1st post...
I am in my 2nd yr of riding and have over summer got to at best, 5th in Friday night crits. I ride usually 2-3 times a week and am learning to drink coffee. If I am being honest, I would say I am a pretty good 'cafe' rider for a bloke in his early 50's with a decaying body from running, soccer etc. Last year I tried to get to most Sat arvo racing stuff and like most posts to date, really loved the different race types (Omniums etc) as it was all brand new to me. But as a genuine C grader, never really got near the podium.
My point? If I classify myself as a pretty good 'cafe' racer, I am really no chance to get a race result on Sat arvo given my inability to really commit lots of hours to training due to job, family and other sports. The Sutho club seems pretty serious to me about it's racing - that is good. But as a 'fringe' racer, I have resisted going to the track this winter as I am doing a little (OK a lot) less than I want to in riding and know I will get badly chopped up in a race. There goes the ego thing...
So if you want a lot more people on a Sat arvo, particularly in 'C' grade, it needs to sound less imposing that what it is. All those riders on a Sat morning at coffee enjoy the group ride aspects and don't want to get chopped up in a serious race. So if we are wanting to get additional numbers at the bottom end, we need to make sure new members will not get embarrassed on their first race.
Most women I ride with are around my pace. So if I am getting paranoid about getting smashed, so are they. See the number of women in Friday night crits. Either C grade has a couple of young girls in state squads or a couple of women who devote some serious time to cycling. The rest just feel embarrassed to give it a go. Juniors are the same, a couple can hack it and keep going but it is really not conducive to bringing on younger riders. Then there are some people who persist in C Grade when they should be moved up to keep the results different each week. A couple of the younger ones seem to see the jump to racing as too big for them in C Grade.
I also always follow the forum topics and am in awe of Cashy, Rabs, Tony etc with the knowledge they have on riding and training. Would I get that involved - no, but it is interesting. But how many of the SSSC members also look at the website and forum? Not many is my guess.
My suggestions - market the Winter racing to all SSSC members via email invitations not just hoping we read the web details. Have a 'Captain' of each grade responsible for getting as many of their grade racing. Change C grade advertising to 'Novice or entry level' to make it sound as though 'cafe' riders will not get smashed. Have some flexibility in handicapping to make sure we get some wild card results in finishes.
Finally, I will try and get to Sat arvo races more often regardless of my ego. I would hate to see them fall away due to lack of support.
Sorry for the long post.
