Red Hook Crit Series on Hiatus

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by happycampyer

First Amazon, and now the RHC.

A bummer about RHC, I went a couple of times. Its a great event with a great vibe. Not sure why they are stoping it but I cannot imagine the event is bringing a lot of money and that may be the reason?


As far as Amazon, I am A-OK with that

[AngryScientist]

i never really followed along, but i think the whole idea of RHC is a textbook case of "jumping the shark".

wasnt the whole basic idea of RHC as a back streets alleycat style illegal race that was held in the middle of nowhere, by secret invitation only?

once you start hugely promoting such an event, rockstar games gets involved and you're in multiple cities....it's not so much of a secret underground race, which was the appeal in the first place.

kind of like selling a "super exclusive" brand and then ramping up production numbers and selling at target....

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

i never really followed along, but i think the whole idea of RHC is a textbook case of "jumping the shark".

wasnt the whole basic idea of RHC as a back streets alleycat style illegal race that was held in the middle of nowhere, by secret invitation only?

once you start hugely promoting such an event, rockstar games gets involved and you're in multiple cities....it's not so much of a secret underground race, which was the appeal in the first place.

kind of like selling a "super exclusive" brand and then ramping up production numbers and selling at target....

this was true during the first ones, after that they have been organized races for many years afaik.

I think the maybe the popularity has fallen just like the popularity of tracks bikes has been falling.

[happycampyer]

Originally Posted by R3awak3n

this was true during the first ones, after that they have been organized races for many years afaik.

I think the maybe the popularity has fallen just like the popularity of tracks bikes has been falling.

Maybe they can get public works to pour freshly ground gravel on the streets in order to capitalize on the growing popularity of “gravel bikes”... rename the event the Red Hook Gravel Grinder! Have Specialized sponsor it as the inventor of the birthplace of gravel riding...

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by happycampyer

Maybe they can get public works to pour freshly ground gravel on the streets in order to capitalize on the growing popularity of “gravel bikes”... rename the event the Red Hook Gravel Grinder! Have Specialized sponsor it as the inventor of the birthplace of gravel riding...

or just move the whole thing upstate, there is a redhook north of the city along the Hudson so they don't even have to do anything.

[nooneline]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

i never really followed along, but i think the whole idea of RHC is a textbook case of "jumping the shark".

wasnt the whole basic idea of RHC as a back streets alleycat style illegal race that was held in the middle of nowhere, by secret invitation only?

once you start hugely promoting such an event, rockstar games gets involved and you're in multiple cities....it's not so much of a secret underground race, which was the appeal in the first place.

kind of like selling a "super exclusive" brand and then ramping up production numbers and selling at target....

It didn't start quite as underground and exclusive as you make it sound, and pretty quickly it 'went legit' with, idk, lawyers and permits and waivers and whatnot.

And my sense is that it was a pretty healthy series - sure, it's always hard to balance budgets, but they managed to find the budget to have events that were well-run enough that they put a lot of amateur events to shame. Is that a good thing? I'm not sure. But I can say that when nonbike people find out that I race track bikes, I often hear "Oh wow, do you ever race the Red Hook Crit? I've been to that a few times, it's awesome..." and as much as I wouldn't mind if they knew a little bit more about the sport outside of it, I think it provides an interesting entrypoint for people who aren't already bike enthusiasts - and I think that's something that our sport is often lacking.

But, as far as its hiatus goes, I've heard that this situation is because the venue raised their price for the RHC - radically. Which is more or less the story of a lot of things, in New York City.

[doubleklobbs]

Rockstar pulled their sponsorship of RHC. Increases in insurance were also cited as chief factors.

Rent increases at one location shouldn't be what sinks your concept. They could've hosted it elsewhere with cheaper event rental fees. They seem to have lacked a clear business model. They were gaining tons of exposure and interest across the globe, but couldn't find a way to monetize the viewership (sound familiar?). They could've found a broadcast / livestream partner. The closest they got to live footage was a guy filming with an iPhone out of a chase car and livestreaming it to Facebook. Also the closed-circuit nature of the event presented ticket-selling opportunities that road cycling formats don't. People pay to go watch 6-days or other track events, I don't see why they couldn't do this for RHC events.

I feel like RHC was going to be the fixed gear scene's saving grace, but alas it might just finally burn out. It's a shame because it felt like pretty much the only growing racing format in North America, and offered a culture to cyclists who may have been turned off by road cycling's snobby boys club. Hopefully RHC can pull it together, but the iron was hot 2 years ago and they didn't strike.

[bward1028]

Originally Posted by R3awak3n

or just move the whole thing upstate, there is a redhook north of the city along the Hudson so they don't even have to do anything.

Plus, plenty of Bard College kids still on track bikes, i'd bet

[thermalattorney]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

i never really followed along, but i think the whole idea of RHC is a textbook case of "jumping the shark".

wasnt the whole basic idea of RHC as a back streets alleycat style illegal race that was held in the middle of nowhere, by secret invitation only?

once you start hugely promoting such an event, rockstar games gets involved and you're in multiple cities....it's not so much of a secret underground race, which was the appeal in the first place.

kind of like selling a "super exclusive" brand and then ramping up production numbers and selling at target....

Think of it this way: Instead of "jumping the shark", RHC took the nascent sport of fixed gear crits to its logical conclusion: bigger, faster, more inclusive. It became an oddity that drew huge crowds and even handfuls of pros every year.

It turns out the "scene" actually liked having a halo event each year because it brought people together. The loss of the RHC is a loss for the community.

[andrew+]

Bummer. I hope another organization steps in.