The question in my mind is: does any of this really matter? We hope H2H will grow in the future. Also, we want to promote mountain biking up in our little corner of the world and we will do so without USAC. Go out and race the races that you will enjoy. Hopefully, we will see you at either the Iron Furnance 50K or The BearScat.
The reasons that people and clubs stop promoting races is that either they run out of time or get tired of dealing with the hassles. Our club members have opinions about how our races should be run. Right or wrong, they are our opinions. We are happy to listen to other POVs but ultimately we want to decide how we execute on insurance, course design, payout, sanctioning, race fees, value for money, etc. In the end we decided to go our own way due to the fact that we were getting worn out by the sermons, ultimatums and the constant defence of our independence associated with promoting an H2H race. Maybe we did run away from H2H, but we were running towards something else (i.e. The Iron Furnace 50K, a MASS Endurance Event). We are trying to be race promoters who do not get worn out.
To be clear, we like race series. We really like working with MASS. Low hassle, high level of engagement, similar values. If we can pull it off, we would love to bring NUE to NJ. Maybe in the future? Who knows, maybe the future will bring Black Bear and H2H back together? Whatever happens in the future will be all about running toward races and events we are really excited about, not just going through the motions. Race promotion is a volunteer gig; once the joy is gone it is tough to stay motivated.
Regarding NICA, awesome to see so many kids getting involved in Mountain Biking! My hope is that the focus is on having fun, not building pro athletes. A very small number of kids turn pro across all sports. Many parents put too much pressure on kids in sports. Let future generations go out and ride bikes in the woods and be kids. If they race in the future great but the goal should be for kids to ride bikes as a life long pursuit into adulthood and pass the sport along to future generations.
Thankfully, I am done with this debate as we secured our independence. Maybe we succeed, maybe we fail. But we get to do things on our terms based on feedback from hundreds of racers through surveys, 1:1 conversations and public forums like this. We hope to have some big fun at The Iron Furnance 50K and The BearScat in 2018! Come on out and join us! Much fun to be had! No license required
The reasons that people and clubs stop promoting races is that either they run out of time or get tired of dealing with the hassles. Our club members have opinions about how our races should be run. Right or wrong, they are our opinions. We are happy to listen to other POVs but ultimately we want to decide how we execute on insurance, course design, payout, sanctioning, race fees, value for money, etc. In the end we decided to go our own way due to the fact that we were getting worn out by the sermons, ultimatums and the constant defence of our independence associated with promoting an H2H race. Maybe we did run away from H2H, but we were running towards something else (i.e. The Iron Furnace 50K, a MASS Endurance Event). We are trying to be race promoters who do not get worn out.
To be clear, we like race series. We really like working with MASS. Low hassle, high level of engagement, similar values. If we can pull it off, we would love to bring NUE to NJ. Maybe in the future? Who knows, maybe the future will bring Black Bear and H2H back together? Whatever happens in the future will be all about running toward races and events we are really excited about, not just going through the motions. Race promotion is a volunteer gig; once the joy is gone it is tough to stay motivated.
Regarding NICA, awesome to see so many kids getting involved in Mountain Biking! My hope is that the focus is on having fun, not building pro athletes. A very small number of kids turn pro across all sports. Many parents put too much pressure on kids in sports. Let future generations go out and ride bikes in the woods and be kids. If they race in the future great but the goal should be for kids to ride bikes as a life long pursuit into adulthood and pass the sport along to future generations.
Thankfully, I am done with this debate as we secured our independence. Maybe we succeed, maybe we fail. But we get to do things on our terms based on feedback from hundreds of racers through surveys, 1:1 conversations and public forums like this. We hope to have some big fun at The Iron Furnance 50K and The BearScat in 2018! Come on out and join us! Much fun to be had! No license required
