Best way to form a team?

[aShogunNamedMarcus]

I know its pretty simple to do but I was just wondering if there's anything beyong the norm of:

- getting a committed number of people
- carpooling and camping
- registering?

is there a cbc discount for a team of x amount of people or ?

[Wayne P]

All I know is it is usually easier to get sponsorship if you are apart of a solid team, but you need a good manager too. Someone who'll take care of the business side of things so the racers can concentrate on riding bikes.

Kim Steed does mostly all of the work for us in addition to running a pretty successful little shop. I help out when I can, but having somebody who goes after sponsorship on our behalf is a definete asset.

Make sure you've got RELIABLE people who share the similar goals - people who will step up for their sponsors when they're needed. Not people who are looking for product. Don't expect much in the way of free product but instead greatly discounted stuff. A good team is one that rides together, trains together, races together, and most importantly, represents their sponsors in a positive way.


Gary can add to the CBC questions.

Good luck!

[Rat]

Do you think you could have your company (if you own one) sponsor your team then write off your bike and entry fees?

[NickS]

The team i race on has a lot of really high profile sponsors and no one on the team is incredibly fast or anything just people who represnt well by going to races doing stuff around here. We have a team manager who does all the sponsorship stuff. You basically send all your resumes to sponsors before a date and then get the info back. We have goten almost every sponsor appllied to and can basically pick who ew want to work with now.
The best way id say is to get a team of people together and document your results for your first year get some jerseys then the next year wiht a resume applie to sponsors.

Also its really good to get to know shops because thats where a major sponsor can be and many shops already have teams. Or approach a shop about making a team if they dont have one already.

[mbking]

our lbs put togather a team and its mostly just foolign around and craming into a aerostar to go riding.:thepimp:

[ReCkLeSs RiDeR]

Dave. If you are looking for tires go after Kenda. They have a pretty good team support program.

[the flying moose]

can i be on your team dave?? although i should point out that i dont like actually riding but dress me up in gear and ill pose it up to the fullest at all events.

[SIDESHOW]

Originally posted by Rat
Do you think you could have your company (if you own one) sponsor your team then write off your bike and entry fees?


nice try. Global Agrisource would be the smelliest team on the tour.

at least you could give your riders some of your high grade protein powder.

[JSinclair]

Generally speaking if you have the potential to gererate revenue from racing you can write off your gear.

If you race in a cat that pays out riders, or can show that you are workng towards making some money riding for a team, you can write off your gear as tools of the trade.

If I were going to sponsor a team, I would write it off as marketing expenses.

[Rat]

but Jay could your company sponser a team for say 5000 grand a year write it off as a marketing expense and then as the only member of your team use the cash to pay for your bike and race expenses.

im sure its not alowed but a great fantasy. I hate paying for bike stuff with aftertax dollars.

[SIDESHOW]

quit looking for loopholes and get to work. whats happening in NW???

[Rat]

Nothing right now.. market is too pricey

lets go for a midweek ride and ill tell ya all about it.

[Wayne P]

Originally posted by JSinclair
Generally speaking if you have the potential to gererate revenue from racing you can write off your gear.


That's somewhat true, but there are limitations. I'm pretty sure that you have to be making headway year after year in order to claim bike expenses as a professional. Although, I did it for years too. Your chances of being audited increase greatly, as I've been told by our accountant. You can do it, but I think its a little sketchy.

[Mr Ripper]

so the bug I put in your ear is working ;)

When I come put in the deck we will talk more.....

[Incorrigible]

Get some people together. Get some pictures taken. Approach some bike shops. Write some letters. When things come back positively, get some shirts made up with your sponsors' names on (that's plural if all goes well). You get cheaper bike parts, they get exposure. Show up at the shop once in a while, preferablly dressed a little better than average. This will give a good impression, which is what they are looking for.