New Cycling Team to Form!!!

Hey All.  Yesterday, John Gorilla, a well known super cyclist, sent an email out to a very select group of cyclists.  I happened to hack a copy, applied suitable pressure and got added to the invite list.  The email describes the idea of forming a cycling team of racers and nonracers.  John gave me the ok to open this up to my loyal blog readers so read below.  Now, I know most of you will want to know if I will be a member as this will sway the decision for many.  I understand this and am sympathetic to your plight.  For me, it comes down to the jersey design.  It has to be classy, not like the garish "Kenda" jersey with that giant logo and uncreative red/black color...ugh...who would want to wear that thing, right????  Also, the name has to be suitable. Another attraction for me is I need a new crop of innocents who I can ridicule from the safety of the blog.  I mean, how many more times can I say Steve is stupid for bombing descents during a night ride or, implying Dennis is a cross dresser or, take goofy images of Flyin Tuna?  So, if John comes up with a classy jersey and a creative name than I am in.  You will never guess who was the first person to officially join the club.........none other than......Da Boss! Anyway, feel free to contact John at his email below or he even said to give him a call.

It’s November.  The days are short and the weather is cool, the cycling season is winding down for most.  As we bid farewell to another season of riding, thoughts start to turn to the upcoming season and one of those thoughts is starting a legit cycling club.  By legit, I mean licensed with USA Cycling as an Ohio Club/Team, team kits with sponsor logos and financial support and hopefully reduced prices on goods and service.  Currently there are no plans for a team bus or soigneur, but in the future who knows.

So, what am I after?  A couple of things:

Feedback on the idea.
What do you think of this plan?  Would you have any interest in joining the club?  Nothing is set yet, but what I had in mind was club dues of $100.  The dues would buy you one short sleeve jersey, with the remaining funds going into a team account to be used on other perks like parties, race fee reimbursement and club overhead.  Being a member would get you access to team clothing orders, discounts on parts, bikes, nutrition and other accessories.  All of this has to be worked out, but I am in the process of trying to pull together some sponsorship letters.  Having an idea of how many people would be flying the flags of the sponsors would help out a lot, so please feel free to pass this email along to others who may be interested.  An important note: this is a club, some people race a lot, some not at all and others in between.  If you don’t want to race, that is not a problem at all.  The main goal is to create a presence for a large group of unattached riders and hopefully give the club members some perks as well.

Ideas for sponsors.
There are already some companies I have spoken with about the possibility of kicking in cash for logo placement on the kits and some of these companies could act as proxies for parts and bike orders.  As mentioned above, I am going to be working on trying to get some formal sponsorships in the next couple of weeks since it is the best time of year to do so.  Typically, there are varying levels of sponsorship ranging from a couple hundred dollars for a small placement on a jersey pocket to a couple thousand for a title sponsor.  Companies that offer goods or services in lieu of cash would get placement commensurate with their level of involvement.

Club Name.
Maybe the most fun part of this, we need a name!  I have some ideas (see the end of this email), but we need more.  I will consolidate everyone’s ideas, send them out for a vote of the top 3 and then we will have a name.  See USA Cycling Ohio Clubs for reference ( http://usacycling.org/clubs/index.php?state=OH).

Club Officers.
As an official club, we need officers.  I think we need a president and a treasurer for sure, but there is probably room for some additional help as well.  Are you interested?  Depending on the number of people who express interest in joining the club, we will hold elections.  Let the smear campaigns begin.

I think that’s it.  In summary:

1. Let me know if you are interested, if you know others who would be interested, what you think about the idea, etc
2. Ideas for sponsors, be they cash, goods, services or a combination
3. Ideas for a club name
4. Interest in holding an office or helping get this club off the ground
   
   Thanks and I hope to hear back from a lot of you.
   
   John
   612.817.3353
   [email protected]
   
   Club Names:
   Central Ohio Cycling Club (COCC)
   Granville Cycling Club (GCC)
   New Albany Cycling Club
   The Ditch Lilly Cycling Club
   The Gentlemen Callers
   Land of Legends Cycling Club
   Granville Sport and Fitness Cycling Club
   Black Hand Cycling Club
   Blue Jay Cycling Club