The Business of Cycling — Sponsors

It's been fascinating learning more about the sport of cycling—and I don't only refer to being in the saddle. I mean the business aspect of it. I always knew lots of money was involved, but I wasn't aware of how many players there really are in the sporting world and they aren't just the ones you see on the court, in the pool or cycling on the road. David Walsh's book From Lance To Landis, gives an interesting insight into this. It has to do with Sponsorship.

A company, say, a sport clothing company, eyes a talent in a particular sport and offers him a sponsorship contract. With all eyes on him as he parades around in their shoes and shirts, their sales will naturally increase, which is desirable for the company. Included in the contract is an agreement that the sponsor will pay him a princely bonus should he win this or that competition in a specified period of time.

The sponsor may not want to have the responsibility of actually paying out such a hefty bonus themselves, so they make a deal with another company which specializes in covering the "risk" that the athlete may very well win the competition.

This company works out the odds of the athlete winning the event and charges the sponsor a premium, which is really a small percentage of the total winnings offered to the athlete.

It reminds me of insurance companies—you pay them a yearly premium so that in the [highly] unlikely event that your house burns down, they will hand you a cheque many many times the amount of the actual premium, so you can get your life back again. Except that if your house does burn down, they must first investigate the circumstances surrounding the loss, before they go forking out any money.

Interestingly, a Texan company underwrote the risk of Lance Armstrong's winning the Tour de France four more years in a row, after he had already won twice in a row. The total prize money offered to the cyclist was US$9,500,000.00 with the sponsor paying a premium of US$420,000.00 for the company to cover the risk. Armstrong actually won five more times.

This book is another fine read. It is written by a respected sports journalist and provides a good insight into what goes on behind the scenes in the cycling world.

Britain's Skyride

British Sky Broadcasting is the UK and Ireland's main satellite television company, and they have put alot of support into British sports. They've just put together a brand new cycling team, Team Sky, and are recruiting top and promising cyclists with the aim of producing a British winner of the Tour de France within their first five years (beginning 2010). British Cycling is the governing body for British racing.

These two organizations teamed together to produce "Skyride" — a one-day mass-participation event in the summer of this year, to promote cycling by closing the streets of the inner cities to allow the residents to come out and enjoy a day of riding. Five cities participated and tens of thousands of persons took part in the event. Pro racers from the British cycling team supported the event and rode with the crowds.

How terrific!!

To see the entire photo, close the bar by clicking the white arrow at right.

Pro British cyclists

A street in London.

Cycling through Admiralty Arch.

Cycles of all kinds

Bicycle—The History

Bicycle—The History is a fine book, if I ever read one. It would make a great addition to your bookshelf. The author traces the origin of the bicycle, its development into the two-wheeler we know today, different types of cycles and the various purposes they served, for example, use as a utility-type vehicle and also for recreation and competition. And it's chock full of fascinating pictures, sketches and posters.

The book shows that the early efforts of inventors—and the responses they received—were quite comical at times. When a determined German inventor named Karl von Drais displayed his design in France, a newspaper reported that "it was no more practical than the mechanical wings" which another German inventor exhibited the previous year. The Journal de Paris concluded that it was of no practical value. I wonder what they would say if they could see it now.

When things are in the early stages of development, they tend to be clumsy and awkward. The early bikes were very heavy, weighing over 50 pounds, since the frame was made of wood and the wheels were iron. I can't imagine the kind of ride that would give!

What surprised me most, is that the bicycle is really a recent invention. Quite recent. The very first design that set the stage for the bicycle was made 192 years ago. The real turning point though, came 50 years later, when mechanical parts (pedals and cranks) were applied to make riding more effective. And the rest of its development from there is easy to imagine.

For a vehicle which is so popular in sport and useful in everyday life, I find it surprising that it began really taking shape as recent as, what, 1867.

Another interesting thing I learned from the book is that there was a longtime interest in producing a vehicle that would not necessitate the use of animals, such as horses, to provide the power. The early sketches show what look like the beginning of the automobile, and not a bicycle. It seems as if it simply did not occur to the earlier inventors that a human could remain balanced on a vehicle with two wheels that were not side-by-side. So the designs were always so that the vehicle would stand on its own.

Karl von Drais was the one who presented this new design—that of a machine with one wheel directly in front of the other with no other support on its sides. Interestingly, it mentions that it isn't clear how von Drais came up with his idea.

Although it has struck me that it's a late invention, what surprises me even more is that the ancient Egyptians hadn't been the ones to come up with the original bicycle design. What with their being such masters of engineering with some of their accomplishments still puzzling present-day experts, I would have thought that if there was anyone to design something with two wheels lined up one behind the other, that balances and carries a human being forward with little effort, it would be the guys from Giza.

But that's all in the past now. I'm just mighty glad that when my parents thought me up, the bicycle was already perfected.

Book rating: 6 Treks! (Oh wait, it only goes up to 5!)

Can A Person Ever Get Tired of Cycling?

No, never. You always just keep pedaling.

Photo reproduced by the kind permission of Graham Watson, cycling photographer.

(Photo is of Mark Cavendish, Stage 4 of the Tour de Suisse 2009.)

Tour of Poway–Riding A Century

by David (my cousin)

My first century (100-mile) road bike ride!

Alan, Walter and I did the 24th annual "TOUR OF POWAY" fun ride together, it took us just under six hours to do 100 miles averaging 17 mph.

The weather turned cold, cloudy and windy that morning with a possibility of rain. But none of the more than 2,000 riders seemed to mind.

The ride started at 7:00 a.m., but we left 15 minutes late because I had to find where to pickup my number patch and fill out a waiver. I'd registered just a few days before the ride and my patch was in will call.

The ride started off flat for the first mile (not quite warmed up yet). Then came a steady 4.5 mile climb on a narrow Poway road up to Highway 67 – it was good that this road was closed going east for the ride. Then it was a steady 6-mile climb on Highway 67 to Ramona.

After going around the outskirts of Ramona, we stopped at an Aid Station for snacks, beverages and restrooms before going 13 miles downhill on Highway 78 to Escondido. We came to a point around 35 miles where we could turn left and do the balance of 50 or 62 miles, or turn right and do the 100 miles.

After a short conversation we decided that we could do the 100 miles and Walter said we should do a slower average speed (a century pace) to complete the ride. Our average speed was around 19 mph at this point.

The ride then took us through my city of San Marcos (yes, I wanted to go home but didn't), then scenic Carlsbad. When we got to the coast we went south to La Costa, then turned to go through Rancho Sante Fe Estates, Carmel Valley, and Rancho Bernardo. This is where I hit a rise in the road for an underground drain lid. I must've hit it going 30 mph or so and my rear wheel spoke broke at the hub. My rim was now wobbling out of alignment at this point 15 miles before the end. But it was still rideable with some brake rub. Great, but now my average speed was dropping!

Alan at the finish line.

We made it back though, without any other problems.

The ride was a good course on a cool and windy day. And I'm glad it did not rain. I didn't notice very many flats. It seemed as if they swept the road of any debris in preparation for this ride.

This was Walter's first century too, and Alan's second. We'll see if maybe this is not the last!

David

From Me: Thanks David, I enjoyed this experience very much!

Custom-Designs

Happily, there's a love of cycling in our gene pool. My cousin sent me an email this week:

I just purchased a custom road bike — a Waterford RS-14, made to fit, choice of color, and built to my specification of parts. It took about six weeks to get the frame, and a week or so to get the parts and to build it. I really like it alot, its kinda built with performance and comfort in mind, with an emphasis on durability.

The wheels were custom built at the bike shop where I ordered the bike and came out real nice. Its not lightweight by any means at just over 20 pounds. But it's quicker off the line and maintains a good speed, so far I have been able to average 2-3 mph faster than the previous bike.

Handling is top rate, it's especially more stable on descents at high speed. I've already put 170 miles on it in less than two weeks. I plan on doing a 62 mile (or metric century) this coming Saturday with Alan and 2,000 other riders, called "the Tour of Poway".

Looking forward to how it does.