Dave Taylor
Rex kwan Do
First off, this thread is meant to highlight the good and bad points of races. Not to badmouth them or hold them on a pedestal but to maybe help some promoters improve things to potentially draw larger crowds and get more people racing. I'll start below with a few of my noteables as I have done a variety of different races.
Good stuff---Well run events on well marked courses. Fun courses as well as challenging courses. Varied terrain and elevation so one course doesn't suit one type of rider. Example-LewMo suits the roadie climber. Stewart suit the TT road racer. Ringwood suits the tech dudes. Three races I feel suit the largest variety are Mooch, Port Jervis and Kittatinny. Next...nice medals, trophies or swag when you pay a premium to race. If it's a $15 entry fee a 20 cent medal is fine. If you pay $65 it should be authentic and original. Beer and food. Racers love these things at the end of a long race. Kid's course/race. Hecklers. The thing I love most though are good pictures and results/podiums in a timely manner.
Bad stuff---Too many classes. I see so many races not getting enough racers yet they have 20-30 classes. This is fine for a mass start event but SUCKS for small races with individual starts. Maybe we need participation awards. Some races where I like to see my overall position despite racing SS it's so tough because you need to pick out the top ten from 20 different classes. Swag is great, cheap/junk/poor fitting swag is not. Poorly marked courses. Poor promoter interest or a promoter more interested in $$$. Short XC races IMO Cat 1 should be no less than 1:45 for the winners. This is the whole objective of Cat 1 and pro. To train, improve fitness and then leave it all on the table. Women need equal payout to men. Sure, there are more men racers now but $ would attract more women racers, no? Courses that use the same trail as a connector need to be very well marked. If you host a race trim back the briar bushes, poison ivy and grass. Challenging does not have to mean dangerous. If you advertise a 4 hr endurance race it shouldn't end under 4 hours. That's misleading.
This is not finger pointing but my attempt at constructive criticism. I know a few promoters that get offended easily. Not my intent to insult. We have now hosted a race with my team and looking to do more. I am interested in others feedback as well.
Good stuff---Well run events on well marked courses. Fun courses as well as challenging courses. Varied terrain and elevation so one course doesn't suit one type of rider. Example-LewMo suits the roadie climber. Stewart suit the TT road racer. Ringwood suits the tech dudes. Three races I feel suit the largest variety are Mooch, Port Jervis and Kittatinny. Next...nice medals, trophies or swag when you pay a premium to race. If it's a $15 entry fee a 20 cent medal is fine. If you pay $65 it should be authentic and original. Beer and food. Racers love these things at the end of a long race. Kid's course/race. Hecklers. The thing I love most though are good pictures and results/podiums in a timely manner.
Bad stuff---Too many classes. I see so many races not getting enough racers yet they have 20-30 classes. This is fine for a mass start event but SUCKS for small races with individual starts. Maybe we need participation awards. Some races where I like to see my overall position despite racing SS it's so tough because you need to pick out the top ten from 20 different classes. Swag is great, cheap/junk/poor fitting swag is not. Poorly marked courses. Poor promoter interest or a promoter more interested in $$$. Short XC races IMO Cat 1 should be no less than 1:45 for the winners. This is the whole objective of Cat 1 and pro. To train, improve fitness and then leave it all on the table. Women need equal payout to men. Sure, there are more men racers now but $ would attract more women racers, no? Courses that use the same trail as a connector need to be very well marked. If you host a race trim back the briar bushes, poison ivy and grass. Challenging does not have to mean dangerous. If you advertise a 4 hr endurance race it shouldn't end under 4 hours. That's misleading.
This is not finger pointing but my attempt at constructive criticism. I know a few promoters that get offended easily. Not my intent to insult. We have now hosted a race with my team and looking to do more. I am interested in others feedback as well.