statement approved by the people’s congress
through the directorate of communications
authorized by the supreme revolutionary council
command bunker, plaza de la revolucion
www.racingunion.org

day 269 of the glorious revolution in cycling and the social order

racing union communication rc-654-fy75-d543-269

to: the national sanctioning body for bicycle racing in the united states
from: racing union
re: a deconstruction and explication of your “club of the year” contest and a demand that the contest be ended now and that racing union be recognized in the short term as what you call the “club of the year” for its tremendous wisdom and energetic contributions to the glorious cause, and hailed as the prototype for all current and future cycling organizations

background
in december of last year, a number of prominent cyclists in the mid-atlantic area were meeting regularly in coffee houses.  these impromptu salons were filled with discussion, debate and banter regarding the current state of cycling.  from these meetings came the recognition that our current leadership, indeed our current societal structure, lacks the ability to help both riders and racers realize their goals and aspirations. 

this bold vanguard chose a new path, an alternative route, that would seek to overturn the subtle tyranny and the stifling effect of the status quo.  they came together under a single banner and named their effort “racing union”.  racing union!  first and foremost in all things, the bright beacon leading racers and riders to the new day promised by the glorious revolution.  the pathfinder!  the messenger and the message!  racing union, hope and inspiration to all who toil on two wheels under human power!..  ever vigilant and faithful in seeking to advance the glorious cause.

formal statement of our position
we demand that you name us club of the year.  the racing union does not seek awards, but in this case, it should be obvious that to present the award to any other team would be a gross miscarriage of justice and an equally grave disservice to the collective body of racers and riders. 

rationale
your current application process appears to ask clubs such ill-suited questions as how many masters or juniors or women’s racers their team has, or how many and what sorts of events did your team promote? 

the former question is  truly inappropriate.  all cyclists are citizens and have equal value.  it is true that in the nascent stages of our philosophy, some of our leaders felt that some cyclists were more equal than others, but this has long since been repudiated.  truly, all citizens are, in principle, members of the racing union, and we take great pride in knowing that one day, they will all work collectively towards our common goals.

the latter question also does a disservice in that it does not stress the progressive values that all promoters should be employing: no cash prizes, no entry fees for juniors, running events as not-for-profit and returning money to racers if entry fees exceed financial outlays.  and you are not even asking clubs to discuss how many citizens have they helped to discover cycling or how many are now more productive citizens because they have integrated the bike into their routine through commuting. 

this constitutes a woefully narrow view of the types of things a cycling club can accomplish, and indeed should be seeking to accomplish.  these questions you pose will elicit responses from a vast, indistinguishable mass of organizations which simply want to tell you what you want to hear. 

as any collective farm worker would know, the rooster seeks to draw attention by crowing louder and preening longer, but this same rooster often ignores the fact that other roosters simultaneously do the same.  in this preening and crowing, it makes itself more similar than dissimilar to the others.  and so it is with this “club of the year” contest.  these organizations will attempt to ingratiate themselves to you by endlessly describing what they think you wish to hear.  in this regard, to call them sycophants, toadies or lickspittles is to be kind.  in the same manner that bland, identical prefabricated houses erupt from ground to corrupt the landscape on any green swath, teams that number like the stars in the sky will present themselves to you in all their finery, eager to convince that they have gone above and beyond what was expected of them. 

and where does this leave the racers, the riders and the commuters?  who will speak for them while you and your clubs proceed on this delusional, self-congratulatory track, which is no more than a crooked tentacle of pride-woven aggression?  while this regrettable ruse on both your parts is somewhat understandable, we cannot and will not allow it to continue.  the racing union has set the straightforward goal of leading the vanguard in the great and glorious cause: the revolution in cycling and the social order.  the subtle tyranny of the status quo, manifest in the bourgeois sensibilities of current clubs and administrators, will eventually lead to the complete downfall of cycling as both a sport and recreation.  this can not only be prevented, but a strong, prosperous future can be brought about, where all citizens know the pleasure of an afternoon ride, or anticipate the first cyclosportif of the spring.  the racing union seeks sea-change in how people view the bicycle: no longer some costly, exotic racehorse which must be carefully maintained, or some piece of exercise equipment to be brought out on sunny weekends.  No the bicycle is to be the trusted comrade of all workers, transportation, recreation, a remarkable machine whose simple engineering belies it’s fantastic convenience and utility.  from the collective farms to the labour centers, from the markets to the schools, cycling will move from the periphery to the center of our daily lives.

individuals with a strong vested interest in maintaining the status quo will seek to question the propriety of our response.  the racing union has committed to show by example that competitive and recreational cycling can be administered through a different model.  there is no need for sponsorship of either teams or events.  cycling is a hobby and we should compete as amateurs.  the corrupting influence of money must be negated.  the confluence of social revolution and cycling is too powerful to resist.  embrace it now.

the manifesto: http://www.racingunion.org/Document.aspx?manifesto