Adam Myerson » North American Cyclocross Series Face Uncertain Future: WTF?

NECCS Announces 2011/ 2012 Scedhule! The show goes on! Sort of...


A message from Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series President, Adam Myerson:
Following a meeting of all the New England UCI race organizers last evening, I'm proud to announce the 2011-12 Verge New England Cyclo-Cross Series schedule.

For 2011-12, the Verge Series will not include Elite or U23 Men and Women, but will continue for all the current USAC categories:


Cat 3 Men
Cat 3/4 Women
Masters 35+ (1-3)
Masters 45+
Masters 55+
Juniors 15-18
Juniors 10-14

Further, the Verge Series will aim to strengthen itself as a union of organizers committed to each other's success, and will include all 15 events in New England that also host categories for UCI elite men and women:

Sat 09/17/2011 Green Mountain Cyclocross Weekend 1 Williston, VT
Sun 09/18/2011 Green Mountain Cyclocross Weekend 2 Williston, VT
Sat 09/24/2011 The Nor'easter CX @ Loon Mountain Lincoln, NH
Sat 10/01/2011 Grand Prix of Gloucester 1 Gloucester, MA
Sun 10/02/2011 Grand Prix of Gloucester 2 Gloucester, MA
Sat 10/08/2011 Providence Festival of Cyclocross 1 Providence, RI
Sun 10/09/2011 Providence Festival of Cyclocross 2 Providence, RI
Sat 10/22/2011 Downeast Cyclocross 1 New Gloucester, ME
Sun 10/23/2011 Downeast Cyclocross 2 New Gloucester, ME
Sat 11/05/2011 Cycle-Smart International 1 Northampton, MA
Sun 11/06/2011 Cycle-Smart International 2 Northampton, MA
Sat 11/26/2011 Bay State Cyclocross 1 Sterling, MA
Sun 11/27/2011 Bay State Cyclocross 2 Sterling, MA
Sat 12/03/2011 NBX Grand Prix of Cyclocross 1 Warwick, RI
Sun 12/04/2011 NBX Grand Prix of Cyclocross 2 Warwick, RI

A new, 8-race, UCI-sanctioned, New England Professional Cyclo-Cross Series consisting of some of these events has been presented to the UCI. If approved, more information on that series will be provided at a later date.

Thank you for explaining the whole mess in this interview, I heard the rumors this morning but didn't really understand the details. UCI has so many seemingly arbitrary rules that make things difficult, especially for race promoters in the US. I remember how some of their rules influenced the main sponsor for the mountain bike Pro XTC tour to pull out last year which almost destroyed the series, leaving individual promoters scrambling to put it back together. I understand that they have the right to enforce their rules, but to suddenly decide to penalize a series for not abiding by a rule that hasn't been enforced in the past, without warning or opportunity to rectify things seems unjustified. What is the motivation of USAC and the UCI if not to support and promote the progress and development of cycling and racing? The US is a huge geographic area compared to Europe, making it much more difficult for Elite US racers to compete in a National series. I agree with everything you said regarding the importance of high level regional series for all of the reasons you stated. As a mountain bike racer primarily, I am disappointed to see once again not one national level mountain bike race in the eastern half of the country on the 2011 calendar. Last year I traveled on airplanes to race in many of the Pro XTC series races and was surprised and saddened by the pathetically small size of the women's pro fields. Understandably, people just can't afford to travel around the whole country to attend these national races, which compromises field sizes and discourages mid level pros from gaining valuable experience in racing at the top levels of the sport. I would hate to see the vibrant energy and momentum of cyclocross damaged in the same way. I feel that USAC should be advocating for US racers and our needs here, as our circumstances differ from Europe. Anyway, thanks for everything you do, you are greatly appreciated and I feel badly that you have to deal with all this nonsense.

What's in the glass... Popperings Hommel?

Classic USAC/UCI move. Driving the enthusiasts away... Again..

Adam,

Just walk away from USAC/UCI. The smartest thing you can do is use one of the other federations in the U.S. They're big too. Oregon? No USAC. Colorado? No USAC. Nothing good has ever come from USAC/UCI. It hasn't for 20 years. Why would 'cross be any different?

Google the phrase "independent cycling federations" FIAC should be the first result. I'm sure someone at OBRA would be happy to show you how to get started.

Just walk away.

Adam, thanks for the info! We really appriciate you being so open about all this! These videos are a really great way to hear it from you instead of reading some third parties account. Please keep us updated if you have any new news.

Holly crap did you see the size of his cat?

Adam--I am also confused. I've only been involved in Cyclocross for the last 5 years and have seen an exponential growth in both New England and NY. This year the season is getting extended beyond Christmas so that tells me that the sport is continuing to grow. The Verge crew works extremely hard every weekend to assist the promoters in getting things set up and this appears to be some underlying political reason that doesn't appear to make sense. I know there are good racers all around the country but think about how many National Championship Jerseys are here in the NY, New England area.
Keep up the fight and if there is anything I can do to help, let me know.

Good luck and thanks for doing what your doing. I know its tough to be an organizer, our local races are non USAC and Non UCI because we can barely do the grass roots guys. We aspire to be like the Verge etc. Everyone likes to race but no one likes to put up fences, make phone calls and the rest of the dirty work. People need to realize without you guys fighting battles, we won't have races.

You can have all the UCI races you want. But if you organize them into a points series, there can only be 8 of them. There will still be 15 UCI races in New England next year, for instance. But if we create a new series, only 8 of them can count for the Elites to the series standings.

The majority of Pro XCT are not at altitude - Bonelli, Fontana, Sea Otter, Wisconsin, Texas - the only ones at altitude are Colorado Springs and Montana. It would be great to have more events on the east coast, so the organizers in these regions just need to step-up to be a part of the Pro XCT.

As for XC Nationals, Sun Valley will be hosting the first national championship to be held in the northwest region in the current 'one-day' format (the NCS and NMBS both made stops in the northwest, but not a specific National Championship). The 2012/2013 MTB Nationals will be hopefully be in the midwest, southeast, or mid-atlantic region.

As for the UCI CX event inscriptions, those are all subject to approval by UCI. USA Cycling can put forth events and a schedule for approval, but it's ultimately the decision of the UCI as to what events they will accept or deny.

It appears to me that in the biggest picture, there is a UCI rule that says "no more than 8 races in a series." That rule is probably done FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE RACERS so that series or promoters don't grow so big that they occupy most weekends on the calendar, forcing racers to go to every one in order to remain competitive for series points. Such a series also blocks any other racing teams from even having viable dates to put on a race. It's your basic monoply. I think it's good to prevent that. We suffer from that in the non-USAC MTB world where a series in a region will occupy every weekend, thereby forcing everyone else out. Don't we have laws against that in most commercial sectors? It should be even more true in a sport sector.
In this case, some U.S. series got away with not following the rule, but now they must. I agree that series that didn't comply in years past should not be punished. Enforcement should just start fresh in 2011. Adam could just reduce his series to 8 races, or form two series with 8 races each, or whatever. And even if the ban for 2011 holds, just restart, rename the 8-race-series equivalents and get along with it with the same good races we've seen in the past. And with several different 8 race series around, the racers will have more chances for success.

Adam, you kick ass and have made VERGE New England Cyclocross Championship Series the best racing I have ever done. I know you will figure a way to keep this going!!!!

Keep kicking ass!!

What's lost here is the irony of Adam creating a nationwide mantra of 'burn it down' this year over the continuous drug scandales, but now he's cancelling the verge series becasue the UCI won't give points for the races. Maybe he can take this opportunity to show just how viable a racing series can be without the umbrella organization he railed against a few months ago.

"be careful what you ask for, you just might get it"

Don't get me wrong, I've known adam for about ten years, I like him, and I hold him in the highest regard for amount of work he's done - in quality and quantity - in the new england cycling scene. But you can't come out and say 'cycling will survive at the roots level without the international sanctioning body', then turn around and cancel your race series when they take away your classification.

I told adam as much when he went on his 'burn it down' rant - the reason for the large growth in roots cycling is the US competitors presence at the top levels of the sport. If you take away that top level, young developing talent has nothing to aspire to. Now, Adam has confirmed that, when he states in the video that the verge series served as a stepping stone for many local riders to advance to the international level.

You can't have it both ways. Either you need the top level as an incentive to the roots organization, or the roots will exist on their own. I guess with the cancellation of the series, we can see where he stands on the issue.

I remember a interview with Adam not too long ago where he siad he hoped for a day when a pro racer never had to leave New England... Or at least not the East coast.... Seems those hope is dead in the water.
Can't blame you for dreaming Adam....