Just one element. I was race director for the Las Campanas classic bicycle race, most people that came out and raced in our event had a great time. There were a select few who were hard to please. Putting on a race takes loads of time and a ton of stress for no pay. One of my fellow bike racers put it best :


> Putting on a race is a months long endeavor, that pays nothing to those doing the work, has massive potential for financial failure due to weather, liability issues, licensing issues, racer turnout, etc, contains opportunities to learn about porta potties, course marking, racer issues (I forgot my helmet, shoes, bike, glasses etc......), state and local permitting processes, law enforcement, prize requirements, racer preference (I don't want the Heed, trophy, medal, bottle, etc..can't I have a different prize? Why not?).  The reason there are so few races is that it is a tremendous amount  work to put a race on.
> 
> Thanks to Charlie, Silvio, Dave R., Steve, and all the other race directors and promoters that take the time to get licensed (yes, they have to pay to be licensed and take online courses and pass tests to volunteer to be an unpaid race director/promoter), put in the time and effort, and generally bust their asses so we can race.  
> 
> These individuals are the 5% that do the work so we can play.  Thank them if you haven't already.  They deserve it.
> 
>   Shane

Shane wrote this after much controversy…..well put Shane!! Thank you! There is still much more involved with cycling in NM. Officiating for instance. Officials do get paid, but it's a small amount considering the time they have to put in, scheduling, the complaints they have to endure, the lost weekends for them because they are out taking care of us bike racers. Not to mention the amount of gas to, from & during a race. Like Tim said about directing some only do it for a year or two, officiating is another part that requires loads of time & patience. NM could use plenty more officials as well as they do get stretched pretty thin sometimes. Tim has donated much of his spare time for many, many years. 

- Charlie



-----Original Message-----
From: biobiker--- via Bike-racers <bike-racers@mailman.swcp.com>
To: Tim Schoeny <schoenyto@outlook.com>; Bike Racers List NM <bike-racers@swcp.com>
Sent: Thu, Jan 28, 2016 4:28 pm
Subject: [NMCycling] R: Re: food for thought

Tim,

One more time I want to affirm that we -  the racers that are too busy training and riding instead of volunteering - understand that everything is done by people in their free time.

My ignorance is not a justification, but when I mention that NMBRA started 2 years ago, it was just to mention when I noticed  the changes in the web site and things starting to "flow". 
In my very naive opinion, a Bike RACE Association should start questioning what's happening to the races around the State. 
You wrote that there is a "VERY good number of races" but since I have been around the "TA-to-TP" has gone, the "Tierra del Sol" in Belen is history, the "Galisteo" race is gone, the "Mountainair" is over and this year we are not going to have the one in Carlsbard. 
So in my view, the one of a simpleton, a guy that just want to make a fuzz and ride his bike without helping out, the first question a Bike RACE Association should start asking the "once-promoters" is "can we help you out with keeping the race going?", "can we find someone to step in and keep the race going"?

But what do I know, I just like to ride my bike...maybe I should just sit on the dock of the bay waiting for the ebb...

Fortunato


----Messaggio originale----
Da: Tim Schoeny via Bike-racers <bike-racers@mailman.swcp.com>
Data: 28/01/2016 23.53
A: "Bike Racers List NM"<bike-racers@swcp.com>
Ogg: Re: [NMCycling] food for thought

Operative words, straight from you, are "free time" and "small". Give up your free time to be a race promoter and we will have another race on the calendar. Give up your free time to maintain a web site and it will be useful (but your training will go down the tubes - you'll be surprised how much time it takes).

Small means low amounts of funds from USAC (maybe $5000/yr but probably less). Small means not enough racers to break even on expenses (no matter how much free labor is received). Small means someone does it a year or two then they are done, burned out.

I think we have a VERY good number of races for state as small and economically poor as we are. Will there be ebbs and flows yearly? Yes, just like club memberships ebb and flow.

Can things be better? Yes, just give your free time and things will improve. And since you are going to give your free time I'm looking forward to improvements in 2017.

tim

p.s. NMBRA has been around since at least 1988 - I've got the jersey. Ebb and flow, ebb and flow. 


From: Bike-racers <bike-racers-bounces@mailman.swcp.com> on behalf of biobiker--- via Bike-racers <bike-racers@mailman.swcp.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2016 3:06 PM
To: Brandi Hibner
Cc: Racers list
Subject: [NMCycling] R: Re: food for thought
 
I will be more than happy to join the meeting. Now that I live in ABQ it is way more easy.

Don't get me wrong, I know that it is hard and that you guys do it in your free time, but that does not mean that it might be improved.

Thank you for the quick reply.

Fortunato

----Messaggio originale----
Da: Brandi Hibner <tygerchick@gmail.com>
Data: 28/01/2016 23.00
A: <biobiker@libero.it>
Cc: "Racers list"<bike-racers@swcp.com>
Ogg: Re: [NMCycling] food for thought

I'm not going to go into an in-depth discussion here, but I do want you to know that I will be giving out the details for the annual meeting as soon as I can finalize the location. What NMBRA needs right now is a board consisting of members from all aspects of the sport, who have time to meet regularly. I would love to have:
Race directors from road, mtb and cross who aren't officials
Racers who don't promote races and aren't officials
Intermediate racers, and of course
Officials
On the board so that all aspects of the sport can be represented and so they can start to understand where the others are coming from. Or, if that's too many people to hope to commit to the time required, maybe an advisory committee comprised of those people.
If you want change, you need to come to the meeting and run for a position. And raise your voice there, where it does the most good.
I do agree with some of your points. Pleases come be part of the solution.
Brandi Hibner
NMBRA Board Member at Large
On Jan 28, 2016 2:23 PM, "biobiker--- via Bike-racers" <bike-racers@mailman.swcp.com> wrote:
It's that time of the year when everybody is starting planning the "next season", either on the road or on a MTB, or on both, for the lucky talented ones...yes I am talking about you Damian Calvert.

When I came to NM and started riding and racing there was a useful web site, there were a couple more races, we had our "end of the season party" with the jersey ceremony. I don't know who was in charge, sorry about my fragile memory, but I think it was pretty good for a State with not a huge cycling community.

Two years ago, or so, we had NMBRA was born. Recently I saw that there are a lot of "vacant spots" on the NMBRA board, so I have started wondering what is the function of the association but also why we need so many people in such a small State.
My very superficial impression is that NMBRA activity in the State is mainly about officials and taking care of the "series jersey". I personally don't care a lot about the series, the points and the jersey, especially if we received it in the middle of the following season. In my opinion, the all point of the jersey was the party where they were delivered at the end of the season: a good occasion to meet the people you had been riding with the all year not wearing a cycling bib and to listen to them telling you "you will see...next season I am gonna crash the Gila"...

I know that criticizing is very easy, but in my view a Bike Race Association should help developing a "racing scene" around the state, and given the constantly decreasing number of races I don't think the one in NM has done a good job. I came across this article that might be a good starting point for a new discussion about how we might try to make racing in NM interesting again. 


We are definitely not in New England, we definitely cannot afford a full time person to deal with the association but there are some interesting points.

I think we have some great terrain for road and MTB racing, we have some great talent around, but it is unfortunate that we don't have room to develop it. Besides the enormous effort of some very passionate race directors, that every year promote their races with a lot of effort, and who I deeply thank to allow me to race my silly bike in my Lycra bibs, when I talk with other riders or people into cycling, even with potential race promoters, they always tell me that "there is no support to our ideas" and, most depressing, there is the spread sensation that in a couple of years we will not have any races in NM.

If I sound bitter, or over-criticizing, or too arrogant, or any nice attribute you want to give me, you might be absolutely right, it is just that I like to ride and race my bike and it would be very unfortunate if I were not able to do it in a place that I have learned to like quite a lot.

Fortunato Ferrara

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