Steve Tilford

A couple days ago, my post was ranting a bit about the bad rule of lining up the participates at Master’s World Cylco-X Championships in January 2012 by random selection. I think it was because of the realization that I could spend months preparing for something that I have no control over. That doesn’t sit that well with me, especially after last years fiasco in Belgium. So I went off a bit. But, I’m not alone here. There are lots of guys that are going to be training super hard all fall and early winter that are going to be, as of now, subject to this bad rule.

I haven’t had any contact with anyone that made the procedure in the first place, but I have to assume that everyone involved was somewhat knowledgeable about the sport of cyclocross. So, I took that to mean that the people in power just had no interest in the whole endeavor to start with. And I have to take it as a slap in the face of all Masters riders that the people that are suppose to be looking out for our interests, don’t.

That being said, I think that there is still time for the starting “procedure” to be changed. I don’t see what this random method is written in stone, when the race is still 3 months away. I see no harm in changing the rules to make the race more fair to all participates. This is the designated World Championships of the sport. I see no reason to try to introduce an element of luck into the final standing. That just doesn’t make any sense at all.

I have been sent lots ideas about revamping the rules. It baffles me that the UCI can’t come up with a ranking system for all riders, but that isn’t something that is not even part of the solution at this point. They say that they don’t even have a method to identify current National Champions from each country. If that is beyond them, then a world wide ranking system is years away.

So, here’s the way I see it. We have two choices. One is how they used to line up countries at cyclo-x worlds. Each country, that has a minimum number of participates, picks a start number. Then each country gets to chose a rider to line up in that position. Every country goes through one rotation, then it starts all over again. The problem with this idea is that many countries might not have even 3 riders in any given age category. And who from the foreign countries are going to be the ones to decide the start order for their countries riders? These problems probably make this choice a non choice.

The other is, just ride a time trial. Everyone in each and every race rides a time trial. We did it last year at the Nationals in Bend and it worked out fine.

The only argument I can think of against this is of a time restraint on the course. They have stated that each and every rider that registers is going to get a full length race. Forget that. Take all the time that has been allocated for two races and ride time trials instead. Each and every rider should ride a time trial and they should be seeded by their results. Every rider then gets to ride the championship race. I honestly don’t think the fields are going to be as large as they are in Madison the weekend before. I think many riders come to the National Championships to compete, plus to watch the other classes race. I think the fields are going to be significantly smaller in Louisville than at the Nationals. And I think the National’s fields this year are going to be be smaller than the previous years because it is a month later and because it is being held in Madison. Sorry, but that is just reality.

Anyway, that’s all I have now. Nearly all the riders competing are going to be from the United States. And there is no qualifying procedure. You show and you can ride. It will be a huge diversity of abilities. This random method is just wrong.

We are hosting this event for the next two years. We should do our best to set good precedent and to make the races the best that we can. And a super important part of this is starting the riders in the correct manner. Let’s get it right.

It might not be easier, but it is a hell of a lot better.

This is an example of what every race might look like with riders of diverse abilities spread all over the starting grid.

Man, this last week has been pretty trying. Last night I realized that my Honda Elite Scooter was not in my driveway. I thought about it for a while and am surprised it took me at least 5 minutes to actually believe that the scooter was stolen. I thought, “Maybe I left it somewhere?” But, it didn’t take much to dis guard that optimistic thought.

I spent an hour last night riding through the park, down by the creek looking for it. I’m going to do it again this morning. Someone must had to wheel it away. I have the only key.

I have no idea what you could do with a stolen scooter. I assume that you can’t get a license plate for it once I report it to the police. I called the Honda dealer and left my number if someone tries to order a new ignition switch for a 1986 Honda Elite. And put a posting on Craigslist. I’m not sure what else I can do.

I had big plans on motor pacing the next few months. I guess I have to get another one up and running. That is going to take a bit of work. I was just thinking yesterday how nice it is that I can drive either a full size diesel van, a Honda elite scooter or Honda Insight Hybrid. Pretty diverse choices. Guess one is gone.

I feel kind of silly getting my scooter stolen. I used park it inside my garage, but it’s been outside for the past year. I never really though much about it getting taken. I must be naive. I did get 3 cars stolen already this year. That seems more than should happen to one in a life type. It must be the economy or something.

On a more happier note, I forgot to mention that Tuesday, right after I buried Marti, Lilly, the walk about cat, came back home. I have been looking for Lilly pretty much every night for the past couple months. I assumed he was gone. But, there he was. I thought it was kind of spooky that he’d come back right when Marti was gone. He went into our room and fell asleep on the bed. I went for a ride and he was gone when I got home. It was very nice of him to come back and visit.

There are lots of choices of races to do this weekend. The Joules Cross is happening outside Lawrence. Two races, both at the same venue, but on different courses. There is a nighttime cross race up in Des Moines at 10pm on Saturday night. I sort of kicked around flying out to the East coast for the UCI races in Delaware this weekend, but failed to enter by Wednesday. I really don’t know the procedure for entering after registration closes, so I’m probably just here. It is beautiful weather right now, so it could be worse.