From the CEO: Together, we are American cycling
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Print As I approach my one-year anniversary as CEO of USA Cycling, I am pleased to reflect on an excellent first year.
Since I joined USA Cycling, I have never shied from acknowledging the challenges facing American cycling and our organization: the association our sport has with doping; the decline of participation in traditional road racing; USA Cycling’s reputation as being focused on elites and unresponsive to membership concerns; etc. But American cycling also has a lot going exceptionally well and has tremendous opportunities before it: cycling as sport continues to grow and has by our estimates has more than 20 million active participants, seven million of which ride regularly; new formats for enjoying cycling such as Gran Fondos, gravel grinders, Strava and Zwift are being introduced, creating a rich fabric of participation; American women and juniors are among the very best in the world; and are winning at the highest level repeatedly.
USA Cycling seeks to address its challenges head on while continuing that which is succeeding and capitalizing on new opportunities. We are not paying lip services to this – you all will have seen changes we’ve made or in the works:
And there are more changes in process, even if you have not yet witnessed their impact:
We are very proud of this significant work and look forward to completing more. We seek no less than a transformation of our organization. So let me be very clear about what we are hoping to achieve and the direction we are heading.
Because we believe we are so different an organization and are heading in a new direction, we have chosen to develop and launch a new logo. We have moved from having both a corporate mark and Team USA Cycling mark to a single, unified mark representing the entirety of our organization. We have chosen a highly engaging and colorful mark, which strongly embraces our representation of the United States. Last night, we were thrilled to unveil this new mark at America’s premier cycling event, the AMGEN Tour of California, with the assistance of our World Championship Women’s Pursuit Team and many of the athletes who will be representing us at the Olympics in Rio.
It has been a year of remarkable change for USA Cycling. But as I said, that work will continue and we are just beginning. We know we cannot do this alone. We know it will take the entire cycling ecosystem working together – star racers and everyday enthusiasts, event directors, officials, volunteers and more. So on behalf of USA Cycling, I’d like to ask American cyclists and cycling fans to help us to build a more collaborative and productive community.
Together, we are American cycling.
Derek
2016 Olympians Chloe Dygert, Kelly Catlin, Ruth Winder and Jennifer Valente were on hand Thursday night in support of USA Cycling. (photo by Casey B. Gibson)
Since I joined USA Cycling, I have never shied from acknowledging the challenges facing American cycling and our organization: the association our sport has with doping; the decline of participation in traditional road racing; USA Cycling’s reputation as being focused on elites and unresponsive to membership concerns; etc. But American cycling also has a lot going exceptionally well and has tremendous opportunities before it: cycling as sport continues to grow and has by our estimates has more than 20 million active participants, seven million of which ride regularly; new formats for enjoying cycling such as Gran Fondos, gravel grinders, Strava and Zwift are being introduced, creating a rich fabric of participation; American women and juniors are among the very best in the world; and are winning at the highest level repeatedly.
USA Cycling seeks to address its challenges head on while continuing that which is succeeding and capitalizing on new opportunities. We are not paying lip services to this – you all will have seen changes we’ve made or in the works:
- Significant leadership changes within our organization focused on bringing demonstrable expertise into our organization. Two of our three most important hires were women, increasing the diversity of our top team;
- Reallocation of resources to increase support of grassroots, as best demonstrated by an increase in LA funding;
- Addressing doping in amateur cycling head on with the introduction of an anti-doping surcharge to fund a step change increase in RaceClean testing;
- Implementation of Ride Membership offer targeted to non-racing cyclists;
- Policy changes and new marketing approaches enabling Gran Fondos, gravel grinders, and other innovative and popular cycling formats to sanction with USA Cycling (I just participated in GFNY last weekend, which was newly sanctioned by USA Cycling. What a great event!);
- An increase in communication, openness and transparency with a greater spirit of collaboration and togetherness within the American cycling community;
- The return and acquisition of top tier sponsors who seek to support us in our ambitious agenda, including Volkswagen, ASSOS, Chobani, Felt and others.
Taylor Phinney, Emma White and Jesse Anthony were on hand for Thursday's reception. (photo by Casey B. Gibson)
And there are more changes in process, even if you have not yet witnessed their impact:
- We are in the midst of a complete IT overhaul. We are going to leap from 1990’s technology to 2016 technology within the next few months;
- We are enhancing our Ride Membership offer and will be launching a marketing campaign focused on enthusiasts very shortly – USA Cycling will be more visible to everyday cyclists than at any time in its history;
- We’ve begun working with advocacy groups and we are even now collaborating with OBRA, an organization historically in direct opposition to USA Cycling;
- We developed Safety and Anti-Doping Committees comprised of true experts in our industry to help us improve the fairness and safety of racing.
We are very proud of this significant work and look forward to completing more. We seek no less than a transformation of our organization. So let me be very clear about what we are hoping to achieve and the direction we are heading.
- We will be a progressive force and drive change in American bike racing – we will not accept the status quo on issues like doping, women’s development or getting more people in the sport. We will innovate, invest and experiment.
- We will serve a substantially broader segment of cyclists – we will become relevant to cycling enthusiasts and non-traditional cycling formats. We will support anyone who enjoys the sport of cycling in whatever ways they choose to participate.
- We will foster a sense of community and togetherness – we recognize USA Cycling sits at the center of a complex ecosystem of passionate individuals, many of whom are volunteers, and we will help that community work together so American cycling can reach its potential
Because we believe we are so different an organization and are heading in a new direction, we have chosen to develop and launch a new logo. We have moved from having both a corporate mark and Team USA Cycling mark to a single, unified mark representing the entirety of our organization. We have chosen a highly engaging and colorful mark, which strongly embraces our representation of the United States. Last night, we were thrilled to unveil this new mark at America’s premier cycling event, the AMGEN Tour of California, with the assistance of our World Championship Women’s Pursuit Team and many of the athletes who will be representing us at the Olympics in Rio.
It has been a year of remarkable change for USA Cycling. But as I said, that work will continue and we are just beginning. We know we cannot do this alone. We know it will take the entire cycling ecosystem working together – star racers and everyday enthusiasts, event directors, officials, volunteers and more. So on behalf of USA Cycling, I’d like to ask American cyclists and cycling fans to help us to build a more collaborative and productive community.
Together, we are American cycling.
Derek
This Article Updated May 22, 2016 @ 05:21 PM For more information contact:
