Road racing in the USA has come under a great deal of pressure since its peak in 2012, and new USA Cycling president Derek Bouchard-Hall is fighting to keep his organisation relevant under the pressure of declining membership levels. As the number of Americans who cycle recreationally increases, he is looking to capitalise on the growth of alternative formats for competitive cycling.
It might be easy to pin the decline of road racing in the US since 2012 on Lance Armstrong. After all, the fall of the most notable figure in the sport was devastating to the cycling community and contributed to the decline of interest in racing, but Bouchard-Hall says it isn't the only reason for road's decline.
"There are a number of factors that are difficult to understand," Bouchard-Hall says. "Going from having one of the biggest figures in all of sport to losing that individual - even worse - in negative circumstances, is a double whammy. Not only did you lose your hero but you gained this baggage of increased exposure of doping. There's no doubt that it was a drag on participation in the sport of cycling in America."
ADVERTISEMENT
Simultaneous to the USADA reasoned decision that left Armstrong banned for life, alternative routes for amateurs to satisfy their competitive urges began to gain traction. The social fitness app Strava exploded in popularity after gaining some unfortunate media exposure in 2012 when a man died trying to break the record for a downhill segment in California. The platform now has over a million users who can measure their performances against professional and fellow amateurs alike without ever having to attend a race or pay an entry fee. More recently, another program called Zwift emerged that allows users to ride with pros in a virtual environment from their home trainers.
These apps, together with other semi-competitive events like gravel grinders - races that feature multiple sections of unpaved roads - and gran fondos - longer organised races where riders are individually timed - have all grown in popularity while road continues its slide.
"Our membership peaked in 2012 and our numbers have been down a bit since then. It does appear the fall is slowing, but we're down slightly year on year, driven mostly by road - cyclo-cross is up nicely, track is up, mountain bike is steady, but it's road where we're seeing the biggest drop - and it is our biggest segment. We believe that is because of the growth of alternative formats, gran fondos and recreational rides, Strava and Zwift. There are alternative formats to participate in cycling and they don't permit with us. Our retention is high, we're keeping people, but it's the number new people coming in [that has declined]. Newcomers to cycling are finding other formats to pursue like gran fondos or Strava and such."
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://ift.tt/1SbbH1v
No comments:
Post a Comment