Promoting the sport of DH MTB....How to???

[murphnat]

I love DH MTB. Without it I would just be spending my weekends playing the PS3 and getting fat.

I would really like to see the sport grow and become well respected in the community. I think the major factor that is holding back DH in Australia at the moment is the promotion of the sport to the outside community. We all know the races and events are advertised on the MTB internet forums and magazines but we never seem to reach a wider audience. Its frustrating as a rider going to events with only the other racers as the spectators. It would be great to see 100's of spectators turn up to support the riders and creating some atmosphere.

I was watching a TV program about surfing last night and the Australian Sporting Commission has recently built a $3 million training facility (Surfing Australia High Performance Centre) to coach future generations of Australian surfers. Why cant MTB have a similar facility? I guess MTB is just not commercial viable enough for the Australian government to support at the moment. How can we encourage more people to take up MTB as a sport?

1) I would like to see the UCI world cups to return to Australia. We need to create a new technical steep track that the DH riders will love to ride. XC and 4X can stay at Stromlo but the DH needs to be relocated.
2) More media from DH events. The SBS footage from the DH rounds last season was awful and did not really show much riding (but the helmet cam footage was good). Could the MTBA invest in a production company to film the DH season and perhaps get this played on foxtel or one HD?
3) We need to start getting outside sponsors to support the events. Big Australian companies who will invest in the sport to get the media exposure. The problem is that Australian DH racing offers very little media exposure outside of the MTB community.
4) using other forms of advertising to promote the events. I know when i usualy race people in the local towns are not aware of the event or the location.

What ways do you think we should be looking at to take our sport to the next level? How can the groups like the local MTB clubs and the MTBA support Australian DH to grow and entertain more people?


PS - its friday afternoon and i might be a little bored. :biggrin:

 

[frenchman]

People to stop voting for the greens would be a good start.

 

[Dozer]

I'd like to see a ton of people on the sidelines at race events but it isn't an easy thing to achieve. To attract people to a venue you will need to accommodate them with things that aren't related to our sport but related to them (jumping castles for kids, face painting, pole dancing girls, beer skull comps, live local radio broadcast, mobile dog washing, market stalls, fairy floss, show n shines...............). Their is no way to promote the sport outside of our circles without a ton of money being spent by companies that have nothing to do with cycling other than some employees who ride.
I personally don't want to see the sport get bigger and get on mainstream TV other than a hour review as it will attract first class wankers as seen at football games and drift days. The upside to attracting more people is more money being spent on bits at bike shops locally and people spending money in that area but in this day and age of internet shopping it may have a reverse effect and see an area attempt to cater for visiting people only to have them not shop locally.
I would like to see more events in Australia that are invitation only or events that you need to qualify for in order to race or show off your skills. I've been very vocal in the past about state and national racing as I believe the people racing those events should have to qualify at a club level to make a state round then prove themselves worthy at state level to compete in national events. Showing up and racing at any event is basically just a glorified shuttle day which happens to host the best riders in that state or even nation. That isn't a bad thing for attendance levels but it doesn't contain the awesome appeal of qualifying for the next level. I would travel to watch an event that had a quality field of riders and I would pay to watch it. That may entice a few top level riders to come out and play for the prize money but it is a viscous circle.
Downhill courses aren't usually spectator friendly and most courses don't have room for infastructure like grandstands or bistro eating or large parking areas or a sheltered bar or a spectator shuttle from the nearest town. The best you can expect is mates of people riding or family coming along and filling the gaps behind the bunting. The setup at Stromlo for the world champs was great but you still only saw people there that are involved in the sport or related to those involved.
To attract sponsors you need to give them something in return to warrant their spend and this game just doesn't cater for anything other than downhill stuff. A few companies creep in and branch out with their marketing but it isn't widespread. I work for a company that sponsors some local sporting clubs but it is setup to entertain clients with food and beverages and good company. People don't want to get dressed up and walk up a steep hill with no defined path and get sweaty to see some action for two seconds but they do prefer to converse in shade with a cool beer and some snacks. If this was setup at a finish line you'd get fairly bored if you weren't into it and perhaps not trade with the company that bought you along for the day.
I think more local stores and more Australian distributors need to be present at race events with some stuff for guys to ogle and buy on the day. It would create a bit of an event appeal and while you may not sell anything, you may hand a flyer or a business card to someone who would like to buy little Joey a bike for Christmas and wham! You're the preferred shop in town for future purchases and that kid may go racing and you'll support him the whole time.
The sport does need dancing girls at every finish line. I think the girls in the sport may even agree as girls like to check out other girls too.

 

[driftking]

1) I would like to see the UCI world cups to return to Australia. We need to create a new technical steep track that the DH riders will love to ride. XC and 4X can stay at Stromlo but the DH needs to be relocated.

Id like to see them race thredbo at least once. Not a super tech track but its long and demanding mentally to stay on it for 6min, it also shits all over stromlo.

As for coverage I totaly agree, Every time Im talking to someone and I mention DH riding they have no idea what it is, or they assumne its like riding down a firetrail, until i show them a picture than they turn from "oh ok" to "wow f#ck that", its quite annoying when people dont understand what our sport is, its as if it is still seen as one of those things you do when you are younger but has no credit in the world, which as riders we know is not true.

I remember when we had worlds at stromlo, there was zero advertising on tv or anywhere from what I could see here in NSW but when the road worlds was on, there was advertising weeks in advance. We need to take a page from NZ book and really start getting funding and support. They are so far ahead in their riding development in trails and athletes.

 

[FINX74]

Problem...

The World Cups down in OZ would be great however we are just to far from anything. The Northern Hemisphere has the height and the whole UCI circus just skips to the next big hill/location. There are rumors of NZ getting a round if this is so and like what was said, we improve to an international course then the UCI might be inticied to skip from NZ to here then Indo on the way back....?
Just an idea.
Adrian.

 

[Dozer]

I don't think Australia needs a flagship world cup course to attract a world cup. I know of many trails that will test the elite guys but it there are so many more factors to stage a big race. It works well in Canberra because they have a big airport, capable to hold plenty of people with accommodation, accessible by major roads from other nearby cities, emergency facilities close by, plenty of businesses in town to support a race and a good population that pays attention to local media sources when an event is advertised. There is a lot of places in Australia that have the same criteria as that that could stage an event and perhaps use a better track that Stromlo but money may dictate who wants to bid for it and who wants to spend the money to bring their setup from Europe to race it.

 

[dylan s]

Personally I like the fact that mountain biking isn't mainstream. The trails aren't crowded and you know every one in the local scene.

But I love the sport and for it to have a future it does need to progress. I think the main reason were not as big as motocross is that its not a massive spectator sport where the spectators can just be packed into a stadium to see all the action. But with downhill no matter what track you go to you will only be able to see small section of the track at a time and miss a lot of the action. Even when its on freecaster the tracks don't look anywhere near as gnarly as they actually are.

Also I think often when you tell people your a mountain biker they think of a cross country riders in Lycra pedaling their arse off (not that i have anything against cross country riders) and we need to break away from that image.

Would breaking away from the UCI help the sport?

Edit: On a side note i'm about 15 minutes in to the snowboard film The Art Of Flight and to be honest it puts Life Cycles to shame and I'm not even a snowboarder. Would love to see what the budget was for The Art Of Flight and to see someone replicate it with mountain bikes. I think something like what the Coastal Crew does by promoting the lifestyle is more likely to push mountain biking into mainstream than racing

 

[haltz]

ive raced mx/enduro my whole life, as someone said mx is a spectator sport where as enduro is in the exact same park as DH not many people want to walk round in the dusty sticks for the day, the only way to make dh spectator friendly is to have it out on a big paddock which as a one off would be good to bunt a fast track down the side of some farmers hill, it would pull a few spectators but i dont think downhill will ever have a big spectator turn out, in saying that ive raced a few 4 day enduros which is enduro's nationals basically and it does seem to pull a few spectators(especially the ones that wear viking helmets and have air horns, they rule) though theyre likely relatives and friends of riders, but i think the only way for dh to grow is by more riders, i think the best way for that to happen to an australian version of drop in off fuel tv. I remember before i was even riding downhill a show called chosen line come out to danny hams mini bike track and all the downhill riders were muckin around on our pit bikes, they filmed all day, interviewed us all then i never seen it air, i probably missed it but where has it gone? Fuel tv blow all this money airing mma fights sending money over seas to sports that dont even fall under the general 'extreme' sports category, why not keep some here and do another show where they chose a bunch of top guys and travel around the country riding, like i said i wasnt riding DH back then but surely it will have more appeal now if the problem was ratings when they did have chosen line(maybe the riders can oil each other up and wrestle). Honestly TV SHOW IS THE WAY TO GO!

 

[WebdbikeS]

We are about the same thing. Promiting MTB in Australia with a graverty focous. I think we need to start small first. There are a lot of bike riders out there all ready. Most of the riders I've introduced into downhill have loved it and now really enjoy their downhill as well as the riding they were doing before. A little bit of dh will help any xc rider or dirt jumper. Local races need to be more often and more available to other riders. The more racing downhill the more bigger business will support it. Meaning more money for the sport.
Also a lot of local tracks need to be built better. Built with local clubs, built with councils permission, built with a lines, b lines and if needed c lines. Also they need to be made environmentally friendly so the name of downhill doesn't have a bad name in the public eye.
I think this sport can really grow in Australia.

 

[sedifus]

I think the sport needs more local infrastructure going on. Local club races, tracks within 15min of everywhere and just easy access to the sport.
If we could get this happening i think people would be a lot more inclined to join the sport if they didn't have to travel and hour or so to their local tracks.

 

[rider124]

as sedifus said. we need more tracks. It is why Bmx is like it is. Heaps more tracks. and more accessible. More tracks+ more races+New venues+new Clubs = new riders and spectators

 

[Deadman]

It starts at the beginning

A lot of sports talk about the 'grass roots'. Downhill needs dedicated downhill clubs. At the moment downhill is a segment of the larger and much more popular XC. Mountain Bike clubs have XC riders and a few downhill riders. Most trail advocates are attached to clubs and they often approach new trails by asking about bush they can put XC trails in. Most of their members are happy with this and most of the time they get bush so they can put in a network of XC trails.

So, long story short - either start a DH club or join a proactive XC club and make sure other downhillers join with you so you have some say about downhill within the club.

The clubs main agenda should be to procure a hill and build a club DH track on it. You need somewhere to ride that has had the blood, sweat and tears of your club members spilt on it. It's your home track, manage it, make it sustainable, maintain it and be proud of it. Your can have a low key club race once a month. Rookies will learn to race, experienced racers will get faster and a lot of fun can be had and some top riders will emerge............. while you are doing this, there is another club somewhere else doing the same thing, maybe a few clubs a comfortable drive away. Now you can be invited to other clubs tracks for invitational race days. Clubs can enter teams into the Sunshine Series (SE Qld). There can be club, team and individual prizes to be had.

The picture I have tried to paint here is that without some sort of structure, organisation and focussed activity downhill will stay as it is.

 

[lloydo]

that made me chuckle. the club im with (gvmtbc) is dominated by dh riders, finding it harder to attract xc riders.
most clubs would be xc dominated but.

 

[Pebble]

Well say you're a DH rider and not associated with any other sports, why aren't you going as a spectator only to say MotoX racing or Rally Racing etc?
Because it's generally not near where you live so it costs you money and you don't get much out of it unless you happen to be a fanatic about that particular sport or a dedicated fan, and in that case you would more than likely also be a participant or at least know some people who are right?

So what you're really saying is you want DH to become popular and mainstream enough so that it has fans beyond just the participants. Well I imagine a handful of famous riders who are brands in their own right would probably do that (like say Beckham but on a lesser scale I guess). People might travel to go and see celebrities, I don't think they would travel to just go watch a race in a sport they're not interested in. It's the same with normal sports, how many people go watch the local cricket matches or footy matches just for the sake of it and particularly if they have no vested interests in them?

I think like someone mentioned anybody can turn up and ride in most DH races in Aus, so there is rarely big draw cards especially for people who don’t take an interest in the sport and wouldn’t even have a clue who Sam Hill is or any given name that's very familiar in the mtb cicles alone. I guess on top of that if you go dress up the riders in their DH gear, well you could be looking at anybody!

Also grassroots, you can send kids to go riding on their bikes from an early age, you can take them to play sports on weekends or after school without a huge amount of parent's time input. But DH is just a different kettle of fish, the tracks are generally not close to home sometimes pretty remote and even if they're old enough to have a license it's not something you'd want the kid to be doing on their own.
I've tried DH and from a parents perspective I doubt I'd encourage my kids to get into DH racing particularly now that I don't really have that much interest in that genre of mtb myself. They would have to come to me and say they were really keen then I would possibly be willing to dedicate my time in accommodating them (purely because you want to give your kids every opportunity to follow their passion whatever it turns out to be).
Yes if there were DH clubs that had regular organized training on weekends etc then sure parents would probably drop the kids off, maybe stay and watch and help or come back later to pick them up. But even still the trails would have to be relatively close or the parents would have to be dedicated to their children. Now with DH this is also hard because it is perceived as a dangerous sprot, probably not unlike mx...I'm sure there are a lot of Mothers out there that wouldn't any way in hell let their kids ride trail bikes...not until they're old enough to be able to by choice override their parents opinions and biases!

So I guess what it comes down to is that perhaps grassroots is the key to growing the sport. Media coverage and stuff would have to stem from that.
More clubs and trails easy to access regularly by young kids, shuttle days run by clubs that are safe enough to satisfy parents. And if little Jo is doing it then little Jo's mates would probably want to do it too. And in a case like that as long as the trails weren't too far away well little Jo's parents shouldn't see it as being any worse than driving the kids to Soccer matches in a neighboring town on weekends...or across the city etc. As the sport becomes more mainstream it means more media coverage...perhaps just the local country papers first up but maybe little Jo from Bumpkin town makes it to the World Cup circuit well who knows I guess, he would at least get onto the local news but I don't know how far it would go.

The thing is though, just because you're passionate about something doesn't mean everyone else should be.