Crankmasters had only 25 people signed up as of this afternoon. That's not enough to justify the number of volunteers, ABA officials and hall rental required for a road race. They really need 50 racers to make it happen, and to double the number of entries in 24 hours seemed unlikely.
This is really sad because Alberta has so few masters category races as it is. Attendence at the Stampede RR was down this year as well.
Considering that the Speed Theory club alone has 50 masters-category riders in the membership, I pose this open question:
Why do you think there are so few people signing up for masters races?
Is it because of the weather? Schedule conflicts? Don't like the course? General lack of interest?
As we would know, it takes a lot of effort for Crankmasters to put on *two* full road races each year. I know Crankmasters is going to debate at their next meeting if there is really enough interest to have these races. If they can understand why people can't attend, maybe they can address those issues for next year.
Too bad... the Crankmasters races always had great door prizes after the race.
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They had the most door prizes by far, and the best. The prize money was excellent too.
I think the problem relates to how late in the season this is. People are getting a little burnt out by now - hard to put in the big miles this time of year to stay in shape for road races. Plus it's colder and darker which makes it harder to train too. And the weather this year didn't help.
Stampede Road Race is one of the best/ selective courses on the ABA calendar...
I could never understand why the Cats are so small ?
I myself was waiting until Friday night or Saturday morning to register.
The deadline for registration wasn't until 6 pm Saturday. Lots of people wait til the last minute. I think that they called it off too early.
It was more than likely that the numbers would have doubled in the last 48 hours of registration.
Unfortunately they had to make the call to cancel on Friday night because some racers, volunteers and ABA officials were coming in from out-of-town on Saturday.
Some other ideas (to think about for ST races as well):
- Maybe the race could be held on a Saturday with a Friday noon registration deadline?
- For future races, make it clear that the race needs a minimum of 50 racers to happen.
- Zone4 registration allows everyone to see who registered already, so if the field is small it might encourage people to register who are sitting on the fence.
- Try to combine the race with another event in Calgary to encourage out-of-town participants. Stage races seem to work well but are a lot of work. I think the Stampede RR did better when it was paired with a ST trial on the same weekend. It's unfortunate the Mt. Norquay HC was cancelled after the race schedule was set.
- Watch out for other events planned for the same weekend like the Revelstoke HC or Banff Triathlon.
You would fill up that race in a second if you could somehow offer some ABA Cup upgrade points...
I know in Ontario they have an interesting system where masters riders get some special upgrade incentive during road races.
Registration cut-off needs happen before the point of no return. In this case it should have been Friday at noon not Saturday at 6:00pm.
People will always register at the last minute, it doesn't matter when that "last minute" is. Just make sure that everyone knows when registration cut-off is.
The Crankmaster do a very good job in running the race. It is interesting to note that BC has a very well run competitive Masters series. AB in now down to...hmmm...the Provincial TT (the category doesn't even exist anymore for the season series). ertainly there is room for improvement.
Other points to note why it may have not succeded.
-concurrently run Revelstoke HC
(four of our guys/gals were there)and the Banff tri
-location is getting long in the tooth? Great for flat landers, but I know several people that would to like see more rollers, hills. You know, let everyone have a shot at having fun. The old Millarville race was fantastic...why not have the Provincial Masters Road Race over the Stampede road race course? Or at least alternate every other year?
It be nice to get AB Masters racing scene back on it's feet.
1. I went to Vancouver for the Vancouver to Whistler race
2. Why are Masters races not held on the same day and course (using the same volunteers) as the Cat 1-2-3..races like in most provinces!!!BC/ON/QC...
My thoughts:
- Like others have mentioned, this race was scheduled really, really late this year. It's hard to keep the motivation up for road racing when the gap between road races is three weeks.
- I can't speak for others, but I never really considered racing Masters Provincials. Being a Cat 5 in Master A, the race would eventually just turn into a long training ride once all the Cat 1/2/3s ramp it up and drop me. Yes, I know the argument that we in the lower cats need to ride with better riders to get better, but there's no mercy shown in a race. There's no fun in finishing fourth-from-last 45 minutes behind the winner. Would ability categories within Masters cat help out? Have an "open" category for the big glory that anyone can enter, and then a B race for the cat3/4s and a C race for the cat 5s. But, everyone would need to be racing on a Master's license.
- Is all the midweek racing stealing some thunder from Masters? I know Midweek 'cross is booming, and a lot of folks would certainly be in the Masters age cats.
Here's my 2 cents. Keep in mind; I'm not a seasoned racer like most of you. Two seasons, as I’ve learned, does not make me knowledgeable of anything.
Alberta has a short season. I never feel 'ready' for the early races as it's tough to get out and put in the miles. I expect everyone is in the same boat so that' ok.
July and August are awesome. Lots of training, lots of racing, it's really the prime time for me.
By the time we're done the J Lapp weekend, I'm feeling done. Not that I'm tired of biking, I'm tired of trying to fit it all in.
Training two or three nights a week plus weekend training/racing leaves little time for everything else. The family, the fence post that needs replacing, the shed that needs building (to hold all my expensive bikes:) have all been on hold. Thus by the time September rolls around I'm tired of trying to fit all of life’s stuff in. With less daylight, I pull the plug on serious biking for a few weeks. By the time this race comes around, I don't think I'm capable of racing.
Darcy also puts up a good point about being crushed in the master’s series. I'm not saying I don't mind racing with the big guns but it's a little less motivating. I get that this is really for experienced riders and lowly cat 5 guys just go out to have fun and work hard.
My suggestion: (to be taken lightly); more races in July and August. I'm not saying I can make them all, but this is when I'm training and riding the most and can compete. Holidays and life get in the way during these months so that might be an issue.
My 2 cents
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