Fred D Mentor Group - Part II (Page 32)

My guess...

WTC took a huge loss at this years race charging $900.  I heard somewhere it cost $4 million to put the race on.  At $900 a pop, you need 4500 athletes just to make a small profit.

WTC decided to raise the price to $1200 a long time ago...realizing that the cost of putting on the race was higher than expected, and going by the fact the race sold out so quickly last year.  Even at $1200, you still need 3400 athletes to make a small profit assuming the cost of putting on the race is the same.

Then the WTC realizes the reviews of the race were not up to par, and that registration numbers were lower than expected (meaning it did not sell out in 2 hours).  I think that was the "oh crap" moment for them to realize that something drastic needs to change if this race is going to survive long term.  The problems are not an easy fix.  Easy fix problems are something like the check in lines were too long, or there wasn't enough aid stations.  The problems they have are with ferries, noise ordinances, logistics, and other stuff that costs a lot of money to change and takes a lot of planning to think through.

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess that a race in the northeast in August is going to be miserably hot and humid.

And I don't know how they thought the "U.S. championship" course would be a reasonable benchmark with a point to point swim in a strong current.  Although I'm sure some people were swimming fast just to get out of the sewage.

Yeah...I think the WTC was a little in over their head.  Good ambition...just didn't work out.  I'm not sure if it's something you could have predicted.  I mean...the race sold out in less than 24 hours last year, so there were a lot of people who thought it was a good idea back then too.  ETA: But there were also a lot of people who were saying this race would be a nightmare too...

BUT...

I will applaud the WTC in the fact that they took it on the chin.  They took a huge loss this year and from what I hear tried their best to put on a good race in an area not meant for racing.

They also bit the bullet early and suspended (likely cancelled) 2013 to avoid people from making travel plans.  They could have played the "wait and see"...and then stuck it to everyone by cancelling the race in March.

I think in general, long course racing and urban areas don't mix.  There's too much difficulty routing a safe bike course without serious impact to local traffic.  And the big cities love to regulate *everything*, which quickly blows up the cost.

I think Tahoe will go over really well and that race should stick around for a long time.  The bike course, however, partly goes through a closed-community.  They even have a warning not to practice on the section of roads that are private as they are only open on race day.  I won't be surprised if the course changes in the future if they get enough homeowner complaints.

Very interesting...thanks for sharing.

I enjoyed reading the article as well as this one. Do you think WTC will go with helicopters to escort VIP's spouses much like the TdF?

Anyone know how many bikes are missing?

I think once you get past the Conception hill on the way out on the 117 things look pretty uneventful.  If you rode out to there, turned around and then back and then did the hilly Chemin Duplessis section (skipping the out and back through St Jovite), that would probably put you in the right ballpark.

Something like this - http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/124528061

That's around 62 km so at 20 mph you'd be just under two hours.

I'll be going for a swim thurs am as well.  Do you have a time in mind?  

My cell # is 902-3ninethree-48zero1

1800m in the pool this morning and then I have an hour ride after work.  Once that is done, we'll be packing up the car so we can hit the road at 4am for Mont Tremblant.  It's about a 14 hour drive (including stops) so that will get us there around supper time.

My plan calls for a 30 min run tomorrow.  Does anyone have experience with a long drive like that and then going for a run afterwards?  Would it be a good way to loosen up the legs or a good way to just tire myself out more?