So I am racing The Austin Criterium on the weekend of June 21st.
I'm psyched and stoked and totally looking forward to it....but why is that The Tour De Nez and The Hellyer Velodrome events have to be placed on the same weekend!?
(not that I would race the track but I'm just saying)
It's kind of a bummer to see multiple races like these slated for the same weekend....
It seems to be a bit of a pattern, sort of like Cat's Hill being raced on the same weekend as Roswell/Sunny King and Tour of The Gila. These are ALL amazing races. And many events have totally stepped up the game as far as sponsors and payouts etc etc etc...
It bugs me for some reason.
I just hate to see all that hard work going into putting on these races only to have teams and riders not show because they are off racing another important race that happens to fall on the same weekend!
I see Tour De Nez (Nevada City) becoming a big event on the schedule for women...but it's tough to compete with a high-profile race like Austin (!) and then what about Hellyer....I mean dang (!) that's some serious prize $$ for track racers...but aren't alot of our top "trackie women" (of NorCal) also road racers that will be torn on which event to do???
And on another note...my little hometown area in Columbus, Ohio is throwing a nice two-day event that will offer equal prize monies for the women as the men (www.tourdegrandview.com). That's something worth supporting. This race used to be part of The Wendy's Classic, which was a big stop for NRC racers. These folks are doing their part to bring it back, but hey guess what?...it happens to be the same weekend as Manhattan Beach Grand Prix. Another high-profile event that will make it hard for the Ohio race to draw the top guns and big numbers from out of towners....
I wish there was a solution because there are clearly some people out there working very hard to raise the level of racing here in the U.S. (for men AND women), and I personally would like to see these races succeed at gaining momentum and become key races on the schedule!
Two bits from a women who wishes she could be in two places at one time..
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3 comments:
Hey, for the record, I'm bummed also. Tour de Nez has been going on for 16 years, this is the 6th year on the NRC. Nez has some legs and is going to stay! This is the first year for the Austin Race. We've been trying to add a womens' race for years and have finally got enough support and dollars to make it work. When I bid for the NRC, they came back saying they(USAC) were going to grant NRC to the first year Austin Race so I bagged on Nez for NRC for the women thinking there weren't enough women to do 2 NRC races on the same day. We, the NRC/UCI promoters have been wrestling with USAC about this for years. Some of us who have had dates set for years would like a little space and not see new races popping up with conflicts. We met at Interbike last year in regards and were hoping to create a consortium to work on this, of course there is USAC doing what they like. Makes it hard. Be advised, Nez will be on the NRC next year as a multi day race. You'll be able to watch this years race on WCSN cabel and internet as well as Broadband racing. Wish you were coming here. Maybe next year?
Tim Healion, Chief of Nez
i agree, sorta. it's just that planning races is SO hard. I know, I am planning the SLO crit and getting permits, city/business/owner cooperation is so hard. and finding a date that works for so many parties... various needs. I wish there was a master plan for happiness in the universe and for bike racing schedules... but for now, I guess we should just be happy the sport is popular enough to be attended so well.
Pedro,
tell me mor about this SLO crit!
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