We'll Do It Ourselves!

I've lost complete confidence in USAC over the past few years.
There are now fewer MTB races and almost zero nationals coming through town any longer and they have been shrinking every since NORBA left town. So from a financial perspective I'm getting less 'bang for my buck', or $60 to be exact, just in the number of events that $60 can be spread out over.
Those few events still functioning are for the most part the same old hat with almost no change from the promoters to update them and bring them in line with today's athlete and technology. Granted, this isn't any fault (that I can see) of USAC but I'm still obligated to purchase a USAC license if I want to race CAT1 or PRO.

But this isn't just a USAC issue, the UCI is riddled with problems including the new cyclocross VERGE and NACT races here in the US that may be banned because, of all things, they hold more races than the prescribed 8 race max rule (how nice would that be in MTB'ing?).

Obviously the only real solution I can see is if A. Another entity steps up and somehow offers to compete with USAC, which in most cases would probably end in financial ruin. B. Promoters somehow working directly with venue's (resorts, ect...) and piggy backing off their liability insurance. Much like if you were to buy a lift pass. However, this may result in higher entry fee's, etc...

I will throw this question/thought out though; The US has rules on holding a monopoly with a few exceptions, like power companies which can be heavily regulated. Has USAC managed to fly beneath the radar on this issue or are they exempt in some manner? For example, to cut down on confusion there can really only be one regulating body to choose athletes for the Olympics/World Championships. However, that doesn't mean that another organization can't exist to provide the other services USAC offers to those athletes/events that would have no bearing on the Olympics/World Championships.

I don't want assume here but isn't USAC a non-profit "government" entity. Which in that case means they can certainly provide a monopoly? That's besides the point.

Found an interesting series of tweets between Factory KHS Team Manager Quinton Spaulding and USA Cycling:

usacycling Glad to see support for adding #paratriathlon to Paralympics continues to grow. Visit their FB page to help - http://on.fb.me/8XXoF3

quintonspauldin @usacycling BE NICE TO SEE SOME SUPPORT FOR THE DOWNHILLERS!!

usacycling @quintonspauldin Would love to see that too! But I'm not sure it's on the IOC's radar after recent changes to track program...


http://www.vitalmtb.com/news/news/Tweets-of-the-Week-November-29-December-5-2010,216

I don't know the answer to that question, but I would assume the opposite; That it is not a 'government' entity. Similarly to how the US Post Office is a private company and 'the Fed' is a clongomeration of banks who service the government by regulating certain aspects of the economy and setting policy.

The point being that just because a name has 'USA' in it, doesn't necessarily mean government.

Regardless, it's a good question.

DH a FAD! Have you ever watched a live World Cup broadcast on Freecaster.tv!! When 400, 000 plus people visit Fort William in 2010 to watch World Cup racing... who and what do you think they paid to come and see?? It was no the XC my friend - NOT THE XC!!

lets all remember, NORBA HATES YOU

We don't need another NORBA, we need a governing body that actually cares about gravity racing.

we can all start by supporting our local scene and growing series such as the Pro GRT

NORBA HATES YOU

We're doing it here in Utah, but with our own bit of flavor: BikeDerby.

Wow, these Vital Forums load funny and clicking on the 'Link' link throws the browser to the top of the page. Oh well, here it is in non-link form: http://www.slchumdingerderby.blogspot.com/

Whoops! We had a minor bug in our code for about an hour. All better now.

Hmmm.... I'm still getting errors galore here. Quote links don't work. Oh well.

Link tab seems to be working now though, let's try this again: SLC Bike Derby.

This is what need to be done. The GRT is the first shot fired into the "we'll do it ourselves". A guy got sick of there being no national series so he went and made one. Yes USAC is still involved, but for the most part it's a notional series built by a rider for his fellow riders. So we need to support him and his series and WE will make it grow. I have put together a 12 rider squad this year for Santa Cruz that will attend most GRT races and my local race series at Northstar. Use USAC for insurance reasons and UCI points and that's it. Don't give them another cent!