The Cost of Promoting a Bike Race

Submitted by Kris Thompson on

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Wondering why DBCEvents pulled the plug on the Sunday race when the forecast didn't look all that bad? Simply put, $$. Chris Grealish of DBCEvents has provided 303cycling with a complete Profit and Loss break down of this spring race series.

Cost of running a race

  • $791 ACA Insurance
  • $340 ACA Officials ($160 discount) This includes 2 judges, chief ref, and motor marshal
  • $150 Photo Camera
  • $75 Bathrooms (per race day)
  • $50 Permit from Boulder
  • $50 ACA Permit
  • $150 Certified Traffic Control Plan (can be spread out over 3 races... if they happen)
  • $225 Street Sweeping
  • $350 On site Traffic Control Planner
  • $100 Professional Registration Manager
  • $230 Saturday night & Sunday Setup & take-down
  • $50 Baracades
  • $55 Lunch 9 people
  • $150 Race Flyer printing (flyer includes Boulder Roubaix)
  • $2766 Grand Total

Revenue from the race

  • 155 racers at $20 a rider = $3100

Profit After Expenses

Going Car-less Part II

Submitted by Kris Thompson on

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Part II of a continuing series on going car-less, telling the stories of those who have successfully made the switch. Did you miss Part I

Thanks to Lisa Fischer-Wade for sharing their car-less story If you have a car-less story you'd like to share drop us a line

I sold my car in 2002, after taking a job that was within walking distance from home. I bought a 49cc Honda scooter to do longish errands, but mostly started getting used to being a gal without a car & doing as much as I could by bike (Bianchi cross bike, which is main commuter. We live on the west end of town with easy access to both the Boulder Creek Path and the Goose Creek Path. In 2003 I took a job in east Boulder and, with a bike commute that is nearly door to door bike path, it would be embarrassing not to bike commute year round. When the weather is bad I take the bus or get a ride from my husband. Last year he built up a "snow bike" for me, because he was tired of being my chauffeur on snowy days. The bike paths are not the problem - they are maintained wonderfully by the city (better than the roads, actually), but getting to the paths from our house can be incredibly treacherous.

Besides biking daily to/from work, I also commute year round to the health club, a bit of grocery shopping, the farmers market, dentist & doctor appointments. Some of my tips for year round commuters: 1) purchase a really good light system AND carry a back up small battery powered light (and carry spare batteries), 2) always have enough money for bus fare, just in case, & 3) if you use a backpack/courier bag to carry stuff, be sure it fits well and is durable.


Friday Fun - Cynical but still Fun

Submitted by Kris Thompson on

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Business first before fun, remember that this Saturday night when you go to bed to move your clocks forward so that you make it to all of your races ON TIME. Now on with the show..

Busy week, Google unveils their Biking feature on google maps but still trying to see how this will change anyones riding habits. And at the rate Denver is going most of the downtown streets will have sharrows and now your neighbor will feel safe riding on those streets.

Sounds like some idiots/rednecks tried to harass local cyclist Danny Summerhill. Maybe if the road he was on would have had a sharrow painted then everything would have been different. If that's true then lets all hit our local Home Depot this weekend and get some white paint and get painting.

Less cynical, a new website launched this week, http://www.peopleforbikes.org/, they want you to take their pledge. The site is backed by the Boulder Bikes Belong so you can assume that you pledge will help them fight in congress

I am for bikes. I'm for long rides and short rides. I'm for commuting to work, weekend rides, racing, riding to school, or just a quick spin around the block. I believe that no matter how I ride, biking makes me happy and is great for my health, my community and the environment we all share. That is why I am pledging my name in support of a better future for bicycling—one that is safe and fun for everyone. By uniting my voice with a million others, I believe that we can make our world a better place to ride.

Series on Coloradans going Car-less

Submitted by Kris Thompson on

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Winter is coming to a close and for many that means time to pull the bikes back out and start commuting again but for many commuting is a year long commitment because that IS their primary form of transportation. The City of Boulder is going to launch a new campaign called Driven to Drive less in which this campaign challenges Boulder residents to dump their car and go carless. Sounds difficult and scary right? Wrong. Recently I purchased a book titled How to Live Well Without Owning a Car. In the book they talk about the destructive auto culture and true costs/savings of going car-less. The book covers all alternative modes of transportation but does dedicate an entire chapter to cycling. If you liked (or was moved by) the movie Food Inc then you should check that book out! Anyone can write about going car-less, so this series of stories will tell the stories of REAL Colorado citizens who have made the switch.

Story 1, comes from Diana and Nick, they have even gone carless to bike races!

Yup! I have been doing all my work commuting and grocery shopping with the Xtracycle for a couple years now... It has huge compartments on the sides that are super easy to load, and I can definitely do a full week's shopping with it, fitting about three big grocery bags on each side. The bike parking is good at most grocery stores in Boulder, so post-shop I just wheel the shopping cart out to my bike and load it up, kickstand side first. My favorite part is definitely riding home with my baguette, flowers, and veggies peeping out the sides. The center of gravity is nice and low on the Xtracycle so the handling is great! It holds so much stuff that I can commute with a change of clothes and yoga mat for some evening downward dogs, then hit the grocery store on the way home. Having a cargo bike has definitely allowed me to run around town doing errands just like with a car, only the parking is easier and it is often much faster.

If you have a car-less story you'd like to share please let us know And for those who have already contacted us with your story THANKS, we will get you story out in this month long series!

Complete Series

Trips for Kids Boulder launchs summer 2010

Submitted by Kris Thompson on

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From Trips for Kids Website
Trips for Kids BOULDER – Launching Summer 2010!

Our connection to Boulder is well established. We’ve been rolling and having fun riding with children in and around Boulder each and every year since our inaugural season in 2004. We know the kids. We know the youth agency staffers (many bike nuts themselves). We love Boulder! Thus, we are inspired and excited to create TFK Boulder for them and other underserved youngsters in Boulder County.


Photo Credit: Trips For Kids Denver

A few years ago, we started seriously chewing on the TFK Boulder idea. “Will it fly?” We asked our Boulder friends and youth agency staffers. The PG answer, in general, was a sarcastic, “Are you kidding me? This is Boulder.” True, true, TFK Boulder seemed like a no brainer, but last year as the economy tanked, we called off the TFKB dogs. Then our motivation and belief in this new endeavor percolated again over coffee last fall on a cold, snowy morning in Boulder with a local mountain biker and homebuilder, Tom Nasky. At that meeting we decided to team up with Tom and other like-minded Boulderites to establish TFK Boulder, giving children without means, in this bicycle-crazed town, the opportunity to ride, like the rest of them.

And here we are…TFK Boulder is a go! It’s a go people! Let’s kick this thing off right in Boulder with a proper party April 10th at the Boulder Velodrome

CSU Cycling reports on season opener

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Many thanks to CSU Cycling President Caley Fretz for reporting on this seasons first weekend below!


Photo Credit Caley Fretz

The first races of the season are always a crapshoot. Nobody knows what kind of form their legs hold, who else is going to be on or off their game, or even who’s going to show up. So when a team’s first few races go as well as it did for the CSU Rams Cycling team this past weekend, it’s particularly encouraging.

Races opened up on Saturday at the Denver University City Park Crit, a triangular loop complete with three roundabouts and a nasty little chicane. Not an ideal course for brand new racers, as much of the Men’s C and Women’s B fields were. But the Rams were ready- this wasn’t their first rodeo after all. Thanks to some pre-season team practice crits, the new Ram racers weren’t quite as new as everyone else, and it showed. In the first four laps, a field of 60 in the C’s was whittled down to 30, and all but one CSU rider (who got caught up in a nasty crash) made the selection. A few laps later another selection was made, this time in the form of a breakaway of 8 heading off the front. Four of the eight were CSU.

Results from the weekend

DU Criterium Results
Metro State ITT (Not Available Yet)

Other Photos

Dan Rieber

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