88planoAg said:

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tmaggies said:

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Your story of raising funds is an old one. Have a nice day.....

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What does this even mean? Are you trolling?

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Survey says yes...

88planoAg said:

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culdeus said:

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Can't imagine this brings in any money to college station. Most riders will GTFO as soon as the race is over.

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I think you are forgetting the multitudes of people supporting the ride - volunteers of all sorts plus family and friends.

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That seems to impact the ride start. The four times I did it the overwhelming majority of supporters went Houston to LaGrange then home.

The finish line had little more than a few pop up tents. The infrastructure wasn't near what it was in LaGrange. A few people probably spent the night and went out in Austin maybe but college station lacks that appeal. It's a strange change.

culdeus said:

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88planoAg said:

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culdeus said:

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Can't imagine this brings in any money to college station. Most riders will GTFO as soon as the race is over.

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I think you are forgetting the multitudes of people supporting the ride - volunteers of all sorts plus family and friends.

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That seems to impact the ride start. The four times I did it the overwhelming majority of supporters went Houston to LaGrange then home.

The finish line had little more than a few pop up tents. The infrastructure wasn't near what it was in LaGrange. A few people probably spent the night and went out in Austin maybe but college station lacks that appeal. It's a strange change.

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Not strange at all and you are vastly underestimating how many people show up at the finish line. I say not strange because people hated the COTA finish logistics and COTA would not commit to a date for 2020. The old finish area in Downtown Austin is not there anymore due to construction. The city of Austin and UT were not interested in keeping it in Austin, and A&M really wanted to ride to come here. Knowing all that, it is not a strange decision at all.

txags92 said:

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culdeus said:

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88planoAg said:

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culdeus said:

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Can't imagine this brings in any money to college station. Most riders will GTFO as soon as the race is over.

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I think you are forgetting the multitudes of people supporting the ride - volunteers of all sorts plus family and friends.

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That seems to impact the ride start. The four times I did it the overwhelming majority of supporters went Houston to LaGrange then home.

The finish line had little more than a few pop up tents. The infrastructure wasn't near what it was in LaGrange. A few people probably spent the night and went out in Austin maybe but college station lacks that appeal. It's a strange change.

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Not strange at all and you are vastly underestimating how many people show up at the finish line. I say not strange because people hated the COTA finish logistics and COTA would not commit to a date for 2020. The old finish area in Downtown Austin is not there anymore due to construction. The city of Austin and UT were not interested in keeping it in Austin, and A&M really wanted to ride to come here. Knowing all that, it is not a strange decision at all.

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Fine. I'm sure it will be ok. Ridership has dwindled a bit and there is some motivation to reverse the bemn there done that aspect to it I'm sure.

The rides I did we're a blast. The people were great and just the overall MS org finally just said they didn't need casuals. Fine. So I let it go.

At this point I think the phrase "wannabe Lance Armstrong" should mean something entirely different, but it persists with its ca. 2000 meaning. It may even outlive the man himself to the point that people don't realize that Lance Armstrong was real person.

Anti-cyclist attitudes are an interesting psychology case study; lots of intersecting pathologies (on both sides).

People have different hobbies. It's a big world.

Usually, people that have a problem with cyclists don't understand either one of those points.

culdeus said:

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txags92 said:

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culdeus said:

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88planoAg said:

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culdeus said:

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Can't imagine this brings in any money to college station. Most riders will GTFO as soon as the race is over.

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I think you are forgetting the multitudes of people supporting the ride - volunteers of all sorts plus family and friends.

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That seems to impact the ride start. The four times I did it the overwhelming majority of supporters went Houston to LaGrange then home.

The finish line had little more than a few pop up tents. The infrastructure wasn't near what it was in LaGrange. A few people probably spent the night and went out in Austin maybe but college station lacks that appeal. It's a strange change.

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Not strange at all and you are vastly underestimating how many people show up at the finish line. I say not strange because people hated the COTA finish logistics and COTA would not commit to a date for 2020. The old finish area in Downtown Austin is not there anymore due to construction. The city of Austin and UT were not interested in keeping it in Austin, and A&M really wanted to ride to come here. Knowing all that, it is not a strange decision at all.

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Fine. I'm sure it will be ok. Ridership has dwindled a bit and there is some motivation to reverse the bemn there done that aspect to it I'm sure.

The rides I did we're a blast. The people were great and just the overall MS org finally just said they didn't need casuals. Fine. So I let it go.

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Having participated as a rider for 10 years and served as a team captain for 8, I'll say that txags92 is spot on in his take on the finish. And by the way, txags92 is about as plugged into the MS Scoiety as anyone on this board. There are consistently more family/friends at the finish than there are in La Grange. Primarily because they are picking up their riders to drive home. The finish town also greatly benefits from the MS Society limiting tent size at the finish. Teams like ours provide a very limited meal at the finish so most riders end up leaving with their family/friends and head to a restaurant in the area for lunch/dinner before getting on the road.

Where I agree with Culdeus is on your last statement about "casuals." I've been making this point to the MS staff as there is a reason the Texas Exes team folded years ago. MS kept chasing the bigger corporate dollars and left a lot of the independent teams/riders behind. Oil & Gas takes a hit coupled with a few bad weather years and ridership is down almost 50%. It's riders like Culdeus they desperately need back...hopefully the revamped ride will help with some of this.

Rode for the 1st time this last year and had a blast. To me, La Grange was fun and is more of a team night. Sunday I finish is more of a eat quick at the team tent and then head out to get a bite to eat with the family.

I think it is hard if you are not able to jump on a big corporate team. Though Karbach and St Arnold's have some good teams from what I've heard.

I rode by myself last year with no problems. This year one of my companies vendors is sponsoring me. They are a European company so they are big into cycling. They are also the sponsor for a highly rated pro team. Obviously I am not part of that team for the local smartasses on the boards.

I've ridden by myself twice and had a great time. Mrs. LOYAL AG and I have actually turned it into a weekend getaway both times. She picks me up in La Grange and we have had a reservation at a local Air BNB off in the country somewhere. We check in, I shower then we've gone to Fayetteville and had dinner at Joe's Place on the square. I'd think doing it alone would be pretty boring if you're camping out in La Grange but our weekends have been nice time together.