March 10, 2009 (Vancouver, BC) – Here is an update from Cycling BC’s Road VP, Alistair Howard, after four months in his position. This report comes in light of the recent race cancellations, along with the BC-Cup and BAR announcements, in order to update members on some of the efforts that are being made on the road side by Cycling BC:

As background on myself personally, I have been racing on and off in BC for over 15 years. I started racing for the Victoria Wheelers as a Cadet and I am currently a member of the H&R/Kona cycling team. Four months ago I was elected to the volunteer position of VP Road/Track/Cx. Since being elected, with the support of a six member volunteer road-committee and hard-working staff at Cycling BC, I’ve tried to implement some positive changes.

In the fall of 2008 Cycling BC held two stakeholder meetings (club, team, and organizer representatives) and also surveyed the general membership on the state of Cycling in BC. These consultations identified five main issues which have been my priorities for the 2009 season. In no specific order, these priorities are:

– Race Organization
– Rider Turnout
– Race Calendar
– Youth/Entry Level Participation
– Women’s Participation

To tackle these issues, a number of initiatives have been started:

BC-Cup Series
– The mandate of the BC-Cup was clarified to be an elite event series, with the intention of representing the top tier of the sport in British Columbia
– Organizers were invited to submit proposals based on a set of minimum standards for the event with Cycling BC providing guaranteed support in return
– The best five events who chose to participate were asked to host BC-Cups in 2009

BAR Series
– Cycling BC is introducing a BAR series in 2009.
– The BAR will track all categories and will encourage a more cohesive calendar
– The series? goal is to give recognition to the development and entry level categories which were not well represented and overshadowed in the BC-Cup.
– The series will also add value to riders by better results tracking through the season.

Road Calendar
– The road calendar has been extended into August, and the Spring Series pushed back two weeks, hopefully to take advantage of the better months for racing in BC.
– Road calendar was coordinated with Alberta and Washington avoiding conflicts with major races (Ennumclaw, Walla Walla, Banff).

Sanctioning fees
– Now based on number of entries and entry fee, linking attendance to cost of sanction.
– Overall, for the average race in BC, especially for entry level races, the cost of sanctioning has gone down.

Fixed race numbers
– Based on the successful system in Quebec, Cycling BC has purchased high-quality race numbers for all licensed road riders. This should improve both the race entry logistics, results, and cost of putting on a race.
– Organizers have the option of using these numbers for their races.

Finish line camera
– The finish line camera is now available at no cost to all race organizers

Improved commissaire training
– Commissaire refresher courses have been offered to improve commissaire skills
– New entry level training will be offered at the start of May, funded by Cycling BC, and geared towards providing clubs and organizers with access to their own officials.

Upgrade Points at Spring Series
– Racers can now receive upgrade points in Spring Series races. This should improve attendance and is good for all entry level categories.

Learn to race clinic
– Jointly offered by the Escape Velocity dEVas and Cycling BC the day before the first Spring Series.

One focus that I have not covered in this report is the development aspect of the sport in this province. Our provincial coaches have made enormous progress at the development level and Cycling BC must move forward and improve the participation levels and access to quality racing for our youth and developing riders. This will be the focus of my attention once the race season is underway.

In the four short months that I have been involved, I believe that we have made some strong progress; however there is obviously a lot of work that needs to be done. We have recently lost some of our top tier events, but the foundation of the sport still exists and can?t be forgotten. White Rock is celebrating its 30th anniversary, there?s a BC-Cup in Victoria, and the Spring Series will be stronger than ever. This year there is club level racing in Victoria, Richmond, Mission, Vancouver, Courtenay, Prince George, Nanaimo, Dawson Creek, and Kelowna (+ master’s series and probably others as well) . I strongly believe that regional club level racing is the very foundation of our sport. Cycling BC must move to re-engage all of these clubs and organizers by supporting and promoting their events. This is, and will continue to be a top priority of mine.

Finally, I am always available to anyone who has questions, advice, ideas, criticisms, or a desire to be more involved.

Alistair Howard
alistair@cyclingbc.net