Requirements for a USA Cycling Road Team?

[Keith A]

A friend of mine is working on putting together a small road cycling team. Our club is interested in possibly helping them out, but I want to know what we are getting into first.

When I raced in the past, our team was required to put on a cycling "event" -- not sure if this had to be a race or not. So I checked USA Cycling's website and couldn't find any information about this, so I called USA Cycling. The guy that answered the phone had no clue, but said someone would call me back shortly...that was three days ago.

So I wanted to see if anyone here knows the requirements to have a USA Cycling registered road racing team.

TIA.

[Bruce K]

Pretty sure they are on the website.

If memory serves, there is aClub Team designation that does not have an event requirement.

BK

[Keith A]

If it's on their website, then they've done a good job hiding this information. This is the closest thing I found...

Do we have to put on an event to be a club?
While we strongly encourage clubs to host events, it is not a requirement to be a club. However, clubs in some areas are required by the Local Association to host an event in order to have voting rights within the LA.

I'm not sure if the differentiate between a club and a racing team.

[Mark McM]

The requirements of a club are discussed here:

https://www.usacycling.org/club-membership-faqs.htm

Do we have to put on an event to be a club?

While we strongly encourage clubs to host events, it is not a requirement to be a club. However, clubs in some areas are required by the Local Association to host an event in order to have voting rights within the LA.

[Keith A]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

The requirements of a club are discussed here:

https://www.usacycling.org/club-membership-faqs.htm

I did find that, see my post above. It seems that a club can have multiple teams and so I assume that the team wouldn't be required to put on an event either?

[11.4]

Clubs or teams don't have to promote races.

[Keith A]

Originally Posted by 11.4

Clubs or teams don't have to promote races.

Great, thanks for the reply. I wonder if this was a requirement in the past from USAC or maybe from our local association.

[Bruce K]

It was a while back but many clubs could not afford to do it, let alone have the man power

BK

[e-RICHIE]

Originally Posted by Keith A

Great, thanks for the reply. I wonder if this was a requirement in the past from USAC or maybe from our local association.

It hasn't been a rule, or an enforced one, for a long, long time. We have less than six members at any given time and when the rule was in place, we simply gave another club money and became a co-promoter of their event. All legal and ethical wrt the USAC. That race, at least for a decade, was a UCI CX weekend on Long Island. For about $500 we covered our obligation and the club name was on the permit.

[Tandem Rider]

It is, however, possibly a requirement of the Local Association. you would have to check with the powers that be in your state. Irregardless of the legal minimum requirement, it is still a good idea to promote at least one per year. It doesn't have to be a UCI event, those are a full-time job, start with a small training race. Remember, if nobody promotes races, there won't be any races. Besides, it gives you a better understanding of why events are run the way they are, and how to work within the system to improve racing.

[shovelhd]

It's really not hard to set up a club TT. You can do it with three people.

The reason road cycling is dying is because riders don't want to step up and do the work to make racing happen.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by shovelhd

It's really not hard to set up a club TT. You can do it with three people.

Or even fewer. A few years ago, our club ran a TT starting and finishing in Carlisle, MA, run by a single person for registration and timing. Well, call it 1 1/2 people. Often, another person racing the TT would agree to be the start line holder, and then after all everyone else had been started, this person would start last without a holder. But since the TT started and finished at the same exact spot, and because the course was long enough that everyone had been usually everyone could be started before the 1st person finished, only 1 timer was required for starting and finishing.

[Tandem Rider]

MrsTR ran a season long TT series for several years. It is some work if you do it right, however, most of the work is for the first season, after that most of the pieces are in place, contacts are made, etc.

You are required to have an official, this can do the timing, does not hold (no requirement for a holder), helps to ensure the event is as safe as possible.

You are required to have a promoter, this person cannot be the official, but can set up the course, run registration, be the holder, or the turn around spotter (HUGE SAFETY ISSUE) if it is an out and back course. MrsTR chose to race it.

We also had a Deputy County Sheriff there. This required a payment, but it improved rider safety and legitimacy of the event in the eyes of the locals living near the course. There was a lot of chuckles when we heard about the local driver pulling up to the turnaround to berate the spotters and meeting up with a Deputy Sheriff.

The bottom line is that putting on a race does not have to be a huge undertaking, but it does require some work and planning. I does help the sport and racers overall to have races to participate in. Starting small is the key, don't try to grow too fast and have fun.

[Keith A]

Thanks for all the input and information.

[11.4]

Frankly, many teams don't have a promoter capable of running a first-class event. So you can populate the region with B-grade races, or with endless time trials on inferior courses, or with funky crits on bad parking lot loops, all with $125 merchandise prize lists that no one really wants. But teams need to develop good riders and qualified promoters need to develop good races. It was always a detriment to most teams and was a good change in the system. And for events like cross that require more course prep, approvals, and stuff like that, it's really even more of a contrast.