As marketing director for Sho-Air International, Ty Kady anticipated being deeply involved in the high-pressure world of business. What Kady may not have anticipated in his job description was becoming one of the key driving forces behind the premier race series in U.S. mountain bike racing, the U.S. Cup.
The accomplished Semi-Pro mountain biker and for AMA Supercross Pro has performed admirably in his new career and he took a moment to answer some of our questions about this new series and what we can expect in the years to come. In part one of this two part interview we delve into the reasoning behind Sho-Air bursting into the mountain bike world and what we can expect from the U.S. Cup in the
Ty Kady- Scott Tedro really felt passionate about keeping a cohesive National Mountain Bike series in the U.S. alive. On one hand he wanted to offer the Pro’s a #1 plate to chase, along with some UCI points for the 2012 Olympic Games; so out of that the PRO XCT tour was born. Then we wanted to reward the amateur racer with a better race experience by providing extra swag, nice number plates, event T-Shirts a more festive atmosphere, some new venues etc. In the past few years the old series model had really deteriorated and wasn’t giving back to the Pro and amateur rider’s alike. And it was no fault of their own, between the economy, the cost of running the series and dwindling industry support it was an inevitable downward spiral that finally hit bottom in 2008.
That’s why we added the Kenda Cup West and East series to the U.S. Cup. The concept being that the regional or local Pro who may not have the budget to chase the seven round PRO XCT tour, they could hit the six regional events on their respective coast and try to win that title. That also goes for the amateur who in today’s economy or with other commitments can’t drive to Windham, NY to chase the series or vice versa.
He also had a deep respect for Tom Spiegel and Jeff Frost who had essentially inherited the old NORBA series. Those two really tried to fly the flag over the years, but as we found out at MT. Snow, it was no longer penciling out for them to make a living and running the series.
MTBracenews- When you started the series how did you want to improve on previous variations of the U.S. National series?
Ty Kady- Again we just wanted to try and legitimize the sport again. After all we created the sport in the US, but you would hardly know it by the past few years. More top Pro’s and team’s are heading over to Europe to chase World Cups and the amateur riders haven’t been showing up in the numbers we used to get in the mid to late ‘90’s.Plus being an outsider myself to this industry, essentially I grew up chasing Moto Cross my whole life; I saw a lot of division and negativity between certain segments and parties in the sport. While we can’t fix everything, we wanted to wipe the slate clean and start fresh. I think with Sho-Air being an outside industry sponsor, we have a fresh look on the sport, while still having the knowledge on what the sport and riders want. Plus we have been very open to feedback from the industry and riders alike, and I think that was a key missing ingredient.
Additionally, the marketing of the series and riders was just not there in the past. In the past the promoters were left to not only run and time the race, set up the course, put up the feed zones, but were essentially the marketing machine behind the series. So that was a big goal for us to have up to date press releases, a dedicated series website, series T-Shirts, number plates etc. Now you can see we are working with helmet cam’s and a lead moto, with the goal of getting some of this race footage posted to the US Cup site, You Tube and other online marketing forums. It’s what has been missing for some time and I think once people realize how gnarly this sport really is and how legit these Pro riders are, we hope that attracts more outside series sponsors, as well as gives the people in the industry sitting on the side lines a reason to jump on board.
MTBracenews- What are your goals for the US Cup/Pro XCT? Both short and long–term.
Ty Kady- Short term is just to stabilize the sport and make it whole again. Also quite frankly prove to all the doubters that Mountain Bike racing in the States isn’t dead and that Scott Tedro is for real. So many people doubted it couldn’t be done, so first we have to convince them that it can be accomplished. When you have an uphill battle like that, it makes getting things done even harder. Once we get more people onboard, we can carry that momentum into 2010 and beyond.
I must say a big thanks to the people who took the risk on us and the series in the first place. Companies like Specialized, Subaru/Gary Fisher, Giant, Hayes Bicycles, Kenda, USA Cycling, E2 Hydro, KMC Chains , ESI Grips, Primal Wear, Static, H20 Overdrive, Static technologies, Thule, Mountain Bike Action, Mountain Biking and others that provided money and product to get this thing off the ground. Without them, it would have been even harder. So I hope these riders who attend our series, go out and support the sponsors who made this possible next time there at the local bike shop.
Long term is to obviously make the US Cup series the premier series in North America for the Pro and aspiring amateur racers. The ultimate fantasy is to have TV coverage, a World Cup or two and large corporate sponsors, while still maintaining the integrity and feel of what makes mountain biking so great.
It’s a fine balance of not “selling out” the sport, but on the other hand getting enough sponsorship dollars to run the series and legitimize the sport. So we definitely have to change some things for the better.
MTBracenews- After the first round of the Pro XCT what would you say were the successes?
Ty Kady- Well I think the men’s Pro XCT field was unreal! I think we had 120 men, which included like five Olympians, Current and former National Champions, U-23 bronze medalists and a good crop of top Pro’s.
I also think the change in the course was a hit with the riders. The same old course for the last five years gets boring, plus with the layout we had, I don’t think anyone walked away saying it was too easy.
Another small victory was we increased the amateur turnout by over 56% over last year. Given the tough economic times, we would have been happy to break even with last years amateur numbers! So that was good to see.
MTBracenews- What still needs to be improved?
Ty Kady- It’s definitely a work in progress. There are so many things right now; we just have to take them one step at a time.
One thing I see right away is increasing the women’s Pro field turnout. Only twenty-six female Pro riders showed up, which was a bit of a letdown for us. I think those numbers were down from last year?
The series is doing everything in its power to draw more female racers, both Pro and Amateur alike. Rider clinics with PRO XCT racer Krista Park the day before, just for fun rides so the first time riders can get a feel for riding some sections of a mountain bike course. Plus we are offering the ladies equal UCI prize money to the men if they can get a minimum field of 25. Not too many people realize that the World sanctioning body (UCI) or even our National sanctioning body (USA Cycling) don’t make it mandatory for the promoters to pay the women equal prize money with the men at these UCI events, or any other event for that matter.
But we understand that the girls are working just as hard, so we are doing our best to honor their efforts by pulling money out of our own pocket to make up the difference. We even got a dedicated PRO XCT tour page on the US Cup website and have some of the girls bio’s up there. We want to market them along with the guys, because they have a lot to offer as well.
But at some point, it’s all simple economics for these promoters. A field of 120 Pro men brings in considerably more dollars than a field of 26 Pro women, and so these promoters are losing money trying to match the women’s prize money with that of the men. It’s a double edged sword that we have to deal with, but the US Cup is here to market them as much as the guys and try to bring in more female participation.
MTBracenews- How can the US Cup/Pro XCT attract more amateurs to Cross Country racing?
Ty Kady- I think by keeping the racing fun, switching up the racecourses and venues. Then adding things like Jason Britton’s stunt show, In N Out burgers at select events and giving out better awards and swag keeps them coming back and hopefully increases the numbers. The bottom line for the Am’s is to keep it fun and make them feel like they got something for their entry fee.
MTBracenews- How do you respond to the criticism that the Pro XCT will be just like the old U.S. National series because you utilize the same venues and many of the same race promoters?
Ty Kady- That criticism will always be there. The old “lipstick” on the pig philosophy that we saw in this year’s presidential election keeps popping up.
We have addressed that with adding new venues and promoters, as well as going back to the tracks and venues that are classics. We got Sea Otter on board, we added Bump N Grind to the PRO XCT tour, there’s going to be killer shootout in Vegas, and we’ve made track changes at the last two events, so we are trying to keep it fresh for these riders. The whole Kenda Cup East series is basically a hand selected series with the help of Kelli Lusk at USA Cycling. Her input was invaluable with putting us in touch with some of the east’s best promoters and courses.
To be honest that was one of my biggest fears when Tedro wanted to take this thing on. I wasn’t about to invest my time and energy into “propping” up the series for a few years and just letting it regress back again or using the same old courses, venues and promoters. In fact that is why I took my little departure in September and took another job offer outside the industry.
I wasn’t convinced at that time that the industry was behind Scott enough to pull it off in the way I envisioned. I was confident Tedro could fund the whole thing if he wanted to, but in my opinion the series belongs to all of us, not just one entity like Sho-Air.
In fact when you think about it, the fact that some guy who’s only been into mountain biking for four years and owns a freight company takes over the US National mountain bike series is pretty insane to me. That just shows you how divided the cycling industry really was, in that they let Tedro step in and take over. The old series was like a redheaded step child that no body wanted… man I think I just made fun of myself right there!
My other fear back then was they (MTB industry) were just going to stand back and watch Scott carry the series and the industry on his back and right into the ground, I wasn’t down for that scenario. I told Tedro, “if they don’t want it that bad enough to help out, I don’t think it’s worth the effort.” Clearly a guy that runs a $20+ Million dollar company has bigger and better things to do than run a series that no one supports. Contrary to what people think, running a series is very time consuming and no one is getting rich off of it. It’s definitely a labor of love.
But once Tedro has his mind set on something, he is relentless. His passion for the sport and the goodwill he wants to spread by taking this series on should be highly commended, and that includes myself. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t even be talking about the success we have had this year with the US Cup. Viva La Tedro!!
MTBracenews- How do you respond to the criticism that the Pro XCT will be just like the old U.S. National series because you utilize the same venues and many of the same race promoters?
Ty Kady- That criticism will always be there. The old “lipstick” on the pig philosophy that we saw in this year’s presidential election keeps popping up.
We have addressed that with adding new venues and promoters, as well as going back to the tracks and venues that are classics. We got Sea Otter on board, we added Bump N Grind to the PRO XCT tour, there’s going to be killer shootout in Vegas, and we’ve made track changes at the last two events, so we are trying to keep it fresh for these riders. The whole Kenda Cup East series is basically a hand selected series with the help of Kelli Lusk at USA Cycling. Her input was invaluable with putting us in touch with some of the east’s best promoters and courses.
To be honest that was one of my biggest fears when Tedro wanted to take this thing on. I wasn’t about to invest my time and energy into “propping” up the series for a few years and just letting it regress back again or using the same old courses, venues and promoters. In fact that is why I took my little departure in September and took another job offer outside the industry.
I wasn’t convinced at that time that the industry was behind Scott enough to pull it off in the way I envisioned. I was confident Tedro could fund the whole thing if he wanted to, but in my opinion the series belongs to all of us, not just one entity like Sho-Air.
In fact when you think about it, the fact that some guy who’s only been into mountain biking for four years and owns a freight company takes over the US National mountain bike series is pretty insane to me. That just shows you how divided the cycling industry really was, in that they let Tedro step in and take over. The old series was like a redheaded step child that no body wanted… man I think I just made fun of myself right there!
My other fear back then was they (MTB industry) were just going to stand back and watch Scott carry the series and the industry on his back and right into the ground, I wasn’t down for that scenario. I told Tedro, “if they don’t want it that bad enough to help out, I don’t think it’s worth the effort.” Clearly a guy that runs a $20+ Million dollar company has bigger and better things to do than run a series that no one supports. Contrary to what people think, running a series is very time consuming and no one is getting rich off of it. It’s definitely a labor of love.
But once Tedro has his mind set on something, he is relentless. His passion for the sport and the goodwill he wants to spread by taking this series on should be highly commended, and that includes myself. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t even be talking about the success we have had this year with the US Cup. Viva La Tedro!!
