Sunday, May 18, 2008

State Time Trial Thoughts

The thing that I would like to talk about most is the NSTT turnout - Pitiful. It is the state TT championships, show up and race for that shit. Bike-a-lists and Try-Athletes alike. Anyone that has a bike should do this race. There can never...be...anything ...bad...about...going... 1 hr+... on... your... bike... as... hard... as... you... can. Repeat this statement silently. Now again out loud. Never. Bad at the Chrono you are; this even is made for you. Practice. Practice. Practice. The Elkhart TT had like 75 people on a Thursday night. We had 40 yesterday. There are ~500 riders that hold Nebraska State USCF licences. Math- >10 % attendance rate. Poor form.

Question: what would make the state TT better received?

Answer: Add Eddie Meryx division/Single Speed division/market to triathletes and bicyclist at shops/Free entry give-a-ways.

Change of venue… incorrecto. NCN does a great job at both the NFCSR and the State TT. There events are great and poorly attended. If a 14 year old girl from Nebraska City can talk here mom into drive hundreds of miles to do the TT, her first race ever, you too can attend the race also.

In summation- Kudos to those kiddies whom attended the NSTT. It was great to see you all. Shame on you; from Iowa/Nebraska/Minnesota, and so forth that did not attend. I have spent a great deal of my time on the bike trying to not embarrass my friends/family/country/religion/sponsors/teammates/Mom/Dad. Some success; some failure. Perhaps you too should adopt this mindset.

4 comments:

Lindsey said...

I would like to enhance your suggestions for improvement. Cumming county should start being glad that people are actually coming to this place of horrid wind, and not pull over every car with a bike on top while en route. Just a thought.

I'm thinking of marketing 'Cumming county native' bumper stickers to separate the true locals from the 'poseurs'...

bryan said...

Hmmm ... we only saw one car with bikes on top pulled over, and it wasn't you guys. I guess my driving slow finally paid off. I wish riding slow had the same benefits ...

the mostly reverend said...

good observations, doctor.

bryan said...

I think I know why the numbers were poor on Sunday -- at least partly.

1. Time trials suck. Even if you've trained for it, it's a hard, hard effort.

2. The hard-core racing base is pretty shallow in Nebraska. The casual (Cat. 5 fo lyfe, biatch) racer doesn't like suffering.

3. Norfolk is a long way away for the casual racer. The hard-core racer knows, however, that those guys always hold quality events. More people need to know that.

4. There aren't enough people actually racing. As in fighting for position on hard group rides and suffering like dogs early on weekend mornings in order to be able to pull off an attack, or to answer one, or to make the break stick. There are a lot of guys just surfing the pack, happy with finishing in a field sprint. I've been guilty of that in the past -- mostly due to a lack of confidence (OK, and lack of talent) -- but it's boring. And the pack surfers don't show up to events where have to work alone.