RAVENSDALE ROAD RACE or A TALE OF THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY

The Ravensdale Road Race was yesterday, an advertised 68 miles for the Pro 1-2 race on a course that saw yours truly dropped out of the winning break of T. Herriot and OAD last year on the 10% 400 meter climb. Since I missed most of the good road racing this spring due to my busted wing I was looking forward to this one, plus it would get me ready for Tour of Ohio in 2 weeks.

The Good:

This part of the post almost didn't happen because for the first 30 miles or so of this race I felt downright bad and ugly. I usually don't come around in a race until after half-way but this morning I felt so bad that I was not even sure I would ever feel good. At around 20miles in I found myself covering a move and it felt like I was pedaling my bike through mud. When we got caught I went promptly to the back, and I mean the very back. I was the last guy for about 10k or so. When we went into the hairpin going into the two climbs before the feedzone I was last into that, I was able to move up on the first rise towards the front and then noticed a group forming up the road that looked dangerously big so I had a big dig on the next rise onto the false flat, rolled it across the gap to the group and just like that found myself in the winning move comprised of 2 Hagens guys (T. Herriot was one, we seem to like to get into the same move on this course), 2 Garage guys, 2 Wines guys and 2 of us from BRI. Sweet. By the time we hit the 400 meter 10% wall we had 1:20 on the field and although my team mate Doug got popped on the climb I knew this group was going to stick it to the finish. And, better yet, I kept feeling better and better. As we neared the end I decided to play my card and have a go (b/c I can't sprint) but unfortunately that card turned out to be a 2 of clubs and I was reeled in setting it up for a sprint between the 7 of us. Andrew Martin was the clear winner and I actually was not last of the group and ended up 5th! Needless to say I was feeling pretty good about the result.

The Bad

Let's just say that the warm fuzzies did not last long. Now I will first start by saying putting on and promoting a bike race is not easy. I know because I do it. But, if you are going to put on a bike race, do it right. If you are not sure how to do it right, have someone who does know help you.

• It took 1.5hr to post results. There were 7 of us in the break, they got the results wrong. WTF? Pay Dave Wamsley to come score your race, he is good and rarely if ever screws up. And he gets results done quickly. He is worth the money so pay it
• The Pro 1-2 entry was $30, in fact, I think all the categories paid $30. Now a $30 entry fee at my race gets you a $5000 cash prize list paying 20 deep, what does it get you at Ravensdale? For the Pro 1-2: $600 in cash and merchandise paying 5 deep, and I am here to tell you, it was mostly in merchandise. So, make your entry fee in line with your pay out. Now, it cost money to put on a bike race, especially a road race. You need more officials and they are not free, you might have to pay for the cops to help with traffic (although I did not see any at yesterday's race). But, don't gouge the riders, and that is exactly what went on yesterday. And if the lower categories had to also pay $30, they really got screwed.

• And when they finally did post results and handed out the prize list what did I get for my hard earned 5th place? A $50 gift card to a bike shop in Redmond, 2 rolls of handlebar tape (and not even good handlebar tape like cork ribbon or Fizik, it was some crappy FSA stuff) and some Hammer Gel Electrolyte Replacement drink. Now this is not the worst payout I have ever received (I once won a case of Sugar Babies in a prime at the Tour of Michigan Pro 1-2 race) but it is way up on the list. The worst though was what went to the winner Andrew Martin, his take on the day: $60 and a copy of Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007. The kicker here: Martin works for Microsoft. Now I don't want to sound like some whiny primadona in all of this, and for a $20 entry fee, these prizes would be acceptable, but not for $30. Once you cross the $30 threshold, you need to be paying out some decent cabbage. They only paid out money to the top 3.

Money sponsorship is not that hard to come by if you work at. We start making our race sponsorship packages in the fall of the year preceding the races we are putting on. We put together a decent package with a cover page, a description of what is in it for the sponsors with some demographic information which is easy to acquire, a budget and we even put a little DVD of our first race in Bremerton in to show what a bike race looks like.

My point in all of this incredibly long post? If you want to put on a bike race, remember who your customer is. It is the bike racer who, regardless of category, puts a lot of time, effort and money into doing the sport they love. When they taste that little bit of glory by placing in their local bike race, don't turn that sweet taste of accomplishment into a bitter one by putting on a bush league event with a prize list not in line with the entry fee.

The rider has done their job, promoter: do yours.

The Ugly

This is more of me being a whiny bitch than anything else, but a 9 AM start time? That is downright ugly, especially for a night owl like myself. I am a bike racer, not an age group runner, bike tourist or triathlete. No Pro 1-2 race should ever start before 11, but again, I am just whining here.

PNW BUCKEYE, over and out.