USA Cycling does something right and then Fs up big time

[Bruce K]

So USA Cycling announces they are splitting cyclocross off from Dirt Ooerations and naming Jesse Anthony the new director of Cyclocross and talent recruitment and development.

This is FANTASTIC though I fear there will be a disproportionate effort on the Men’s side to try and make them as competitive as the women.

And then...

At US CX Nationals they shorten the 15-16 Junior Women’s race to almost half it’s scheduled length so as to preserve the length of the two single speed races.

***?!?!?

BK

[John H.]

That sucks- But they have a history of doing things like that.
They have also been fond of running the short track for juniors the night before the XCO race- And that is with an 8 am XCO start.
Do they care? Not so much-

I know Jesse Anthony as an athlete. What makes him qualified for this position?
Does he have any relevant education or experience (other than racing a bike)?
Is he done racing and devoting 100% of his time to this?

[Bruce K]

He retired from racing this year

He has tons of experience helping Rally develop their young talent and has spent time with Stu Thorne at Cyclicrissworld.

I think he will be fine in this role.

But it signals a commitment to cyclocross that up until now felt wishy-washy at best.

BK

[Gummee]

Speaking of CX: I'm very very glad I'm nowhere near that course.

Ugh

M

[John H.]

Glad to hear that he has direct experience- I would not want to see them put in an ex-bike racer without such experience.

I think USAC's interest wavers with however athletes are doing on the international level.
By that I mean- If someone is doing well, they jump on the bandwagon.
They did this for Jonathan Page, Jeremy Powers, and also Stephen Hyde.
They jump out equally quick when the riders are not riding well.

For a US cross program to be successful- They need to be immersed in it.
By immersed in it I mean Belgium and Holland. No other way to improve to that level. US racing is nothing like Euro racing.

Right now USAC is jumping on the success of endurance track-


He retired from racing this year

He has tons of experience helping Rally develop their young talent and has spent time with Stu Thorne at Cyclicrissworld.

I think he will be fine in this role.

But it signals a commitment to cyclocross that up until now felt wishy-washy at best.

BK

[Bruce K]

Jesse is on the USA Cycling live stream right now.

Saying some interesting stuff about the future of CX in the US

BK