well another season over, but what a damp squid it was, obviously you must have been aware of the amount of riders who decided not to ride the final round, for me it was probably my last race i will organise, partly due to me not been in the century anymore and partly because as sum no it takes a lot of time energy and commitment to put these races on and for no reward. i believe this is because we do not make it compulsary to ride the final hence poor feild and even less at the presentation, for organisers to want to put these events on we need the support all year round and especially the season long, next year it needs to be in the rules that its 9rds plus the final for an overall result, or there just wont be any organiser who will want to put on the final as its hard work and if you aint turning up then why do it? 2 yrs on the run now we have had what can only be described as piss poor attendances for the finals and if you want your league not his or mine but YOURS to survive then support till the end, end of gripe, Dean Smith
BEACON COUNTRY PARK
(8 posts) (7 voices)-
Posted 7 months ago #
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I hear you Dean, feeling also that it was a great shame that there was a low turn out. I (and my 3 team mates) thought it was a cracking course which flowed and kept you interested all the time. We had looked forward to it from the point it appeared on the calender.
I've always enjoyed racing at Beacon (or any League final) because I don't race many rounds and coming at the end of Jan, it allows me to race cross after Christmas. Ironically I have also found it to be a good race to go and massage the ego with a good place, as there are often tired riders less fired up than me after their longer and busier season, or simply lower numbers.
Here's a thought? Do we start the season too early now? Races at the very start of September then give way to the Peaks and then back into short races again making it slightly disjointed. Having several races in September means that they have a potential to blur into some of the summer cross series and mean that I suspect many folks are knackered and fed up by Christmas and wind down at that point.
I would suggest starting the season slightly later and running on through till end of Jan, in order to keep people's interest high. The pros might start in Sept and finish in Feb but they have a commitment way above what the average person with work and family commitments can manage. Same number of rounds, more evenly spaced with only a very few double header weekends and a shorter racing season?
Not sure about making a compulsory final - would be harsh on someone who missed it through illness or injury and forfeited a League position as a result.........
Hope you organise again Dean, the sport needs people who put in to it in the way you and the other organisers do. Thanks, Alan
Posted 7 months ago # -
I agree with Cross Junkie - it was a great course and a shame more didn't make it.
To follow up on Cross-Junkies point, though there may well be good reasons for double header weekenders, they can mean quite a few missed races if you have other commitments - I missed a couple of these which meant I missed 4 races (but maybe I just need to tell my mates to arrange their weddings around my calender instead!). It also means alot of travel in one weekend for those of us who live in the northern reaches of the region. It would also mean they could be spread out more evenly and have a few more in January. The London CX league where I raced last year has about the same number of races as NW and go from mid-Sept right through to early Feb on most Sundays. London League also have the last race as team champs - perhaps a bit of rivalry between the local clubs to see who is best would encourage better attendance!
Anyway, just some thoughts. Appreciated all the efforts of the race organisers this year in putting on a good variety of races.
Cheers, Switz
Posted 7 months ago # -
Dean, please dont be despondant about the turnout. It was a great course and the ones that missed the race are the loosers. As regards double up weekends the main problem is almost every organiser wants a date in October or early November when it gets wet and muddy and there arent many good draining courses, December is almost out of question as the only races are trophys and the NoE champs (which is NW next year) Rhyl and Macc Supercross. By then only the diehards are still going.
Some races appear late on (Merseyside Whlrs), actually Kit informed me today they wont be putting it on next year. I hope your course designing is not lost to the NW. If you are leaving the Century, then joint club races are the answer.
Best wishes
Ray
Posted 7 months ago # -
Dean it was a great course and is a shame you are not organising any more events.
I do feel like Alan (Crossjunkie and team mate) that races could be spread out more and we have less double header weekends. Like a number of vet riders we have to juggle racing around family etc and cannot always get to races, on double event weekends we have to chose which event we attend so one event loses at least two riders from our team if not more if we were bringing our boys and other team members.
A team champs sounds like an interesting angle that could be worth exploring.
Cross seems to be attracting a lot of attention in the cycling press we need to be maximising our sport so it will be a shame if events are being dropped
MarkPosted 7 months ago # -
I'd like to start Dean by thanking you for you efforts and your course designing, the final beacon round was one of the best courses i've ridden all year, I hope you reconsider and continue putting on more excellent race days, from my perspective and i'm sure i can speak for many more that the season was far from a damp squid, i'd have to agree with Allan that maybe we start the season too early, there is a bit of a cross over from the summer season and the start of the cross. I think the current format of 10 races works fine but making the final compulsary would be unfair considering the commitment it takes to ride a full season as it is, imagine if you'd raced all year and missed out on a league position cause you couldn't make the final round. I agree that making the final a team champs is a great idea, i'm sure poor turn out is part due to some league positions being settled before the final race and with nothing to ride for at the end of a long season giving it a miss feels like a good idea. I hope you all have a good summer and i look forward to the new cross season.scott wilson formerly of chorlton velo (ken fosters) now riding for Manchester wheelers.
Posted 6 months ago # -
The problem with double header weekends has existed for a long time usually because Clubs are reluctant to give up their established dates.
As for the loss of interest at the end of season events here is a thought, how about double league points on offer in the final event.Posted 6 months ago # -
Double points is not a good idea as someone may be ill or unable to ride and would be unduly disadvantaged for the League placing. I like the idea of a Team competition, but handicapped so that a reverse of the average points score is added to race position. I.E. if a rider have an average points score of 60, then 100-60 or 40 points are added . The leader of the league gets 1 point added. How about it?
Ray
Posted 4 months ago #
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