California Bicycle Racing (CBR)

Good news: so Jeff Prinz is doing Cyclo-cross and so are those damn Gritters brothers, and that means that racers are still training. I'm sure that means that they have backed off a bit from their Spring/Summer miles, but the fact of the matter remains that racers are still riding above their resting heart rate in October, November & December. That being said, I hope that racers will want to test their legs at our November 15th crit in Dominguez Hills - 24 days away. At the last race, I flailed with 7 laps to go. For 53 miles, I was normal, and then I started to cramp - and that means I've got work to do. 60 miles in the Elite Masters and 30 miles in the Pro-Elite makes for 60 miles. My goal is to not cramp at mile 53, so if I cramp at mile 58, I will have improved.

Better news: CBR's racing team has acquired Ricardo Alcina, a recently-upgraded Cat. III. This guy just started riding a bike in March, 2009. He's got two things: potential & desire. The tactics & strategy will come, prolly from what little I know that I can pass down to him. This brings me to my next topic, one that cycling teams should take very seriously.....

Cycling teams should view their people akin to a company. A strong company wants to keep their best employees and wants to get rid of their worst employees. A strong cycling team wants to keep their best racers and wants to rid themselves of their worst racers (disloyal bike whores), and that means the word "retention" comes into play. Superstar racers like MJ & JP will always be enticed to join whatever teams that want them: let's assume that they stay for loyalty and the benefits of racing for that team du jour.

Amateur teams MUST have some sort of an elite team for the sole purpose of keeping the lesser-ranked racers from bolting elsewhere. Without getting into names, there was a team that I helped develop in 1988, and throughout the years, internal team politics played a part as to when an elite team was established & supported. I love this team, and if they don't figure this thing out real soon, they will be calling themselves a cycling "club" instead of a "team." Every amateur team in So Cal has an elite team: SC Velo, Swamis, SDBC, Amgen, Cal Spa & Pools, DeWalt, Kahala, SBW, Sho-Air, Liquid Fitness, Helen's, Schroeder Iron, MS Veloworx, Team PossAbilities, and the list goes on.

The Cat. 5s, 4s, and 3s need the Cat. 1s & 2s to prepare them for success instead of failure. If there are no Cat. 1s or 2s on the team, then the Cat. 5s, 4s, and 3s leave for teams that have Cat. 1s & 2s...it's not complicated & it ain't rocket science. Basically, if you have professional racers on your team, then the racing team is 1st-rate. If you have top-ranked amateurs on your team, then your racing team is 2nd-rate. If you neither have professional racers nor top-ranked amateurs, then your racing team is 3rd-rate and that's that. Now, some people may get all butt-sore for the way I described this reality, but if you really read into it, it's really meant to help & clarify.

If I really didn't care, then I wouldn't waste the time in discussing such issues. I'm actually hoping that the shot-callers of this team take drastic action by either acquiring top amateurs, thereby ensuring to keep the talent they have or by re-defining their mission statement: do they want to be a cycling club or a racing team? In every racing team, not everyone races. Typically, it is the non-racers who fund the racers, and in exchange for this quid-pro-quo, the non-racers associate & train with those racers they help support. Racers cannot race unless there are non-racers with wallets who want to see this sport survive & thrive.