Swords CC League
Attached is
a table which shows a breakdown of how many
riders rode a given number of races for each of the years 1997 to
2001. For example take the eighth figure down the column headed
97; this is a 5 and is the number of people who rode the number
of
races shown to the left of it in the lefthandmost column, which
in
this instance is 8. So 5 people rode 8 races in 1997.
RACES |
97 |
98 |
99 |
00 |
01 |
RACES |
97 |
98 |
99 |
00 |
01 |
|
1 |
5 |
6 |
17 |
19 |
24 |
12 |
3 |
9 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
|
2 |
9 |
6 |
10 |
12 |
12 |
13 |
5 |
6 |
3 |
6 |
1 |
|
3 |
4 |
6 |
8 |
4 |
9 |
14 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
|
4 |
5 |
8 |
9 |
7 |
9 |
15 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
8 |
|
5 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
16 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
|
6 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
17 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
|
7 |
7 |
8 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
18 |
6 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
|
8 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
19 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
|
9 |
4 |
9 |
6 |
1 |
4 |
20 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
10 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
7 |
21 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
11 |
6 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
Total |
81 |
90 |
87 |
93 |
107 |
The results
are quite striking especially when set out in graph
form. In 1997 there were fewer one day blow-ins and more people
turned up more often as compared to the season just over. Looking
at the graph, it appears that cyclists who are interested in
competing in the league will ride ar least 8 races, but in
general
as the number of races evermore reduces, then the cyclist is only
out for the day and has no season-long commitment to the league.
To increase overall participation another incentive must be
introduced for this class of rider. The rewards are tangible.
Apart from seeing more bodies at races, each extra rider shells
out an extra quid. If the 107 riders this year rode the same
average number of races that riders did in 1997 then this would
have yielded an extra £235. Therefore a successful plan will to
a
certain extent finance itself.
The character of league participation has changed greatly since
1997; you can see that from the table. In that year 50% rode 9
races or less while this year 50% rode only 4 or less. I wasnt
fully aware of this drift myself until I saw the figures.
I think that a good number of races to act as the target which
cyclists should be encouraged to achieve is 7 - "Lucky seven".
I'll fly some sort of kite to this effect in the Message Forum to
see what kind of response there is.
Regards,
Fred