What happens when life gives you two pits? First a little opinion. Then at the bottom a race report.The Firecracker 50 has officially gone the way of the 4th of July. A colorful day already circling the globe on it's way back for next year. Can't say that I'm real excited about my 8th place finish. But lets look at something. Check out the results. If you notice I'm the only person from East of the Rockies in the top 20. Not that that is real special, I just want to point out that there is poor representation from the East Coast at the National Championship race. As a matter of fact there is almost none. I think I can count on one hand how many people I can identify that come from the far or mid east. Who's fault is this? Are the east coasters scared? Weak? Not competative? Or are they realistic? Racing at 9,600 feet and up doesn't exactly feel encouraging for flat-landers. This is the 3rd year in a row that the marathon National Championship has been at elevation. It would have been at Mt. Snow if not for some logistical issues with the mountain. So what does USACYCLING do? They send the Marathon back to high elevation for, get this, TWO years.
I'm feeling that USA Cycling is only getting a part of what the US cycling scene is like. It's not hard to figure out that the organization does a much better job of representing the rockies and the pacific. Sure there is a huge amount of history out there but, they seem to have stopped reading contemporary literature, because there is a movement in the east that goes unnoticed because we are happy not being a part of the daily workings of a large organization that doesn't seem to consider us east coasters to be more than a blip on the map. A majority of the races in the east are not NORBA affiliated. A lot of that has to do with disillusion with the organization and possibly might have to do with the fact that capitalism works great out here and when dissatisfaction with one product became overwhelming we searched elsewhere for what we needed.USA Cycling needs to learn that they should be a representative of all cycling not just a of those who pay into their pockets. There are a lot of great races that don't require NORBA membership. But I have a feeling that when USAC sent out a call for bids they only sent the call to races that were already in their circle. I'll find out soon, because I'm going to start the petition process to move the marathon to the east for next year.
This will present a problem because of all the non-USAC affiliated races, that might not want to deal with the headache of dealing with cycling's governing organization.
Yes it'll be a balancing act convincing race promoters out here to, live by someone else's rules, pay their extra fees and sacrifice their time. But it should set some precedences. USAC and NORBA are deep in the tornado of the self-fulfilling prophecy. 1. East coast has been fed up for a long time. 2. NORBA keeps committing alienating acts.Where is the healing?
Loveland pass, continental divide. Separating east from west.Race report::I'll do it tomorrow. 7/8/07
Thanks.
