To race promoters...

I'm typing this because I'm angry that I have to miss the Pur Tour this weekend. Of course, this post is written knowing that there are issues I don't know about and that are beyond my control, so it's half-hearted. On to it.

There are only so many weekends from May to September. You do the math, I'm not that bright and don't have a calendar in front of me. I start checking for races to fill my personal calendar early in the year, and update my list as more races get added. Checking Queen City Wheels website often to gather information about the Pur Tour, there was no date and information that there may not be a race this year. This was still the case maybe as soon as six to seven weeks ago. Now a while back I had to pick a weekend to head to Michigan to visit my in laws and this weekend had no races on the schedule. This was the only weekend I had available the whole summer, so I booked it. A couple weeks later, I find that the Pur Tour was now scheduled for the very weekend I am not here! Damn. I love this race for some reason. It certainly doesn't play to what little strength I have (the rise on the back side hurts x however many laps I have to do), but I still love it. Once I found out about the race date being set, it was too late to change plans. Last weekend was the important (for me) stage race and next weekend is the important (for me) Independent National Championship time trial.

That all being said, I know there are issues with putting on a race and things may have not been in place until late. Permits, volunteers, venue, conflicts with other races, etc, etc, etc, etc. Anyway, I hope it's good day with great weather for everyone. Sorry I'll miss it. Maybe next year.

********
On another note:
Constantly, I'm surfing the web for information about races. There are a few simple things I wish race coordinators would do on their websites.

-Map of the course
-Map that shows where a person could park and where registration is
-Google map link for driving direction purposes
-Toilet availability
-Water availability (gas station or whatnot)


Here is a fantastic example of a good "flyer"