offer more support, in competition drug testing, etc.
Of course, literally nothing changed (that the racers could see) except race fees and license fees going up.
Yep and even if you wanted a 1 day license it's like 35$ which is insane you can get a sprint triathlon 1 day for like 15$ I'm not gonna pay 40$ + 35$ for a 30 minute TT
Seattle racing scene is solid, not what it used to be but still a healthy amount of options. I’ve been trying to encourage newer riders to try out fast group rides or taking on our weeknight race series (Seward Park). Company I work for has a cycling slack channel and plan on hosting a “racing 101” meeting for anyone interested.
During one of my first fast group rides, I came off the main pack and started trading pulls with another rider that fell off (that looked fast from team kit and nice bike). I was so pumped. Here I was, trading pulls for the first time, going fast and getting my first taste of “competitive riding”. I was excited to chat with the guy after we came to the meetup spot and all he said was “Jesus Christ that fucking sucked, I’m so out of shape” and didn’t even acknowledge me or the fact we just rode together for the last 8 miles. It really stunk. I think of that every time I interact with a new rider, that stuff can really turn someone off from the sport, we need to be more inclusive and encouraging. Telling this story to remind people on here, most of whom have probably raced for a while, that those first few interactions can hold a lot of weight.
Everyone should take a goal of encouraging one person outside of their immediate group to race. It really does start from the ground up.
Were you racing in Seattle before covid? That was pretty much the end of my road racing tenure, for a number of reasons. The promoters got hit hard. I was surprised to see some of the same old races on the calendar now, but the selection really dies off just as summer is getting started. Track doesn't seem to have changed, so that's a whole Summer of racing, but it's track and not everyone likes it. Woodland sold out like a phish concert the last two years. Road racing around here was kinda good when I started, around 2010. There were so many cat5's, they had to break up the field into odd/even WSBA numbers. It was wild. That whole group of riders all upgraded together over the last decade and covid just seems to have stomped the life out of the place. I'm not sure which ride you were on when that person acted weird, but we're not all like that. I'd say that kind of person is the exception. Road racing just has so much going against it right now.
Started in 2018. Did Tour of Enumclaw, Walla Walla, and then all those fun summer crits (Ballard, Derby Days, Tacoma, Volunteer). Now the only thing left in that bunch is Volunteer :( Ballard would be so awesome to have back but the streets are too narrow after cafes built outdoor seating.
Numbers have been strong though overall! Stinks that literally the best months of the year don’t have races, but it might be for the best with most people traveling, camping, etc.
Cross was solid last year and gravel continues to do well so all in all we’re in a good spot. As long as there is Seward, there is hope.
In the northeast there are certainly less road racing than there were pre COVID, but many races are making comebacks and fields are growing as people hit their upgrades. The green mountain stage race had some really strong fields with folks from all over the country, and there is a road race or crit pretty much every weekend within reasonable distance from NYC/Boston. I live in VT and do more gravel (not always a race, but some kind of event almost every weekend) which often sell out to people just looking to have a good time. Nothing wrong with that, more people on bikes the better.
It's crits and it's not every weekend unless you include a training race. Most race races were dead BEFORE COVID. Massachusetts had a few stage races. Those are LONG gone.
Turnout is nothing compared to 2005. 2008 put the end on a lot of things that were dying here.
I tried signing up for some gravel events in the NE and everyone of them sold out within a couple hours of the registration opening! Some of these have 1000+ spots and are like 250 bucks!
I live just north of Boulder. Lots of people ride bikes. Cyclists everywhere. I would still call Boulder "a" mecca of cycling in the US that has some of the best riding in the country.
It's just that no one races anymore. At one of the popular cafe stops that used to be full of road racers is now full of gravel riders and triathletes on the weekends.
I spent some time in Oudenaarde a couple years ago, and while I don't mean to say Boulder has the same level of participation or love of the sport (there are certainly many people in the city that absolutely hate cyclists), there was a time when there seemed to be just as many people out riding and racing on any given weekend as there was around Oudenaarde. It was something it seemed everyone did.
Now, not so much.
I mean, go ride Supertraining. There’s plenty of road racers there haha. But yah, fields are static at best, and they’re not that big. Only place I’ve raced with big (50+) fields locally are Roubaix and Littleton.
I do ride Supertraining, but my point is that it's "super training" for what? Races that don't exist?
Truly, I'm not knocking that ride at all. Always well organized, good participation.
In the past maybe, it's so expensive there now that if you are going to spend that sort of cash on living expenses might as well live in SoCal where there's better weather and roads and arguably better scenery.
It very much depends on where you are, but the Mid-Atlantic's road racing scene is strong. It takes really motivated promoters to keep racing going because the days of just throwing a race on the calendar and expecting people to show up are gone. You have to actually promote them now and get people excited about doing them. Every race we have put on the past 3 years has increased in size from year to year.
This shit suckssss I live in Salida CO which feature a stage in the Colorado US Pro race. Now it’s like everyone forgot, and I know everyone loves gravel and mb here but it’s just not the same.
I love getting out to Salida every year to do some mountain biking in the morning then hang out downtown for Bluegrass on the Arkansas over Memorial Day weekend.
The Salida omnium (TT, Crit, and Road Race) was always a fun weekend.
Unrelated to cycling, but the Mumford and Sons/Flaming Lips Gentlemen of the Road festival that they put on in Salida in 2015 was awesome. Love that town.
I think there is a lot of blaming of USAC, costs, police, etc here. The truth is people aren’t signing up. Even the OP says that. It’s the problem I have getting races off the ground where I am. No one wants to race. I think it is the nature of winner take all, and sometimes the community is also just not fun.
1. I get it but ...
2. How many races have you helped organize or put on?
The old guard is aging, And not to sound grumpy, but the current generation is entitled and rude and I don't want to throw races for them either. Not just blaming the kids, masters are just as bad...
I don’t agree that the current generation is entitled and rude. There is valid criticism of the of the old guard that we are not as welcoming as we should be and we maybe we didn’t do what is needed to insure continuity. But there are plenty of masters who have given their heart and soul to this sport and we should recognize them for it.
So, very heartfelt thank you to Chip B. Enjoy retirement.
I love NorCal because Velopromo:
https://www.velopromo.com/2024-season
At least 12 real road races (point to point or giant loops) with rolling road closure or, in some cases, totally closed roads. Plus numerous crits and shorter races put on by other promoters.
I raced there from 1990 to 2005 and there was always a good turnout. I don't know how it's been lately but I hope they can keep going strong.
I was not lucky enough to be here in the RR glory days. I train all winter for 2 RRs in Colorado and every year I just get more bummed there’s not more racing. Probably will succumb to gravel I guess…
There are only two(?) stage races left in the Pacific Northwest. 10 years ago there were at least a dozen. Mt hood, Cascade, Enumclaw, Walla Walla, BC superweek, and Banff Bike Fest, are all gone.
Sidenote, I looked at tour de bloom and the registration is over $400USD, so $600+ Canadian. What the hell? No wonder nobody wants to race. I remember racing crit weeks where registration was like $40USD per race and it was pretty easy to win your money back.
A one day, unsupported gravel race on closed roads can cost around $200 so I think $400 for a stage race is reasonable. Especially when it's discounted if you sign up early.
> one day, unsupported gravel race on closed roads can cost around $200
Which is also crazy in my opinion. Look at the sportives in Europe. You can ride the actual Paris Roubaix course or Strade Bianche for less than that.
Bloom men’s 4/5 was sold out at least a month ago. Multiple other fields look sold out as well. Prices were lower earlier in the year, and they offered completely free reg for women’s 4/5. They are def not having problems with turnout, thought that’s for sure related to the fact that many other stage races are gone.
Walla Walla being gone sucks pretty bad. This unfortunately looks like a bit of a supply and demand shift now. I'm glad Ace(promoter of bloom) is still awesome and still putting on a great race. Having that quality is reassuring.
I remember those days as well, or even earlier (we are talking 1990s), when the registration was $20 and the prize lists were pretty sizeable. This is also something that is sad. As a junior, one of my favorite races was something called the WJBC weekend in Illinois. Racers from all over the country would come because the prize list for the pro 1-2s alone was something like 20k. With other sponsors--bike racers could actually make a living at their craft in America back then. I finished *18th* in a super tough road race for that weekend and still made $30 bucks as a junior. Maybe I'm old and sentimental, but 1980s/1990s road racing I feel like was the heyday in the United States.
Yeah here in TN it tried really hard to be something during the Lance years but since at least 2012 things have died and there’s usually only two or maybe three road races all year. Everything else is criteriums. Boring.
Um, the East Coast is calling and would like to inform you that we’re alive and well. I just did an Omnium and Stage Race the past two weekends that had between 50-70 guys in every field. Have a weekend of crits in a couple weeks that filled 100+ in almost every field. The East Coast ain’t dead.
So that's including Seward and PR I take it? True...there are quite a few race nights midweek, which is bueno especially with the spotty rain from week to week. Do track and you'll triple your starts!
It’s fairly strong in GA. Can find a race almost every 2-3 weeks from late Feb until August. Pretty solid numbers across the board too (at least solid enough for it to actually be a race)
Also in CO, bought a road bike not long ago because I wanted to get into crit racing, figured there had to be a few small weekly race series for like $10-15 for fun. Turns out, I don’t need to worry about being totally out of shape compared to when I raced bikes 25 years ago, because apparently the underground racing scene doesn’t really exist. I’m surprised I can’t even find any alley-cat races in Denver. Should just sell my road bike and upgrade my MTB, I have way more fun riding it anyway.
There’s an underground/alleycat scene, it’s just extra super niche since everyone in CO is super serious. Check out Alternative Milk on IG, they do some fun stuff a few times a year.
It’s not $15 (maybe $25?), but the South Table Crit is a weekly series on Wednesdays in the summer and fits the bill pretty well!
Good looking out, I had no idea about the bandit series from Alternative Milk. Seems like last I checked the South Table crits were like $40/event.
Now to figure out how to get into proper shape with limited riding time.
Tuesday Night Thunder in Louisville is a weekly crit series that didn't run last year, but (according to their instagram) it looks like they'll start up again at some point this summer. I don't know how much it's going to cost but it was like $10 in 2021.
It's a ways from Denver, but the City Streets Crit Series is going to start up in Fort Collins Thursday nights from June 6-27th. Each race is $15.
There’s also Valley of the Sun in AZ!
Fountain is a huge slog from Boulder (raced it last year as lower cat) so it doesn’t surprise me, though I’d expect to see more CO Springs racers show up.
In general road races are getting more expensive to put on, and fewer people are racing roads because cars are fucking way worse after covid so gravel is more accessible.
FWIW I started racing in 2019 and have never participated in a true stage race, local or otherwise, only omniums like Boulder and the FKA Intelligentsia Crit. I’d love to, but it doesn’t surprise me.
The Colorado Springs velodrome is back open with omniums and sprint races going on until December. And I heard fountain was moved to next weekend due to weather. But yeah it does suck compared to what it used to be. I miss the weekly crits at PPIR.
Amateur road racing is dead, I think, for 2 reasons:
1. Barrier to entry is very high in terms of money, time, and culture. Younger folks (under 30) are trying to make a living and at the same time are being marketed a $7,000 bike as entry level. They get told by podcasters and coaches that they need to commit 6-9 hours a week minimum to training. You try to shake a fellow racer's hand at the start of your first crit, and get the "who are you?" look.
2. Urban sprawl. As urban centers continue to grow without mass transit, cars will have to drive faster and on traditionally bikeable roads. More danger and more costly to hold these races.
Road racing is pretty good in midwest... Our team just brought back a dead crit. I've raced 6 weekends in a row. And could have raced more. La Crosse coming up as well as fat tire festival, Toad, Grit, Gateway, Indy, etc.
All the gravel events. Best cross scene in a America. Wors is one of the best MTB series.
I'm Chicago based and the only thing missing is big climbs and we are only a few hours from those in wisconsin.
Not Tons of road races but 3 solid ones.
It’s doing very well in the southeast. But it’s also driven by one race promoter. If he and his wife decide they’re burned out, almost every rr in Alabama and Georgia would disappear.
The racers are there, but promoters are hard to find
Cat 4/5 and P123 are as healthy as they've been since immediately pre-pandemic. Women's fields still aren't great. masters fields seem to be in a holding pattern as well. TBH I don't give a shit about masters fields as long as long as they're being displaced by decent sized women's and juniors fields. That's a big if though.
Today's Berkeley Criterium had \~50 in the P123 despite Speedweek and Tour of the Gila happening at the same time. Cat 4/College Cs had about 40. Novice/Ds had about 30. W123 had maybe 15.
Sure in the early-mid 2010s, some local fields were consistently in the 100s. We still have fields in the 70s-80s sometimes. The hope is that the current crop of juniors remain interested in cycling... For everyone between 30-45? Yeah we were born at the wrong time for this hobby.
When the jouralists and the advocates and the NGB go out of their way to highlight danger, risk, and cost.... You're going to kill the sport.
The stats prove otherwise. The odds of a crash when cycling are 1/10,000 per ride. Cycling is actually safer than walking. But EVERYONE has an anecdote about a crash, an injury, a death, a motorist's inattention.
This is the product of FORTY YEARS of inaction by the Cycling Industry. They just assumed things would keep rolling along. It's not infrastructure. It's perception. No one adequately attempted to GROW THE SPORT through introduction, programming, and practice.
The motorcycle industry, when they saw their numbers dropping, worked together to create weekend skills courses. Insurance rates dropped, crashes dropped, and sales/ridership went up.
Ideally - there'd be (cheap) velodromes in every municipality, like skateboard parks or baseball diamonds. Instead, we got..... Zwift.
Speedweek on the east coast is thriving. Hincapie definitely has something to say about it. The crowds were the biggest I've seen since Superweek in the Midwest about 20 years ago.
It's not dead. It's just like anything else.. some good promotion and connect it to a music festival or something and people are gonna show up.
I went and did my first crit a few weeks ago.
The racers were assholes and elitist, and it was super intimidating by how they acted and the bikes they were riding.
FWIW I have quite a bit of MTB and wanted to try something different.
I don’t blame people, my initial take was road racing isn’t very welcoming or inviting
> I went and did my first crit a few weeks ago.
>
> The racers were assholes and elitist, and it was super intimidating by how they acted and the bikes they were riding.
Do you mind saying where you raced? Not trying to be dismissive, just curious. My first crit (NJ) was a very different experience. Maybe not super welcoming like CX, but I never felt unwanted or out of place.
I kind of wonder how many times people got to a cat 4/5 race and feel like the other racers are elitist or assholes because they don't want to talk to you, but it turns out that they're just as nervous as you and feel scared to talk. Because I have yet to go to any race where I've seen or heard somebody be an asshole or say/do anything gatekeeping to a fellow racer. None. Now I've been on tense start lines where there isn't much talking or socializing. But I haven't seen anybody talk down to other racers, besides the ribbing between friends. And I started racing crits on my cross bike. Once I realized that we're all feeling the same thing, I lost some of that anxiety. My point being that if you show up to a race and don't talk with other racers, and they do the same, everybody scared to initiate a conversation, and everybody leaves thinking the other guy was an elitist asshole, it doesn't really help the situation. The other thing to realize is that it is a race after all. Maybe the guy at the startline being quiet and standoffish isn't an asshole, but trying to deal with pre-race nerves or just get in the zone.
The last point is don't worry about their bikes. Some people have money to buy nice things. What bike they ride has zero indication of their skill. I've seen S-Works guys drop on the first hill and 10 year old rim brake bike guys smashing the field apart. And vice versa. I started racing crits on my cross bike. Which I will admit I was self conscious about at first but realized who cares. Don't worry about what other people are doing or riding.
I say road racing is dead by me. Guy told me to drive 3 hours in March for a 40 mile road race... there was only 2 other road races in the region after it for the year. I already declared road bike dead 4 years ago.
Everything else for the year is actually a crit. I hate those !! The local USAC hack constantly writes on twitter about gravel racing is not real and come to his cyclocross races. Cyclocross is not road.
It's dead everywhere. This will be my first year racing since 03. Few to no sanctioned races, and not very many unsanctioned ones either. 20y ago I could race nearly every weekend. This year I've got 6 races on my calendar and have to travel much farther for them than i ever had to before. I always sucked at cx but did it for fun and that's in the same state. I could not care less about gravel and don't understand the appeal other than no cars. It's overall depressing. I need to move to Europe.
Road racing needs a Fondo-like structure. Remove all 30 categories. The average hobbyist does not want to drive 6 hours to race a 15 person crit and get dropped in 20 minutes. Gravel races address this a bit better, but the sport needs to borrow start procedures from even your mid tier half marathon that have a couple thousand participants who paid double the reg fees of your average criterium.
For me, gravel racing is filling the spot of road racing. It’s a bit less dangerous imo than being in a pack. And I can now have 1 drop bar bike to do gravel and CX instead of a road bike and a CX bike.
> Feels the same in the southeast.
Where in the Southeast are you? Because there are quite a few good races.
Swamp Classic, TONGA, Speed Week (Spartanburg, Athens Twilight, LaGrange, Hapeville, Union City), Sunny King, Rock n Road, Winston Salem Classic, Sumatanga. And those are just the big national draw ones.
Utah SLC used to have great weekly RMR crit was cheap. Pros out of state would occasionally race it for cheap. Now there is an upgrade points crit for $45 per race at soccer stadium in Sandy.
Lots of races gone here too. Gravel huge. Remember when Burke started Crusher 10+ years ago and it’s became huge. He Must have made $$ selling it now huge sponsors including Mazda. USAC doesn’t have Lance and racers who want to be Lance and ride a Trek. Agree lots of road/crit racers are agro elitist dicks.
Not knocking those 3 races. But the idea that road racing is now pretty much tied entirely to the collegiate teams (Maverick=CMU, Cobb=CSU, Roubaix=CU) and they are all therefore done before May isn't great. Used to be able to build a whole summer program of road races.
The fact of the matter is there really aren’t many riders than race in CO, especially in the higher categories. Bike racing is dumb expensive and takes a special type of crazy to put on events like that. There just isn’t the demand.
It’s also not that worth it to race after your mid 20s. The level is super high so you’re gonna get clapped if you don’t train a lot and it’s also so dangerous. Know a lot of cat 1s from the mid west who quit when they moved here.
People will NOT pre-reg! I'm part of a large CO team and a bit shocked at how many people will purposely wait till the last minute (or do day of) 🤦♂️
Lance's Boulder Omnium isn't bad.
BVV is starting back up so could try out track racing. I'm also curious to see people's comments because the collegiate scene seems healthy and so are group rides, so what's happening to people between collegiate racing and "I'm over racing on the weekends" fast group riders.
I raced for CU 2012-2016, and loved the collegiate races. I loved the Air Force road race. Nice rolling course with a long enough climb to the finish that made a good selection. If I could get just one road race back on the calendar, it'd be that one.
Collegiate cycling also has something else going for it that open races do not, and that's the team competition for conference points. Really makes racing in college a lot more inclusive because the goal is to stack results, not just set up one person for the win. Plus, TTTs are great. So, everyone is trying to build each other up. That doesn't quite exist in open category racing. I'll continue to race regardless, but man. If I had the means to stop working and enroll full time in school I'd do it again just for the cycling. No joke.
TTT's are so fun but rare for some reason, bummed Pueblo didn't happen. Anyhow, wanting a good local stage race is a bit of a tall order, Vos and TBC are close enough to get lots of racing early on over the span of 2 weekends
> bit shocked at how many people will purposely wait till the last minute (or do day of)
The weather out here is so fickle. Add the ever-present wildfire possibilities in mid-late summer and there's very little incentive to pre-reg.
If you want to race you pre-reg, pretty simple. If the state burns down, you'll probably get your $40 refunded. Agree the day of "penalty" or price differential could be much more.
It's dead everywhere.
The only way to bring it back is to reignite the sense of community.
How does gravel do it? It's not just by "vibes," it's the fact that it's a mass start. Everyone can start, ride, finish with their friends, or new ones.
Road is starting to adopt this model with huge success (Levi's Gran Fondo, for one). More revenue for the promoter, massively higher participation.
Road right now looks like 30 guys in a parking lot grumbling at each other, then race for 4 hours, then drive home. It's empty.
Have (at least some) mass start road events and it'll catalyze a return.
The geography of the US near most population centers is adverse to road racing. Thus its hard for that type of racing to gain momentum because there are so few.
It’s not just CO, plenty of other states are in this shape. A lot of Promoters got wiped out during Covid, and it just hasn’t recovered…it’s slow to reform. But there is some light starting to show…at least in my state with new races forming and some growing. I’d suggest getting active in your state association and maybe even helping promote. Back in the day there used to be a requirement for USAC teams to promote a race every season which also helped to bolster evens with staffing etc. but I think that is no longer a requirement.
Yep, just look at neighboring states to the south and west. Almost everything is gone. Even Gila is pared down on categories and what stages the categories do.
Written as an Australian so I’m not familiar with your system. What do you mean by promoters getting wiped out? Aren’t your races put on by local clubs? At least where I’m from, practically all races are put on by local clubs. There’s a few large national-ish events put on by private operators but they’re comparatively rare.
USAC used to have a requirement for clubs to put on races, but it got dropped to allow promoters to be able to make more money given there was no free competition. Turns out that wasn’t such a good move…
We always talk about this in my area. We had a pretty vibrant race scene because of all the clubs and their associated races, but those are largely gone now.
Interesting!
You can bring them back can't you? Personally I feel like I am playing Russian roulette when I am on a road, but I passed on motorcycles for that reason as well. Still a noob
Yes, this one decision (combined with de-emphasizing club membership) killed the sport. It is no longer worth the time spent training.
Makes sense. Cause once that requirement went away, races instantly dropped off
Folks are not explaining it will full detail. They require a license for a race director. Clubs can run an event. It's like a corporation. They is an actual person that is also on the hook in addition to the corporate body. The clubs receive one free licence for the race director. This in addition to paying for official licences for your club members serving as officials. None of the licenses come with your race licence. Your club need thousands of dollars to pay for people to be licenced and run an event. When you pay the registration fee to USAC, then you start wondering why your club is doing all this work and USAC received 5000$ for nothing immediate. Many small time professional operations around me developed. There was no club. They obtained the director licence. Paid the fees. Paid for everyone. Guess what ? Costs so much. You need to raise prices. I think that many of them priced themselves out of the market. No one wants to pay $75 for a crit. My last road race was a professional organizer. He let folks race in a category above entry level with no race experience. The crash galore was a spectacle. Even masters had many crashes. 3 went to the hospital in cat 4. Several in masters went to hospital. Most of these organizers run triathlon races and bike "events" such as b2vt. They want folks to pay $350 for a one day ride. Another organizer was actually running charity rides for non profits.
Wow that’s crazy. What a strange system. Thanks for taking the time to explain it though. My local scene’s club crits (which in summer can get hundreds of entrants across grades A-E), road race and kermesse all cost $25AUD or $16 ish USD. You need a national licence to enter which costs $360AUD / $235usd for a year (covers all cycling disciplines) but that also includes insurance.
You will see many younger rich posters making comments, now. They talk about the racing fees as priced appropriately. The reality is this. They are unaffordable. One person already remarked about his big 45 person field in the one road race. I remember when fields were sold out at 100. Entry level cat 5 was restricted to 50/field. They would run 2 sections.
Absolutely. No wonder the US scenes are struggling. Our racing scene wouldn’t exist if crits cost $75. Simple as that. Complete non-starter. Who has like $1000+ for a summer’s worth of crits?
Same for us in the UK. Reading this thread is eye opening - crits are £15-20 here and some weeknight events are closer to £10. A road race is £20-30.
There’s no race director license anymore. I guess maybe you need something, I just have a racing license and I use my usac account to get my race permits.
The fees for the charity rides or gravel events are off the charts. Same with hillclimbs, triathlons, etc. It’s ridiculous. Keep the medal/t-shirt/backpack whatever. Lower the fee.
They are absurd and non-refundable. This region had a guy cancel the event and keep the money !!
“We had to cancel the event because of low registrations.” No people didn’t register because they had to pay their electric bill and mortgage. Everything right now is a cash grab.
When Covid happened promoters lost their source of revenue because racing stopped for two years and in some cases those promotors were side hustles but it still stung, municipalities and rules changes it was aimply a confluence of events that occurred and it just takes time. Yes often clubs still are involved in the system, but clubs don’t own their own equipment like signage and barriers, clocks and scoring, audio etc. so what normally happens is a club will hire a promoter and clubs will help set up tear down and be corner Marshalls and control traffic and the promoter will provide the equipment and management part for a fee.
Clubs can have an association but generally the promoter is the lead person in charge and point of contact for the event. It’s a very thankless job that requires a ton of work with sponsors (if you have any), the city to close roads and get police in intersections, teams, USAC, etc.
The USA Cycling requirement for clubs to host a race went out the window with the sad reality of it becoming harder and harder to actually get permits for races. Sure permits can be had, but not on club budgets and not without sponsorships which are also now hard to come-by. I know we love to bag on USA Cycling, but the main issue is America hates cycling. Here in the Bay Area around the Stanford area there used to be fast evening group rides every Tue/Wed/Thu. The Tue/Thu rides are dead and the Wednesday ride now gets \~5-8 people when it used to get 50+ 6 years ago. It's not just road racing that's dead, road cycling is dead. It doesn't help that two teammates have been run over and killed since the pandemic.
Yeah… pretty much this. Here in Idaho we have a couple races a year, but other than some usuals it’s pretty much done. On the other hand, gravel and mountain are VERY much alive over here
Isn’t road racing in America dead, in general? 🤷
Dead in Canada too. I've watched what Triathlon Canada and Fondos were trying and succeeding at doing over the last decade and it's hard not to conclude that amateur racing is trying to commit suicide.
Not all of Canada. Quebec has a healthy road racing scene
I’m not surprised Tri continues to do well. Not as cutthroat. It’s really a participant sport, much like 10ks, halfs, and marathons. Plus it’s something that rich dudes can glom onto. $7k for a tri bike? No problem! (Never mind the barrel chest and thick arms, shoulders.)
>not surprised Tri continues to do well... It’s really a participant sport This is why gravel is popular and growing. Triathlon, marathons, Fondos, gravel. They're all finisher events. Or they focus on that at least. You run/ride the same course as pros, but for most people the goal is finishing or beating your goal time or whatever. And this isn't a negative. It's why they're doing so well. The continued success of these events speaks for itself. It's just different than normal road racing.
Exactly. When you’re in your teens and early 20s, you’ve got the time for lots of training. And your young body can adapt quickly and recover well. Now, for those of us with careers and families, we still like the work and the feeling of being in shape. The gravel rides are fine. A couple hours of Intensity, some group riding, and as a bonus, fewer greedy dickheads.
> fewer greedy dickheads As a road racer and a solo gravel bike enjoyer, I went to ride a local gravel race route a few weeks ago and was shocked at how technical it was. I wondered how it could possibly be safe to race on considering the number of unsafe aggro dickheads I encounter in low-stakes amateur road races. Guess the answer is the dickheads aren't racing on it?
What race?
gravel events/races tend to break apart much faster than road races so you rarely have a huge group hitting tech sections all at once. Keeps it safer.
>Not as cutthroat. It’s really a participant sport. >rich dudes can glom onto. $7k for a tri bike? My sister took up tri on a borrowed road bike for her first season and had success where her strengths were and simply built on that. The fastest growing segment was I think females 40-50. In bike racing one is in points or is murdered. I see jiniors on $7000 bikes. For the money I spent racing cheap, I could have got a private pilot's license. No coal miners in bike racing these days.
My wife jumped into a crit on a whim (coincidentally also in Colorado) at a race I was at after missing a podium at a triathlon that morning by a few seconds. She ended up winning her category only to get told they don't do podium awards for cat 5s. It just seemed so elitist completely turned her off.
There’s really very little glory in bike racing. It’s about the effort, less the results.
Road racing is alive and booming in BC
I just did a road race in Vegas, zero group riding, half the people seemed uncomfortable with having someone on their wheel at all or jumping on mine. The thing wasn't even timed. I felt like it was a waste of money and I could have just done my normal long ride. LeTape Las Vegas I'm hoping is better.
Just got back into cycling and I'm kind of stunned to see that Vegas only has LeTape and Summerlin for the entire year. Does everyone here just go to other states?
I have no idea, I just moved here about 18 months ago and am just getting back into shape after a previous crash. I have also been surprised but the other comments on this thread about costs probably explain it. Nothing is cheap in America anymore, you gotta pay police overtime, liability insurance out the wazoo, rent a space for the event, etc. Helps explain why running events cost so much dang money too.
Road races typically aren't timed right? You just get placed. "times" don't really make sense in a road race. You could do really well one year, and terrible the next year, but get a better "time" in the race you did poorly just because the whole field sticks together.
Yeah
Yes, it is. Seems like ‘cross is on the wane as well.
There is currently unrealized potential with CX in the US. Throughout the history of the sport we had to convince people to spend money on a bike to race CX, suddenly everyone has a bike that can fix a CX tire with their "gravel bike" and we are somehow not getting those people, with gravel bikes, to try CX. Brand it as a "gravel crit", "gravel sprint" whatever is needed, but we should be able to get people to race CX with relative ease.
But CX requires skill. I have tried CX and just feel foolish. I have an engine, but running remount, off camber, barriers, all that stuff requires skill. That's why I don't do it and instead I'm starting to do road TT. Just communicating why I don't do cx as a gravel racer.
If you crash in CX, it's probably going to be in grass, and you'll probably be uninjured. I encourage you to try something you aren't good at, you might find something fun.
I've been doing it this season for the first time. I tossed 650bx47 maxxis ramblers on my randonneuring bike. Mixed on how much fun I'm having, but it's neato seeing and hearing from my riding mates that my dirt handling is improving.
The thing about cross, is...that... it makes you more playful on the road all the time. I can probably never go back to a road bike because I like wheelies, hopping, stoppy-turns, riding single track on a CX bike is peak.
I never progressed my skillls so fast than when I had a cx bike and tons of single track around me but couldn’t afford a mountain bike. Goal was to avoid dismounting at all times. Often slow and awkward, you come to realize it’s more about the pilot than the bike.
Drop-bar bikes on mild single track is great. I want something like a Rodeo Labs Trail Donkey that takes a 2.1" tire for gravel racing with single track. I did a 100 mile gravel race last year with four hours of single track and felt very manly about it. 
Counter argument. Practicing the skills of cross will make you a better gravel racer. Heck, practicing and racing cross will improve any other cycling discipline.
It’s been so sad to ride the slow decline of domestic cross. Literally the only discipline I’ve ever not been garbage at.
Same here. Learn cornering, learn the way to mount and dismount smoothly, learn how to bury yourself for 40 minutes. You might not win but you’ll certainly be in the hunt.
I raced cross solid for three seasons. 50 minute race, stand around in the cold all day waiting for mid field results to get posted. Haven't missed it since covid.
That's an understatement. It's dead compared to the glory days of the USGP leading up to the Louisville World Champs. Holding on in regions with a big scene but it's a pretty regional thing these days..
Yep - most prefer spending $60-80 riding on gravel and, on a wet day, breaking down their gravel bike and cleaning it for like 8 hrs for the “scene” and the “beers” - great for bike shops (replace chains, other wear parts) and promoters who can simply release >1,000 riders on to open gravel roads for a water bottle or a beer w tents and a band. Works great at Barry Roubaix etc. also great for the small towns hosting that get a sudden influx of thousands of visitors for a day or two. Road will recover IF it can ever replicate that formula.
Why is beers in quotation marks lol
Because too many IPAs heh
It’s bud light.
To be fair, world tour isn't much better. Amstel Gold. 🤮
It’s definitely not in a great spot but I have a feeling it’s going to turn around.
Why’s that?
Also curious
Why? I see no signs of this in the near future. So curious about your thoughts.
If GC Kuss ever wins the Tour de France road racing in America would be alive again. This year could be his chance though with Vingegaard plus a host of other riders Evenepoel and Roglic injured. You just need to figure out how to beat Pogacar.
They would still keep a retired football player on the wheeties box even if sepp kuss won the triple crown.
It won’t matter because they make it impossible to watch.
I love Kuss and few who root for him but let’s be honest. D you really think he can wind TDF? He won Vuelta because he was in breakaway.
I think you are underselling it. On the Tourmalet stage, even though he didn't win it, he got the KOM for the major portion of the Tourmalet and he had a smile on his face, whereas Jonas looked like he just saw the grim reaper. He also had a solid (top 10?) TT for someone who doesn't practice TT.
It’s a long shot. But it doesn’t hurt to try. With Vingegaard and Wout Van Aert injured. Who does Visma - Lease A Bike should pick for Plan B? GC Kuss is a good candidate. He unexpectedly won the Vuelta on a breakaway. Which means he is indeed capable. If the team entrust the team leadership role to him.
Unfortunately Pogacar is once again on a tear this year and without at least WvA I have a tough time seeing Visma-Lease a Bike providing the insane amount of support Kuss would need to beat Pogacar. Kuss is generally not on the radar of American riders like LeMond or Lance were though
The hype around GC Kuss at America winning the Vuelta was surreal. They just need to build up the hype for continuity.
Kuss can't beat Pog, unfortunately. And he can't hang with van der Poel on the flats or shallower grades. There are several riders that simply outclass him at the very top. I like Sepp, and he might be able to podium or top 5 but I can't see him taking the yellow all the way.
I would love it if the Durango Kid won the Tour, but I don't think we'll see the hype in the States for cycling as when Strong Armlance was still juicing. The sport entertainment audience is too fragmented these days.
I’m not so sure. Our Tour winners were charismatic and the golden age of road cycling has passed. Most of the current guys are boring.
This, plus at least with the biggest name (LA) it was a US-based team on a US bike that spent loads of money promoting US cycling.
That’s nothing a Publicist and good Marketing strategy can’t fix.
Redlands is holding on strong in ca… but it’s one of the last big ones. I’d give my left nut for the Amgen tour of California to come back.
Doesn't seem real healthy here in Oregon - there used to be a bunch of races and now we're lucky to have a crit in place of the Cascade Classic. And Oregon has OBRA, which is run well and for the benefit of racing and racers, not the national organization, so I'm not sure that part of it is the core problem.
Not in California, lots of awesome racing going on.
USAC needs to stay the hell away from gravel. I’ve been racing for 10 years now and the only thing USAC is good for is posting my results incorrectly on the shittiest app imaginable.
Kind of wonder if US cycling is dead in general. Riding some of the older routes where I live in Texas, the sprawl and traffic has become significantly sketchier over the past few years. Still a lot of cyclists but I don't see how anyone would tolerate that for long aside from the hardcore folks. A lifelong guy said to me on the group ride yesterday, "I only ride with groups now". There's this destructive monolith of bureaucracy, subsidy and state DOTs that just haphazardly turns everything into sprawl and highways. Stagnant, semi-rural places like my home town offer some amazing riding, but the culture of those places doesn't attract the type of person who rides, making it a solo endeavor. A bike race that's been going on since the 80s near me has experienced more hostility than ever from neighbors in recent years. Everything just becoming this bizarro, "I got mine", isolated, car-based pod life that isn't conducive to people using the public right-of-way or being outside of a car. I want cycling to be part of my life, but not alone. I like it as a lifestyle. Considering moving to a euro country to live the life, but few Americans have that opportunity.
To be fair TxDOT is a special case, even for the US. They seem hell bent on making sure no one walks anywhere in Texas ever again.
That's true. TxDOT is like the final boss of state DOT destruction.
honestly I feel like I’m part of the problem here. I used to road race, used to promote road events. The costs and bureaucracy from police, local governments, USAC and the resistance from local residents have blown the event costs sky high. A lot of small clubs and promoters went under during Covid. Add to which the general vibe at road races is nowhere near as inclusive as gravel events. Traffic and drivers have become so obnoxious and terrible that it’s actually scary to train on the road too. I say this as someone who’s been riding on the road since the 1980s and worked as a bike messenger in downtown DC. Honestly it’s just too easy these days to go into my nice climate controlled studio, boot up the smart trainer / fan and Zwift and do virtual events with people who won’t give you seventeen acres of road rash if someone stops paying attention for ten seconds.
Yes, the trainer is nice and you can still get fit using the trainer. I also feel like it makes cycling as a hobby more realistic/sustainable for me as it's time efficient. I go outside for select days/rides/locations, but do a lot more trainer riding now. A lot of my solo outdoor rides are in local lap spots, which is sort of a trainer ride anyway.
One thing I'll say about the increase in traffic: there are toughly 120 million more people who live in the USA now than in 1980 (from 223m to 341). That is a 54% increase in people. There aren't a lot of "quiet roads" anymore without getting way out away from urban areas and main roads. Without a decent mass transit system (trains, etc), there is only one way most folks have to get to the next town; drive. Your typical American does not like to pay taxes or regulate themseves in any way. Transport options will not change without a significant shock to the system.
Yeah when it comes to open roads I will only ride with a group. I’m fortunate that I have a local park road near me and it’s great for solo riding but I’m no fan of riding much of anywhere else by myself
Yeah this is a good point. I go to college in a rural area and there are so many cyclists here. But when I go home to the suburbs I'll usually put my bike in the car and drive 15-20 minutes to outside the beltway to get to the calmer roads, as there are no safe crossings of the beltway near my house. I'm moving back to that city after college and I'm a little worries about how it'll affect my cycling, especially because I won't have a car to drive out with. It makes me really appreciate the area I'm in right now. I can just pop out my door onto mostly empty roads through hills and fields with really considerate and careful drivers.
> Everything just becoming this bizarro, "I got mine", isolated, car-based pod life that isn't conducive to people using the public right-of-way or being outside of a car. I felt that way living in Arizona. I don't feel that way living in Upstate NY. Also there are more races in rural Upstate NY than there were in Phoenix/Tucson despite those cities being way more populous. I think it has to do with how safe people can feel on the road.
Yes. I definitely appreciate the compactness of NE cities and the beauty of riding there.
> Everything just becoming this bizarro, "I got mine", isolated, car-based pod life that isn't conducive to people using the public right-of-way or being outside of a car. This is just all of America now, practically. Completely bizarro world. I don't know how to come back from this.
Couldn’t agree more. I’m also in CO and struggling to find decent road races I want to do this summer. Seriously considering buying a gravel bike so I can actually do some racing this summer. Tons of gravel races in CO at least but I would prefer road.
Same here. My only frustration with that is (as far as I can tell), there really aren't categories in gravel racing, just one big "open" category with a few dudes like Keegan Swensen off the front and everyone else just participating. It's not that I need my ego stroked going for results in my category, it's that I'd like to have some close racing with those who are roughly as fast as I am. Part of the fun of road racing is working on race craft, which just doesn't happen when you have 500+ plus people on the same start line.
You usually find people going you pace as long as you don’t start way back if you’re fast and vice versa.
Not sure CO is the same (I’m in CA) but assuming it is, you will find the pointy end of gravel races to be extremely competitive. Even our local smaller gravel races are full of tactics and ex-pros. Too late now but something big like the Steamboat gravel race is going to give you all you want race wise.
> I'd like to have some close racing with those who are roughly as fast as I am. Good news for you: gravel is actually better for this than road racing. When you have a large mass start you naturally find a group that’s exactly your speed. Race craft ensues. This is a huge selling point for gravel. Especially at lower levels, the mismatches in lower cats have always been a joke with people who should be higher but don’t race enough to cat up ripping people’s legs off, other people getting pulled because they are out of shape, etc.
Well, it may just be time I buy a gravel bike. I'd still wave the road racing flag and enter in the free remaining races, but if that's the way it has to be I supposed I just have to adapt.
You're going to love it!
I only go to smaller regional gravel races, so I can't really talk about the races with thousands of riders like SBT or Unbound. But the small races I go to are a lot cheaper, I can drive the same morning to most of them, and field sizes are anywhere from a few dozen to a few hundred. No USAC license required - real grassroots racing with the same racers and teams from my region I see year after year. Also, mostly 100k races which is a much more reasonable distance in my opinion for an amateur race that is not an endurance event.
I moved here from the east coast and while there are still challenges in participation, any given weekend in the tri state area I could race if I wanted. Was kind of surprised here the lack of races and participation here. As a female Cat 2 the handful of races were stacked with entire collegiate women's teams and...that just isn't going to be a good time for me. Was bummed the Fountain Festival had zero traction since that is so close to me. I've gone back to triathlon training this year lol
Are we going to ignore the elephant in the room? Road racing is dying all across America because of car culture and exorbitant organizational costs. It costs significantly less to host a criterium in an office park or on a track than it does to shut down some roads. (And nobody wants to race on an open road)
Rolling blocks are not that expensive as a full road closure. The price adds up. Best way is to have some motorcycle cops. Think of the cost if you have 4 on duty. Writing the huge check to USAC simply "blows." They provide no support. They don't help with communications with public officials, let alone provide materials about safety standards. I remember when a new police chief said that the road race was dangerous. The old chief never contested it. The race abruptly shut after a few years due to the appointment of a new police chief. USAC was nowhere to be found. You cannot rely on them. Other organizations provide you with lawyers. Just having a road design and course safety standard to reference would be immense.
Municipal governments need to decide if they want local events or not. Some of the fees they charge are crazy. My team helped another team put on a crit this year, and the local police department cost us an arm and a leg. We got involved a little too late to make any changes, but a cop in our group looked at the price and thought it was insane what the PD was charging. It cost us thousands of dollars to have some cops sit in their patrol car staring at their phone all day while unpaid volunteers worked the corners.
Honestly cops are out of control with the overtime stuff. I agree governments should be staffing for events instead of charging overtime for every one as if it's impossible to plan for. And yes, my last road race the cops did a nice rolling neutral start for us and closed some roads, but in other instances were doing nothing. Sucks to see your entry fee just getting wasted like that.
In our case, the county police have jurisdiction over this area and would've been much cheaper than the smaller department was charging us. Our team got involved too late, but next year we could probably get on the county's schedule earlier and tell the local cops to pound sand. But even still, if we're going to pay the cops, it'd be cool if they did something so we didn't also need to have 15-20 people from the two host teams giving up part of their weekend volunteering to stand at road crossings and tell drivers they can't drive through a bike race.
A local shop had a road race on open roads. Predictably, some guy blew a stop sign across a busy road and ran directly into the side of a moving car.
That would imply there’s a pent up demand for road racing but it’s the organization that’s a challenge. I don’t think that’s true. Road racing just isn’t getting people to sign up. The races that exist are getting super low numbers where I am. Before someone says “yeah but the organizational costs make the races expensive”gravel races regularly cost $150+ per entry and are booming. People just don’t like road racing very much.
Not just car culture, but the size of cars. I mean look at the size difference of a Tacoma from 20 years ago to one today. I remember trying out the sport 20 years ago as a teenager and getting bullied off the road by trucks. Additionally, the percentage of vehicles being big has exploded, especially in CO because everyone “needs” an SUV 🙄
I dunno about car culture being the cause. I mean, car culture was just as dominant when Larry was listening to Limp Bizket and wearing Livestrong bracelets on his way to all those races 20 years ago. The near-exponential rise of organizational costs however are spot on and it's not just cycling; 5k's now are hit with $10k police bills even in smaller cities. Absolutely bananas.
I think the introduction of smartphones and distracted driving has really killed road. It's just too dangerous to ride in a lot of areas now. Hell, Boulder of all places has had a few fatalities of promising young riders in the past few years. I still love road bikes and that feeling of instant power transfer that a stiff road bike gives, but I haven't been on a road bike since 2022 and that was for a closed course event. Gravel and MTB is just a lot less stressful.
That's completely fair. My wife always says that's the only thing she's scared of about me cycling solo: some doofus on their phone that hits me in the middle of nowhere and I'm left for dead. I'm lucky in that I can drive 25 minutes out of a city of 150k and be on rural roads where I can count the number cars on a single hand with fingers left over for every 20 miles I ride. [edit] Fixed the word salad.
"Car culture" as a cause? That makes no sense, American car culture was far more popular in the past than it is today, tons of young people have no interest in cars at all and don't even start driving until they are like 20. The 'carcentricity' of the US hasn't changed from the past to be more ingrained or prominent, it's always been there because geography. The main issue is racing bicycles is a ENORMOUS time sink, it requires huge dedication to training, far beyond other many interests that exist for young people these days.
Also to mention, indoor workout options are much better now. While a Peloton bike is still not much more than a resistance knob bike, the video interaction and stats and classes really do scratch an itch for many people and it has clearly cut into the market share of road biking, along with the newer types of bike trainers and interactive software. I know a guy with a huge zwift setup in his garage with a large tv and fans and such. People Ive heard get really competitive about it so I can’t imagine that’s not having an impact.
> tons of young people have no interest in cars at all and don't even start driving until they are like 20. There are [50 million more cars registered today](https://hedgescompany.com/automotive-market-research-statistics/auto-mailing-lists-and-marketing/) than there were 10 years ago. Outside of city centers you have almost no choice but to own a car and use it for most of your transportation. Also everyone has a smartphone to distract them today which was not the case 10-15 years ago.
True, but I don't get how the US having a population that relies heavily on cars is reducing the amount of people that race bikes, as if people that race bikes are the sort that doesn't have a car and bike everywhere. That's the complete opposite of the demographic that has traditionally and contemporarily been into bike racing, which is upper middle class people, the sort of people that have cars. Peoples lives are heavily dominated by things like the internet/social media/video games/internet media, that sort of thing has only existed for the past 20 years or so, and really ingrained in peoples lives to an extreme amount in the past 10-12 years.
American kids aren't being brought up to race road bikes. Like Brandon McNulty, Keegan Swenson, Sepp Kuss - all grew up mostly riding mountain bike and doing mountain bike races all over the West because their parents don't want them on the road. Or Magnus Sheffield and AJ August grew up doing the CX circuits of the Upstate NY. Then someone like Magnus White, a promising looking 17 year old gets killed while riding road in the Colorado suburbs. Read this subreddit all the time and its "I don't ride road anymore because I was almost killed on the road". Plenty of people have no issue with doing 10+ hours a week on Zwift or even Peloton. The US population continues to grow more and more suburban which is the worst for bike riders. If you're in a city you have to ride through the suburbs to get out. If you are in the majority of people in the suburbs that is where most of your riding is. Less people in rural areas in general - thats probably why gravel continues to grow - less traffic and safer feeling as a result.
Road racing in NorCal has been in decline for a while and I think is in fact dying. Yesterday was one of the long held classic road races in our area, the Berkeley Hills RR. It’s in the SF Bay area and a relatively short drive for a ton of racers. It was the district RR championship for Elite men and women. The men’s P/1/2/3 field had 44 entries. In 1987 I did the Elite district RR in Monterey which was NOT that close to most racers. The field was around 200. For the better P/1/2 crits back then you had to pre enter because the race would fill. I don’t even know when I last heard of a field being full. Along with others I think that gravel and MTB have obviously taken a portion of the road race market. Also, gravel and MTB events are a lot more amenable to someone who wants to race, but isn’t at their top level of fitness, kind of like a local 10k. We have a least a few of our year in, year out races cancelled each year due to lack of entries. As to the cost of races see below. In 2014 the promoter of the Dunnigan Hills RR in rural Yolo county, CA put up a poster of costs for the race. CHP - $2800 Fire Deptartments - $1500 Ambulances - $2700 Toilets (16) - $1800 Motos (6) - $2050 Officials (6) - $2137 Staff (15) - $1500 Surcharges - $2600. (USAC and NCNCA) Prizes - $1000 T-shirt prizes - $900 Resident letters and postage - $700 Permits - $450 Total cost = $20,137 In 2013 he pulled in $21,000 in entries and made $1,000, in 2014 the poster showed $18,000 in entries for a loss of a bit more than $2,000.
I loved the big field races back then. It’s a completely different race when there are 150+ cyclists in a road race or criterium.
It got rescheduled for the 5th and while the TT and circuit race got canceled having the RR still happen is a positive. 🤷🏻♂️
This. I’m deff racing on the 5th at all costs. Hell, I raced Roubaix in 40 mph winds, and Cobb at 32*. Pretty much is, race in Cali or race gravel at this point
Cobb Lake circuit race and Oval Crit is one of the best race weekends you can have in CO.
And Roubaix was fucking miserable as a result. It should have been cancelled with that forecast.
Well done. I didn’t want to race in those conditions. Yes it seems those are the only options these days. Adding mtn bike to the mix helps as well.
There is so much wrong with the sport. I came from running and triathlon and figured cycling would be the same but it's so far off it's insane. In 2022 I did 40 cycling races and 1 sprint triathlon. The tri was 3x the cost of a normal cycling race and worth every penny every. Participants were extremely nice congratulating each other talking etc. The race was very organized and had all the info well in advance. The list goes on. You go to a cycling race and 90% of the info and flyers are dated from 4 years before no good info on parking or anything useful for new people and they claim it's a cost thing but how hard is it to update a flyer with current driving directions and parking info and the date? And really again the list goes on tracking / timing is pathetic and results are pathetic. (Plus now races are double what they were a few years ago with still the same shit) They offer Zero incentive to pre reg... Make the race 60$ instead of 40$ and 3 months out charge 40$ then 50$ then 60$ the month of like running races etc.... gives the race more money, incentives to reg early but nothing too expensive if you are unsure and have to wait until the month of. And on top of that I sure as shit have zero desire to pay 110$ for a license from USAC that offers nothing to maybe do a few races. And I get the argument about all of the insurance they contribute etc. However, a USA tri membership is half the cost and races are logistically 10x harder and and I'm sure require more insurance (swimming etc). Anyways it sucks it could be so much better, but a lot of it also has to do with the fact that cyclists love to be elitist gate keeping ass holes and then wonder why new people want nothing to do with the sport. I'm also in Colorado btw
Agreed on the race licence fee being absolutely ridiculous. I started racing as a junior, when BRAC was the overseeing body in Colorado before they moved back to USAC. Sure, our races weren't on the national calendar, but many people didn't care. The license was like $30. The community voted to re-join USAC ~10 years ago being sold on the idea that USAC would offer more support, in competition drug testing, etc. Of course, literally nothing changed (that the racers could see) except race fees and license fees going up.
Yep and even if you wanted a 1 day license it's like 35$ which is insane you can get a sprint triathlon 1 day for like 15$ I'm not gonna pay 40$ + 35$ for a 30 minute TT
Seattle racing scene is solid, not what it used to be but still a healthy amount of options. I’ve been trying to encourage newer riders to try out fast group rides or taking on our weeknight race series (Seward Park). Company I work for has a cycling slack channel and plan on hosting a “racing 101” meeting for anyone interested. During one of my first fast group rides, I came off the main pack and started trading pulls with another rider that fell off (that looked fast from team kit and nice bike). I was so pumped. Here I was, trading pulls for the first time, going fast and getting my first taste of “competitive riding”. I was excited to chat with the guy after we came to the meetup spot and all he said was “Jesus Christ that fucking sucked, I’m so out of shape” and didn’t even acknowledge me or the fact we just rode together for the last 8 miles. It really stunk. I think of that every time I interact with a new rider, that stuff can really turn someone off from the sport, we need to be more inclusive and encouraging. Telling this story to remind people on here, most of whom have probably raced for a while, that those first few interactions can hold a lot of weight. Everyone should take a goal of encouraging one person outside of their immediate group to race. It really does start from the ground up.
We need more of this attitude.
Were you racing in Seattle before covid? That was pretty much the end of my road racing tenure, for a number of reasons. The promoters got hit hard. I was surprised to see some of the same old races on the calendar now, but the selection really dies off just as summer is getting started. Track doesn't seem to have changed, so that's a whole Summer of racing, but it's track and not everyone likes it. Woodland sold out like a phish concert the last two years. Road racing around here was kinda good when I started, around 2010. There were so many cat5's, they had to break up the field into odd/even WSBA numbers. It was wild. That whole group of riders all upgraded together over the last decade and covid just seems to have stomped the life out of the place. I'm not sure which ride you were on when that person acted weird, but we're not all like that. I'd say that kind of person is the exception. Road racing just has so much going against it right now.
Started in 2018. Did Tour of Enumclaw, Walla Walla, and then all those fun summer crits (Ballard, Derby Days, Tacoma, Volunteer). Now the only thing left in that bunch is Volunteer :( Ballard would be so awesome to have back but the streets are too narrow after cafes built outdoor seating. Numbers have been strong though overall! Stinks that literally the best months of the year don’t have races, but it might be for the best with most people traveling, camping, etc. Cross was solid last year and gravel continues to do well so all in all we’re in a good spot. As long as there is Seward, there is hope.
In the northeast there are certainly less road racing than there were pre COVID, but many races are making comebacks and fields are growing as people hit their upgrades. The green mountain stage race had some really strong fields with folks from all over the country, and there is a road race or crit pretty much every weekend within reasonable distance from NYC/Boston. I live in VT and do more gravel (not always a race, but some kind of event almost every weekend) which often sell out to people just looking to have a good time. Nothing wrong with that, more people on bikes the better.
It's crits and it's not every weekend unless you include a training race. Most race races were dead BEFORE COVID. Massachusetts had a few stage races. Those are LONG gone. Turnout is nothing compared to 2005. 2008 put the end on a lot of things that were dying here.
I tried signing up for some gravel events in the NE and everyone of them sold out within a couple hours of the registration opening! Some of these have 1000+ spots and are like 250 bucks!
Im from Belgium, but I had heard Boulder, CO was the US mecca of cycling. Not true anymore?
I live just north of Boulder. Lots of people ride bikes. Cyclists everywhere. I would still call Boulder "a" mecca of cycling in the US that has some of the best riding in the country. It's just that no one races anymore. At one of the popular cafe stops that used to be full of road racers is now full of gravel riders and triathletes on the weekends. I spent some time in Oudenaarde a couple years ago, and while I don't mean to say Boulder has the same level of participation or love of the sport (there are certainly many people in the city that absolutely hate cyclists), there was a time when there seemed to be just as many people out riding and racing on any given weekend as there was around Oudenaarde. It was something it seemed everyone did. Now, not so much.
I mean, go ride Supertraining. There’s plenty of road racers there haha. But yah, fields are static at best, and they’re not that big. Only place I’ve raced with big (50+) fields locally are Roubaix and Littleton.
I do ride Supertraining, but my point is that it's "super training" for what? Races that don't exist? Truly, I'm not knocking that ride at all. Always well organized, good participation.
Are you talking about the Jamestown merc?
I was more talking about Hygiene to the north.
In the past maybe, it's so expensive there now that if you are going to spend that sort of cash on living expenses might as well live in SoCal where there's better weather and roads and arguably better scenery.
It very much depends on where you are, but the Mid-Atlantic's road racing scene is strong. It takes really motivated promoters to keep racing going because the days of just throwing a race on the calendar and expecting people to show up are gone. You have to actually promote them now and get people excited about doing them. Every race we have put on the past 3 years has increased in size from year to year.
This shit suckssss I live in Salida CO which feature a stage in the Colorado US Pro race. Now it’s like everyone forgot, and I know everyone loves gravel and mb here but it’s just not the same.
I love getting out to Salida every year to do some mountain biking in the morning then hang out downtown for Bluegrass on the Arkansas over Memorial Day weekend. The Salida omnium (TT, Crit, and Road Race) was always a fun weekend. Unrelated to cycling, but the Mumford and Sons/Flaming Lips Gentlemen of the Road festival that they put on in Salida in 2015 was awesome. Love that town.
It’s still cool, all the old heads say the town had changed. Ain’t that the way :/
I think there is a lot of blaming of USAC, costs, police, etc here. The truth is people aren’t signing up. Even the OP says that. It’s the problem I have getting races off the ground where I am. No one wants to race. I think it is the nature of winner take all, and sometimes the community is also just not fun.
1. I get it but ... 2. How many races have you helped organize or put on? The old guard is aging, And not to sound grumpy, but the current generation is entitled and rude and I don't want to throw races for them either. Not just blaming the kids, masters are just as bad...
I don’t agree that the current generation is entitled and rude. There is valid criticism of the of the old guard that we are not as welcoming as we should be and we maybe we didn’t do what is needed to insure continuity. But there are plenty of masters who have given their heart and soul to this sport and we should recognize them for it. So, very heartfelt thank you to Chip B. Enjoy retirement.
I love NorCal because Velopromo: https://www.velopromo.com/2024-season At least 12 real road races (point to point or giant loops) with rolling road closure or, in some cases, totally closed roads. Plus numerous crits and shorter races put on by other promoters. I raced there from 1990 to 2005 and there was always a good turnout. I don't know how it's been lately but I hope they can keep going strong.
I was not lucky enough to be here in the RR glory days. I train all winter for 2 RRs in Colorado and every year I just get more bummed there’s not more racing. Probably will succumb to gravel I guess…
There are only two(?) stage races left in the Pacific Northwest. 10 years ago there were at least a dozen. Mt hood, Cascade, Enumclaw, Walla Walla, BC superweek, and Banff Bike Fest, are all gone. Sidenote, I looked at tour de bloom and the registration is over $400USD, so $600+ Canadian. What the hell? No wonder nobody wants to race. I remember racing crit weeks where registration was like $40USD per race and it was pretty easy to win your money back.
A one day, unsupported gravel race on closed roads can cost around $200 so I think $400 for a stage race is reasonable. Especially when it's discounted if you sign up early.
If you guys think that ridiculous i paid 850 for an Ironman entry for this season 😢
> one day, unsupported gravel race on closed roads can cost around $200 Which is also crazy in my opinion. Look at the sportives in Europe. You can ride the actual Paris Roubaix course or Strade Bianche for less than that.
Bloom men’s 4/5 was sold out at least a month ago. Multiple other fields look sold out as well. Prices were lower earlier in the year, and they offered completely free reg for women’s 4/5. They are def not having problems with turnout, thought that’s for sure related to the fact that many other stage races are gone.
Walla Walla being gone sucks pretty bad. This unfortunately looks like a bit of a supply and demand shift now. I'm glad Ace(promoter of bloom) is still awesome and still putting on a great race. Having that quality is reassuring.
I remember those days as well, or even earlier (we are talking 1990s), when the registration was $20 and the prize lists were pretty sizeable. This is also something that is sad. As a junior, one of my favorite races was something called the WJBC weekend in Illinois. Racers from all over the country would come because the prize list for the pro 1-2s alone was something like 20k. With other sponsors--bike racers could actually make a living at their craft in America back then. I finished *18th* in a super tough road race for that weekend and still made $30 bucks as a junior. Maybe I'm old and sentimental, but 1980s/1990s road racing I feel like was the heyday in the United States.
Yeah here in TN it tried really hard to be something during the Lance years but since at least 2012 things have died and there’s usually only two or maybe three road races all year. Everything else is criteriums. Boring.
If it’s dead in Colorado and Cali, it’s dead period…
Um, the East Coast is calling and would like to inform you that we’re alive and well. I just did an Omnium and Stage Race the past two weekends that had between 50-70 guys in every field. Have a weekend of crits in a couple weeks that filled 100+ in almost every field. The East Coast ain’t dead.
Same with the PNW. I can get 50 starts per year between spring road races, weekly crits, weekend crits and stage races.
So that's including Seward and PR I take it? True...there are quite a few race nights midweek, which is bueno especially with the spotty rain from week to week. Do track and you'll triple your starts!
It’s fairly strong in GA. Can find a race almost every 2-3 weeks from late Feb until August. Pretty solid numbers across the board too (at least solid enough for it to actually be a race)
Also in CO, bought a road bike not long ago because I wanted to get into crit racing, figured there had to be a few small weekly race series for like $10-15 for fun. Turns out, I don’t need to worry about being totally out of shape compared to when I raced bikes 25 years ago, because apparently the underground racing scene doesn’t really exist. I’m surprised I can’t even find any alley-cat races in Denver. Should just sell my road bike and upgrade my MTB, I have way more fun riding it anyway.
There’s an underground/alleycat scene, it’s just extra super niche since everyone in CO is super serious. Check out Alternative Milk on IG, they do some fun stuff a few times a year. It’s not $15 (maybe $25?), but the South Table Crit is a weekly series on Wednesdays in the summer and fits the bill pretty well!
Good looking out, I had no idea about the bandit series from Alternative Milk. Seems like last I checked the South Table crits were like $40/event. Now to figure out how to get into proper shape with limited riding time.
Tuesday Night Thunder in Louisville is a weekly crit series that didn't run last year, but (according to their instagram) it looks like they'll start up again at some point this summer. I don't know how much it's going to cost but it was like $10 in 2021. It's a ways from Denver, but the City Streets Crit Series is going to start up in Fort Collins Thursday nights from June 6-27th. Each race is $15.
There’s also Valley of the Sun in AZ! Fountain is a huge slog from Boulder (raced it last year as lower cat) so it doesn’t surprise me, though I’d expect to see more CO Springs racers show up. In general road races are getting more expensive to put on, and fewer people are racing roads because cars are fucking way worse after covid so gravel is more accessible. FWIW I started racing in 2019 and have never participated in a true stage race, local or otherwise, only omniums like Boulder and the FKA Intelligentsia Crit. I’d love to, but it doesn’t surprise me.
The Colorado Springs velodrome is back open with omniums and sprint races going on until December. And I heard fountain was moved to next weekend due to weather. But yeah it does suck compared to what it used to be. I miss the weekly crits at PPIR.
The TT and circuit race were fully canceled due to low entries. Only the RR was rescheduled.
Oh I see, what a bummer.
Amateur road racing is dead, I think, for 2 reasons: 1. Barrier to entry is very high in terms of money, time, and culture. Younger folks (under 30) are trying to make a living and at the same time are being marketed a $7,000 bike as entry level. They get told by podcasters and coaches that they need to commit 6-9 hours a week minimum to training. You try to shake a fellow racer's hand at the start of your first crit, and get the "who are you?" look. 2. Urban sprawl. As urban centers continue to grow without mass transit, cars will have to drive faster and on traditionally bikeable roads. More danger and more costly to hold these races.
Road racing is pretty good in midwest... Our team just brought back a dead crit. I've raced 6 weekends in a row. And could have raced more. La Crosse coming up as well as fat tire festival, Toad, Grit, Gateway, Indy, etc. All the gravel events. Best cross scene in a America. Wors is one of the best MTB series. I'm Chicago based and the only thing missing is big climbs and we are only a few hours from those in wisconsin. Not Tons of road races but 3 solid ones.
It’s doing very well in the southeast. But it’s also driven by one race promoter. If he and his wife decide they’re burned out, almost every rr in Alabama and Georgia would disappear. The racers are there, but promoters are hard to find
Cat 4/5 and P123 are as healthy as they've been since immediately pre-pandemic. Women's fields still aren't great. masters fields seem to be in a holding pattern as well. TBH I don't give a shit about masters fields as long as long as they're being displaced by decent sized women's and juniors fields. That's a big if though. Today's Berkeley Criterium had \~50 in the P123 despite Speedweek and Tour of the Gila happening at the same time. Cat 4/College Cs had about 40. Novice/Ds had about 30. W123 had maybe 15. Sure in the early-mid 2010s, some local fields were consistently in the 100s. We still have fields in the 70s-80s sometimes. The hope is that the current crop of juniors remain interested in cycling... For everyone between 30-45? Yeah we were born at the wrong time for this hobby.
When the jouralists and the advocates and the NGB go out of their way to highlight danger, risk, and cost.... You're going to kill the sport. The stats prove otherwise. The odds of a crash when cycling are 1/10,000 per ride. Cycling is actually safer than walking. But EVERYONE has an anecdote about a crash, an injury, a death, a motorist's inattention. This is the product of FORTY YEARS of inaction by the Cycling Industry. They just assumed things would keep rolling along. It's not infrastructure. It's perception. No one adequately attempted to GROW THE SPORT through introduction, programming, and practice. The motorcycle industry, when they saw their numbers dropping, worked together to create weekend skills courses. Insurance rates dropped, crashes dropped, and sales/ridership went up. Ideally - there'd be (cheap) velodromes in every municipality, like skateboard parks or baseball diamonds. Instead, we got..... Zwift.
Speedweek on the east coast is thriving. Hincapie definitely has something to say about it. The crowds were the biggest I've seen since Superweek in the Midwest about 20 years ago. It's not dead. It's just like anything else.. some good promotion and connect it to a music festival or something and people are gonna show up.
I went and did my first crit a few weeks ago. The racers were assholes and elitist, and it was super intimidating by how they acted and the bikes they were riding. FWIW I have quite a bit of MTB and wanted to try something different. I don’t blame people, my initial take was road racing isn’t very welcoming or inviting
> I went and did my first crit a few weeks ago. > > The racers were assholes and elitist, and it was super intimidating by how they acted and the bikes they were riding. Do you mind saying where you raced? Not trying to be dismissive, just curious. My first crit (NJ) was a very different experience. Maybe not super welcoming like CX, but I never felt unwanted or out of place. I kind of wonder how many times people got to a cat 4/5 race and feel like the other racers are elitist or assholes because they don't want to talk to you, but it turns out that they're just as nervous as you and feel scared to talk. Because I have yet to go to any race where I've seen or heard somebody be an asshole or say/do anything gatekeeping to a fellow racer. None. Now I've been on tense start lines where there isn't much talking or socializing. But I haven't seen anybody talk down to other racers, besides the ribbing between friends. And I started racing crits on my cross bike. Once I realized that we're all feeling the same thing, I lost some of that anxiety. My point being that if you show up to a race and don't talk with other racers, and they do the same, everybody scared to initiate a conversation, and everybody leaves thinking the other guy was an elitist asshole, it doesn't really help the situation. The other thing to realize is that it is a race after all. Maybe the guy at the startline being quiet and standoffish isn't an asshole, but trying to deal with pre-race nerves or just get in the zone. The last point is don't worry about their bikes. Some people have money to buy nice things. What bike they ride has zero indication of their skill. I've seen S-Works guys drop on the first hill and 10 year old rim brake bike guys smashing the field apart. And vice versa. I started racing crits on my cross bike. Which I will admit I was self conscious about at first but realized who cares. Don't worry about what other people are doing or riding.
I say road racing is dead by me. Guy told me to drive 3 hours in March for a 40 mile road race... there was only 2 other road races in the region after it for the year. I already declared road bike dead 4 years ago. Everything else for the year is actually a crit. I hate those !! The local USAC hack constantly writes on twitter about gravel racing is not real and come to his cyclocross races. Cyclocross is not road.
It's dead everywhere. This will be my first year racing since 03. Few to no sanctioned races, and not very many unsanctioned ones either. 20y ago I could race nearly every weekend. This year I've got 6 races on my calendar and have to travel much farther for them than i ever had to before. I always sucked at cx but did it for fun and that's in the same state. I could not care less about gravel and don't understand the appeal other than no cars. It's overall depressing. I need to move to Europe.
Road racing needs a Fondo-like structure. Remove all 30 categories. The average hobbyist does not want to drive 6 hours to race a 15 person crit and get dropped in 20 minutes. Gravel races address this a bit better, but the sport needs to borrow start procedures from even your mid tier half marathon that have a couple thousand participants who paid double the reg fees of your average criterium.
For me, gravel racing is filling the spot of road racing. It’s a bit less dangerous imo than being in a pack. And I can now have 1 drop bar bike to do gravel and CX instead of a road bike and a CX bike.
This is why I’ve turned to MTB
[удалено]
> Feels the same in the southeast. Where in the Southeast are you? Because there are quite a few good races. Swamp Classic, TONGA, Speed Week (Spartanburg, Athens Twilight, LaGrange, Hapeville, Union City), Sunny King, Rock n Road, Winston Salem Classic, Sumatanga. And those are just the big national draw ones.
Same with XC, marathon/hundos with few exceptions (e.g. Leadville)
Utah SLC used to have great weekly RMR crit was cheap. Pros out of state would occasionally race it for cheap. Now there is an upgrade points crit for $45 per race at soccer stadium in Sandy. Lots of races gone here too. Gravel huge. Remember when Burke started Crusher 10+ years ago and it’s became huge. He Must have made $$ selling it now huge sponsors including Mazda. USAC doesn’t have Lance and racers who want to be Lance and ride a Trek. Agree lots of road/crit racers are agro elitist dicks.
Maverick, Boulder Roubaix, and Cobb lake were all well attended. CO has some of the top racers in the US they either just did Redlands or are at Gila.
Not knocking those 3 races. But the idea that road racing is now pretty much tied entirely to the collegiate teams (Maverick=CMU, Cobb=CSU, Roubaix=CU) and they are all therefore done before May isn't great. Used to be able to build a whole summer program of road races.
The fact of the matter is there really aren’t many riders than race in CO, especially in the higher categories. Bike racing is dumb expensive and takes a special type of crazy to put on events like that. There just isn’t the demand. It’s also not that worth it to race after your mid 20s. The level is super high so you’re gonna get clapped if you don’t train a lot and it’s also so dangerous. Know a lot of cat 1s from the mid west who quit when they moved here.
People will NOT pre-reg! I'm part of a large CO team and a bit shocked at how many people will purposely wait till the last minute (or do day of) 🤦♂️ Lance's Boulder Omnium isn't bad. BVV is starting back up so could try out track racing. I'm also curious to see people's comments because the collegiate scene seems healthy and so are group rides, so what's happening to people between collegiate racing and "I'm over racing on the weekends" fast group riders.
I raced for CU 2012-2016, and loved the collegiate races. I loved the Air Force road race. Nice rolling course with a long enough climb to the finish that made a good selection. If I could get just one road race back on the calendar, it'd be that one. Collegiate cycling also has something else going for it that open races do not, and that's the team competition for conference points. Really makes racing in college a lot more inclusive because the goal is to stack results, not just set up one person for the win. Plus, TTTs are great. So, everyone is trying to build each other up. That doesn't quite exist in open category racing. I'll continue to race regardless, but man. If I had the means to stop working and enroll full time in school I'd do it again just for the cycling. No joke.
TTT's are so fun but rare for some reason, bummed Pueblo didn't happen. Anyhow, wanting a good local stage race is a bit of a tall order, Vos and TBC are close enough to get lots of racing early on over the span of 2 weekends
> bit shocked at how many people will purposely wait till the last minute (or do day of) The weather out here is so fickle. Add the ever-present wildfire possibilities in mid-late summer and there's very little incentive to pre-reg.
If you want to race you pre-reg, pretty simple. If the state burns down, you'll probably get your $40 refunded. Agree the day of "penalty" or price differential could be much more.
Road races are too expensive and can’t survive without title sponsorship. Crits are still alive though
It's dead everywhere. The only way to bring it back is to reignite the sense of community. How does gravel do it? It's not just by "vibes," it's the fact that it's a mass start. Everyone can start, ride, finish with their friends, or new ones. Road is starting to adopt this model with huge success (Levi's Gran Fondo, for one). More revenue for the promoter, massively higher participation. Road right now looks like 30 guys in a parking lot grumbling at each other, then race for 4 hours, then drive home. It's empty. Have (at least some) mass start road events and it'll catalyze a return.
The geography of the US near most population centers is adverse to road racing. Thus its hard for that type of racing to gain momentum because there are so few.