Quote:
Originally Posted by November Dave
In 2009 I promoted (with the monumental and monumentally critical support of NCVC, one of the country's bigger cycling clubs) a race in Lost River, WV. This is a very rural area about 90 minutes from DC. I was told that Hardy County, at the time, had more people per capita on public assistance than anywhere else in the US. Except for one stretch of state highway that we used, I got the entire 13ish mile route repaved, and spent an ungodly amount of time on outreach to the locals. The area had been growing as a cycling destination, which brought money in. The race solidified that and brought a lot of money in - about 100 people chose to spend the night locally and do a group ride the next day. Just the gas fill ups that race attendees and the 88 volunteers (that number is permanently etched in my head) got locally would have been a significant impact for any given day. Everyone involved put a lot into doing everything possible as correctly as possible. I was astonished by how little clean up we had to do in the parking fields, and the route cleanup trash details picked up some gel wrappers and stuff, but all told the riders were great. We contributed a few thousand to the local volunteer fire and rescue department out of proceeds from the race. A local rotary club type of deal did a barbecue and sold out before the second race wave had started. I still like to think we had a huge positive impact.
One gentleman along the race route was quite opposed to it. He told me so when I visited with him, even when I explained the measures we were taking to minimize inconvenience and the benefits that we were bringing - including the huge potholes outside of his driveway that were getting filled thanks to the race. No one was ever prevented from using their road for more than a minute or three, but because we routed all vehicle traffic in the clockwise direction of the loop, some people might need to drive a slightly longer way to get where they were going.
Overall, despite all of the good that we thought we were delivering, and the good behavior that race people exhibited, the general consensus we got from the locals was that they hated everything about it. Some were very pro, but it wasn't hard to see the against. And I committed one actionable and grave error - we had podium champagne for the winners, and the state park where we hosted the event was dry. I hadn't asked and no one had told me. That was the only evident alcohol at the event, and it was 100% on me, and we lost the venue because of it. The race carried on for a few more years (I actually wanted to make year 2 a gran fondo but was overruled), and racers generally loved it while the locals, except for an extremely enthusiastic minority, by and large hated it.
The point of this long rant is that whatever good you think you might be doing might not be seen as good by the people you think should benefit. Especially if people are pooping in people's yards. That's just ridiculous.
This is also the place where I need to acknowledge Jay Moglia, who was a great partner in bringing the event to life and who unfortunately passed unexpectedly a few years ago. He was an icon in DC cycling.
edit - we had tons of porta potties to supplement the bathrooms on site.
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I hate to hear that your event wasn't better received by the local populace, but I'm unsurprised. The more I interact with rural types, the more I'm convinced that a significant percentage of them just want to be in a place that never changes, away from other people, and are often wary and suspicious of anyone unfamiliar or new.
I know that doesn't describe everyone in those areas, but the most vocal ones are in my experience.