NSMB.com Enduro Week: Day Two

The last thing MTB needs is more UCI involvement / meddling.

Accept it, UCI are getting involved. Luckily, Chris Ball is in charge of this project, which is pretty much as good of a guy for this as anyone could have hoped for.

This only applies to Cycling BC associated events and clubs.

It's the NSMBA, SORCA, WORCA, and FVMBA type grassroots events that you need to be a member of each one to participate in that adds up. Then tack on the Club license as you have mentioned.

One fee/license to get access to everything is needed.

There is a larger topic to be discussed but in BC the sport of mountain biking is missing out on huge efficiencies of scale by every zone trying to do there own thing be it racing or trail advocacy/maintenance.

FVMBA is a cycling bc affiliated club. Cycling bc takes a lot of flack on here, but from personal experience I have found them to be a huge help to those willing to organize events.

Oh my god… the UCI wants to get involved? The horror.

yawn

Where have I heard this before? Oh yeah.. the 90's when triathlon was trying to get into the Olympics. Talk of doom and gloom.

Reality is it will only really effect a small % of the riders involved. Enduro's will happen whether or not the UCI is involved. Really.. who cares what a bunch of Europeans in Khaki's think? You think it will stop Team B from running their own?

FYI for those looking for a common license for club/grassroots events in BC. Pretty much each club is operating with their own insurance-some with Cycling BC, some with independent companies. The only way to get a common license would be if we all used Cycling BC and the events were sanctioned by Cycling BC under their guidelines. I don't see this happening as the events are "grassroots" and independent and Cycling BC's per rider premiums are quite a bit higher than some of the other insurers. However WORCA will be offering single event membership for $15 or $20 this year so you don't have to become a full member for doing a particular event/toonie/Phat wed/camp etc. Other clubs will do the same I am sure if they aren't already. And remember usually a portion of that club's fee goes right back into trails…good thing in my books.

Grassroots Club events are the way to go. Its a great way to support the trails in that area and take in some cheap racing.

WORCA and SORCA put on a lot of great events. A few years back, I was making the weekly drive up to do some Toonie racing with them.

FVMBA also offers some very affordable Club racing with our $20 membership. Last year we held a 5 race Toonie Series and currently right now we are running the Indoor 4X Series. And our All Mountain Spring Series is just around the corner. Almost all of our membership money goes back into the trails and to the local builders.

It would take some co-operative planning but it would be great to eventually see all the clubs under the same insurance umbrella. There would be a lot of bureaucracy and red tape to cut threw though. Not every Club has the same membership fee. Some clubs insurance cost are based on the amount of kms of trails they have stewardship over and so on.

. As organizers we made the decision, not Cycling BC. The racers ended Arduum, not any influence or orders from Cycling BC/CCA/UCI.
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Oh and the UCI killed CycloCross as well. I mean look at the terribly low numbers involved in that sport.

As a past organizer what I liked the most from Cycling BC was that there was insurance if something went wrong, and that the people that they brought out were amazing and knew what they were doing. …. People seldom forget that races of that caliber are not willy nilly races that you throw together on a whim. Having that framework is amazing. It is super nice that someone has your back if some does go seriously wrong.

Thanks for clearing up Ardruum. I think pre-reg is always key to put on an event.

I have been involved this past year in the set up and running of BC cup sanctioned CX races this year, and yes the sport is doing ok.
IMO, the attendance on the Mainland for the races are always less than the Cross on the Rock series, and the numbers are almost same as the Bellingham series. IMO the reason is that if you race a BC cup race you can only advance in categories if you have a $140 uci license. so a fast club level guy can end up sandbagging the citizen class with a $ 40 license all year and maybe end up bored, because he/she isn't moved or allowed to move to the next level. That and the lack of a true bottom tier for beginners to get a taste.

The insurance that CBC provides is a must.

Enduro events need to remain inclusive and focused on the experience. I am stoked to rip them up this year, and have additional races that are not marathon XC.