Lange and "FUN Riders"

[Gumpole]

why doesn't somebody organise long distance kermesses in Hypermarket parking lots. 4hours + 1 lap. no costs for road closure... and fans can watch them. Preferably in Capetown for the wind

[Eugene]

The fun riders are the bread and butter of the sport. They buy the bikes, they buy the race sponsors products, they bring in the bulk of the money for the race organizers etc.  I believe that cycling is so big in SA because of the fun riders and the fact that our events cater for them.

 

The sport needs fun riders, without them, the pros probably wouldn't exist. Nobody would sponsor them their bikes if the fun riders aren't buying bikes. The presence of fun riders is also high in certain events because of the presence of the pros. The pros and fun riders are to a certain extent, dependant on each other. However, the pros also need a platform from which to earn their living and a platform from which they can improve to compete internationally. Our pros need longer races, it is a fact.

 

I was thinking the other day, a solution would be to create a separate pro series in SA of, perhaps 10 races. These races could be much longer in distance and would be restricted to professional (or semi pro) riders. Prize money would, of course, have to be high along with the prestige of competing in this series.

 

To qualify for this series, the pros would have to earn a minimum number of points. These points would be earned by competing in the so called fun rides such as the Argus and Herald etc. More prestigous fun races, like the Argus and 94.7 would have more points up for grabs than the smaller ones. This would ensure that only the cream of the crop would be able to take part in the pro series.

 

This way, the pros will have their own series from which to ply their trade and the fun riders will also have their series. There will still be a pro presence in the fun races (as they need to earn their points to compete in the pro series).

 

In my opinion

[Bat-ass]

To be brutaly honest... if i were a local corporate looking to allocate sponsorship money, i would go mountain bike events for sure... but that one market... if i were one of the big european road cyclig sponsors, i would definetly look to invest in a pro tour in SA to broaden my exposure.... ans as for the SA cyling governing body,, hell,, the marketing has already been done by the epic!! its an easy sell!!!

I think CSA arent thinking outside the box, they are missing a whole marketing / income generating avenue...

[splat]

Tour de Eden was the last stage race we had. and that was cancelled at the last minute a few years ago because of lack of sponsorship.

They needed a few hundred grand...

[Oldschool]

Malcom is just 100% right. We had a pretty cool Pro Calendar a few years ago, and yes even in isolation we had some decent riders coming out to race in RSA. We raced against Vinkourov, Ulrich, etc. Rapport Tour, Boland tour, Hansen Tour and the Giro del Capo was Mickey Mouse at the time. I am also a fun rider, but I dont get all upset when someone mentions fun riders, that is who I am right now.

 

To take this up with Cycling SA, reeeaaly, get a life.

Oldschool2010-05-12 04:02:10

[Chrispy]

Breaking bad news:

 

Tour of South Africa ? 2011 ? Announcement
It is with regret that Cycling South Africa are announcing that there will not be a Tour of South Africa in 2011.
There was much interest in hosting a Tour of South Africa in 2011, however in order to do so we need to fulfil many requirements, from submission of dates into the UCI calendar $and providing the necessary guarantees$; to raising sufficient sponsorship; to implementing and hosting the Tour.
This is CSA?s most prized event and although we received some very competent proposals we were not certain that we would be in a position to fulfil all the requirements of hosting the Tour as well as being able to create a commercially viable and sustainable event.
Rather than being rushed into a Tour in 2011, we believe that it is much more prudent to begin planning for 2012.
Yours sincerely
Greg Till

[Gerhardc]

What happend to the Jock?

 

 

 

Think you'll find it in the Bushveld...

[Mackie]

It is clear fellow "hubbians" chuck the road bike and get a MTB, real men ride offroad anyhow...COAT, DOOR.

[rpedro]

Me funrider...me agree with Malcolm....me blame CSA....THE END

[Mutt]

It is clear fellow "hubbians" chuck the road bike and get a MTB' date=' real men ride offroad anyhow...COAT, DOOR.[/quote']

 

 

 

can i have your hat? seems you forgot it.

[Trubie]

Everything malcolm said is true.....

its the sports governing body that need to organise the longer pro races' date=' with just the pros. maybe they will attract european teams if there are UCI points?

You dont see batch "B" "C' "D" and "E" starting 5 minutes apart at Liege baston liege?? What malcolm is indirectly saying is, they want pro races...

And what he said about how strong the mountain bikers are, because they race so much is also true..

[/quote']

 

Ah Bat-ass you have hit the nail on the head but I doubt such an objective view of the matter will sit well with the 'crucify and burners' of the hub ....

we can be so judgemental....

and everyone can do it better

sometimes some of these hubbers and their mentallity boggles my mind

 

[SwissVan]

 

Road Cycle races 101:<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Item #27 Comparing boerwors to bratwurst.

 

SA - has an over abundance of ?fun rides? (+/- 100km distance, single day), which can be ridden by pro and fun rider alike, but not suitable for development of existing pro level riders, great for beginners / weekend warriors.

 

Europe ? has an abundance of pro or licensed amateur races (120 km ? 280km distance) and tours (multi stage / days), not so great for beginners / weekend warriors but ideal for pro?s and aspiring pro?s.

 

Don?t know exactly what Malcolm said, but sounds like he hit the nail squarely on the head.

 

Perhaps some sort of calendar control limiting the amount of races and pooling of sponsorships to create better quality races for all?

 

 

[Willehond]

 

Road Cycle races 101:<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Item #27 Comparing boerwors to bratwurst.

 

SA - has an over abundance of ?fun rides? (+/- 100km distance' date=' single day), which can be ridden by pro and fun rider alike, but not suitable for development of existing pro level riders, great for beginners / weekend warriors.

 

Europe ? has an abundance of pro or licensed amateur races (120 km ? 280km distance) and tours (multi stage / days), not so great for beginners / weekend warriors but ideal for pro?s and aspiring pro?s.

 

Don?t know exactly what Malcolm said, but sounds like he hit the nail squarely on the head.

 

Perhaps some sort of calendar control limiting the amount of races and pooling of sponsorships to create better quality races for all?

 

 

[/quote']

Organising races in Europe aint easy either.  Lots of work with little money is often the case, but the volume is made up with local criteriums in/around towns where the municipalities help out with admin/police because it promotes their town.  Every little bit helps.

 

Also a lot of crits happen in the middle of nowhere/industrial parks where people race HARD.  No picturesque roads, no safe corners, no goodie bags.  Just good hard racing.  SA lacks that, but I don't see it changing when people don't see the difference between funriding and racing.

[AndreZA]

I don't know why pros race in the fun rides anyway, it's not like anybody sees them. It's just that wags that wait at the line.

[Scalpel]

 

 

Perhaps some sort of calendar control limiting the amount of races and pooling of sponsorships to create better quality races for all?

 

 

 

This is where the problem lies Swissvan! Then everyman and his dog wont make money out of the fun riders. Funrides has become an easy way to make money and raise funds.

[pastapouch]

a few years ago, they had 180km 94.7, which they complained about, it was too long after the season, and we tried doing the longer distance at the Wilro, but there was no interest NOW WHAT????