The UCI doesn't get it

Cycling is in trouble. The riders are dopers. Teams can't get sponsors. I'm not even sure a rider's union exists (if it does, its a union in name only). These are all significant issues that will never be resolved without a clear and determined effort to change the sport, to bring it out of the stone ages and into a modern age. A singleminded focus on promoting the sport as more than just a bunch of skinny guys riding around on bikes. And all of these issues can be more readily resolved by dissolving the UCI and starting over.

The UCI is responsible for every problem cycling has. Doping, sponsorship, no mainstream TV time, etc. How can I throw one organization under the bus for every single problem plaguing cycling? I can because it is true, it is fact. Just like F=MA, UCI=cycling's downfall.

Let's take today's latest UCI exploit as an example.

Watching the men's Cyclocross World Championship race in Germany, the UCI pulled the plug on the live internet feed. Why? Is free promotion of cyclocross a bad thing? Is promoting the sport by allowing others to watch and enjoy the exploits of the best racers in the world so undermining to the UCI's world order that no one gets to watch unless they are standing on the course or live in Belgium? What possible good comes from disallowing fans across the world to participate in an event? By watching, I get fired up to go and ride. I end up buying more overpriced cycling gear. I end up drinking more beer. Dammit, I'm good for the economy when I get inspired to ride!

The UCI just doesn't get it. They wield absolute power and they do so with the intent of promoting...what? The sport? Themselves? An alternative to cycling that doesn't involve self-important windbags like Pat McQuaid? On the front page of their website it is written:

• The UCI’s mission is to develop and promote cycling, in close collaboration with National Federations.

I'm not drinking what they're selling because the UCI is NOT in the business of promoting cycling. Just look at the way its president, Pat "Kiss My ass, I'm Irish" McQuaid interacts with other organizations. Anytime there's a doping positive, he's there to condemn the rider but he's never there to address the heart of the problem: the lack of rider solidarity toward a clean sport. Every time another organization criticized the UCI, McQuaid is there to publicly condemn the condemner in a small minded tactic that sounds like that 3rd grade comeback "my dad can beat up your dad".

The UCI does not listen to the riders or the fans and has no respect for their opinion and desires. Take the whole race radio debate or the latest act of powertripping: the UCI approved bike label system. No one asked for these things. The UCI simply made the overarching decision to impose these rules without any regard for the teams, riders, and fans. In the case of race radios, the UCI has, against the wishes of the teams, decided to go ahead with the ban. Why? Because was their decision. They will not budge even though the majority of teams are against the ban. The UCI approved bike label program has been relaxed so it doesn't cost as much for manufacturers. You mean it cost manufacturers something in the first place? This was a money making idea??? Fucking ridiculous.

Now is the time for the riders and teams to take back the sport of cycling. Solidarity. Stop taking the bullying that the UCI hands out daily. Refuse to give them your lunch money and instead give them a punch in the junk. Find the courage to stand up to the UCI or this sport will continue to be mired in a Pleistocene tar pit. The riders and teams, need to be the ones promoting the sport now. The UCI has failed. It no longer deserves the rider's loyalty.

So the next time a rider is singled out for malfeasance before evidence is supplied, the next time an event disappears for financial reasons, the next time you hear teams moaning about the injustice of not being selected for a grand tour, just remember that the UCI is pulling the strings. This problems go away when the riders and teams and promoters tell the UCI to fuck off and rally 'round the family of the true cycling community.

Cap'n