East Bound and Down: The World Cup Q & A

In 2010, The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup made it's first descent upon the tiny mountain resort community of Windham, New York. With a year-round population of under 2,000 residents, the task of bringing the mountain bike world's preeminent competition brand to town was a staggering concept. Yet, with virtually half of the community's residents volunteering their time, and a mountain resort opening it eyes up to the possibilities, the Windham World Cup stop has become one of the favorites along the circuit for fans and athletes alike. Two of the primary figures behind the organization of the Windham World Cup stop are co-directors Lori Torgersen and Nick Bove. Nick runs a number of bike and ski shops in the region including Windham Mountain Outfitters - the shop famously located, half a mile from the base of the mountain, where you will find dozens of fans and athletes convening throughout the week of the World Cup. Lori is the proud owner of a Ph.D. in criminology and works full time for the State of New York in the mental policy and criminal justice fields. Together they oversee the operations, from event applications, to race day management and everything in between. What has become a year-round endeavour is also done on a volunteer basis by these two, and scores of other key figures throughout the process. What began almost 20 years ago by the pair to develop and cultivate a cycling culture in and around Windham, has resulted in local and national race series, a not-for-profit organization called the Windham Area Recreation Foundation, and has culminated in the crown jewel mountain bike event for the United States, the UCI World Cup. While much of our attention is focused on the narrative of the races themselves, as it well should be, the ins and outs of the event planning and processes are a bit of a great unknown among race fans. Recently, Lori and Nick took some time out of their impossibly busy days to discuss the genesis of the event and many of the lessons learned along the way.


What are some of the greatest challenges faced with bringing a UCI World Cup event to a small resort town like Windham, New York?

Lori: Well, a big one has been trying to evolve the structure of the Windham Area Recreation Foundation into something that is a bit more sustainable now that we’re fiv years into it. If you look at our technical director, who designs all of the courses and repairs them every year, it’s a tremendous amount of work. He takes off from his full time job just to do that. That’s not a structure that is sustainable. There’s a lot of passion and energy in this community; people love the World Cup coming here and we’re trying to transition into something with Windham Mountain, New York State and Greene County, that will hopefully see some key paid staff and a more defined organizational structure. Hopefully that means we can have this discussion again in 20 years. Windham is becoming a core stop on the World Cup circuit and we want to see it stay that way.

Nick: We have spent a lot of time over the past five years showing New York State the economic value of this and the boost it gives the state and they have been coming around more and more and helping out with the event. We’re trying to ramp those efforts up from the state in the hopes of a more sustainable operation.


Lori: The event itself is incredibly expensive to put on. We have to come up with prize money, drug testing...

Nick: Just the prize payout alone is $57,000. There is also an inscription fee of $25,000 just for signing on. There aren’t really a lot of places for generating revenue here either.

Lori: So, there are a lot of costs for the event itself, but there aren’t a ton of revenue sources. We do get some registration money, although the UCI highly regulates that and many athletes race for free. There are some sources at the expo, but really, the expenses far outweigh the revenues for the event itself. This is where New York State needs to step up. Regional businesses do well during the event and because of all the increased exposure, people come back to Windham more frequently. That’s why in other countries you find significant federal support. At the end of the day, we are providing sales tax dollars back to New York State and Greene County. While there is not one single entity making enough money to underwrite the whole thing, there is a broad economic impact throughout the region. That’s why the state, the county and hopefully in the future, our federal government will see value of this and support it the way it is done in other countries.



Every year, the cost of the inscription fee goes up too. It’s basically a contract fee. With that, we are entitled to use the World Cup brand and all of the logos that are associated with it. Swiss Timing is the organization that handles World Cup event timing, which comes with the contract. We also get the television coverage with that fee. There is also no revenue for us from that production, as the UCI owns those rights and sells them off for their own revenue. There are so many additional costs. The whole UCI media crew comes over from around the world and we have to feed them while they are here, plus all of the officials. Included are meals, lodging, and travel within the United States. There’s a 120-page document that details everything, because there are standards that need to be followed. There are specific places for logos and sponsors on posters, and award ceremony formalities with flower arrangements, and champagnes, etc.

Nick: There’s a double-edged sword to this. It can be a beast of burden having to adhere to all of those rules, however, it is also nice to know that it is in a document that outlines exactly how it is all supposed to be done.

Lori: Having been to Switzerland for the Organizers Meeting, I can see that they are trying to make the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup a recognizable brand. You want people to know that, whatever is happening in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, is the same thing that is happening in Windham, New York. They want to ensure that it will be the same experience for the athletes, teams and spectators from one event to another. With that, they want each local community to be able to showcase it’s own little flair, that's why here in Windham, we do all of the side things, like the block party, the lazer show, the amateur racing and all of that.


How do you sell Windham to the UCI?

Lori: The original application was actually done by an employee from Windham Mountain. The first year, here is what I thought was going on in the UCI’s mind. ‘There’s this community that is really developing a cycling culture, so much so, that they host a national-level race there and there’s some growing recognition. Oh yeah, that place is pretty centrally located too. It’s two hours north of Manhattan, less than three hours west of Boston, and easy to get to. Wait a minute; we have this Mont-Sainte-Anne event which is already on the East Coast of North America and wouldn’t it be great for the European athletes to fly over and be able to get two events in a row?’ So, I think it was already a good fit to begin with and then I think that the athletes, the teams and the UCI were resoundingly happy with the performance of the group that put it together. I think there is something to the fact that we have such a community spirit here. It’s not a paid event management corporation that runs it here - the community charm really helps us a lot.

Nick: The community ownership is awesome. Our theory is that, when we engage the community into helping, they have a stronger sense of ownership about the whole thing. It’s not just an event that is happening down the road from there, its something they care about and it shows. It really pays off in spades.


What happened in 2013?

Lori: We did submit a bid that year. We got a letter back from the UCI that basically said, 'We very much want you to be back on the World Cup circuit in the future, every event has been great so far, there’s just no room for you this year.’ We were kind of like, ‘Whoa, wait second. We have made this huge investment in building the event up and building sponsorships and bringing in spectators, buying infrastructure for this event.’ It was all done with the expectation, not promise, that if it went well, it would continue. So we reached out to the UCI and asked them why. We were told that, since it was a post-Olympic year, their budget had to be cut back a bit. The U.S. stop is the most expensive for them because they need to fly all of their people over here and the production costs are very high. I understand that they were courting a venue in China as well and I think that also factored into it. But, it was really a lot of work for us to help build this brand this awareness, just to have it taken away and be told to try again next year.



But the UCI heard a lot of complaints from other organizers who really felt like the U.S. was an important venue and that we were doing a great job. A lot of the American athletes wanted to be able to race at home. The teams thought that this was a great event and wanted to know why. The UCI then came back to us and said that the calendar was really tight but wanted to know if there was any way we could have this ready by April. Unfortunately, in April there is still two feet of snow on the ground on the mountain and that wasn’t feasible. So, we instead got an early commitment for 2014. We never even officially put in the bid for 2014, as we were told we would have it back in 2012. It was a matter of expense from the UCI standpoint but they also seemed to recognize later that it might not have been the best call.


What kinds of adjustments have been made over the past 5 years that has kept the UCI coming back to Windham?

Nick: It wouldn’t be right to not paint the financial background from year to year, because that's so overwhelming. In 2010, we invested or lost; depending on how you want to look at it, $240,000. Our expenses were 240 thousand dollars more than our income. That was enormous for a community of this size to lose almost a quarter of a million dollars. The good thing there, was what we did early on was that we began to invest in infrastructure. Things like purchasing the finish-line arches and all sorts of things that we wouldn't have to rent in the future. In year two, we brought the losses down to $86,000 and in year three, it was only $36,000. So there was this pattern of decreasing loss from year to year. We really tried to break even this year. The numbers aren’t out yet, but it’s going to be super close. That has been our goal. That drives everything.


The bottom line is that, if it is not sustainable and we keep losing money, we just won’t be able to have this event here in the future. So, we had to not go crazy with course design. You can go wild with spending on things like pedestrian bridge crossings; things we want to be able to do, but just can’t right now. Maybe year five. Luckily, Windham Mountain is well suited for these things. We would love to see the downhill be a little bit longer, but it’s hard to grow this mountain taller than it is; although 1,600 feet of vertical is nothing to shake a stick at. But, it is a short and fast downhill course that is challenging in its own way. It is really appealing to the athletes on the World Cup circuit, so we don’t want to do anything to rock that boat.


It isn't, Mont-Sainte-Anne, which is good, because it has its own appeal. We just want to do things each year that make it more appealing, such as getting the draining off of the course and get the pipes underground; that way the riders can still send it off of that big road gap even if it’s a soupy and wet day. We want to make sure its more conducive to strong performances from the riders. We have worked hard on spectator corridors from year one as well. We have definitely gotten more savvy in terms of making it a better experience for the spectators. We added audio to the mid-mountain as well, so that people hanging out by the road gap could watch the rider go by and still listen in on how they finished. In the future, we want to work on getting video up there. We want the spectators to go home and really think to themselves that they have to get back here year after year.


What makes Windham unique from an athlete's perspective?

Nick: It’s a truly east coast destination. It’s rocky and rooty but it does have flow to it. For the XC racers, it is a burly mountain course that does have to work its way up that hill and back down with a fast descent. It’s a bit technical and will really bite you if you screw up.

Lori: There are 38 bridges on the XC course. We always hear from the athletes that they can tell that there is some TLC that goes into these courses. It's not something that just sits in disrepair all year and gets dusted off right before the race. There is a lot of attention to detail and lots of work and grooming that goes into it. It’s a labor of love. We don’t know if that’s the same everywhere else, but it’s definitely something that they notice here. I had some opportunities to ride with some DH athletes on the lifts this year and they were all really into the speed of the course and how they can just go all out. The TV people really love it here because they can capture almost all of it, which is important for everyone at home to experience.


Nick: For good and for bad, the television crews have actually helped mold our courses over the years. A lot of cynics will say that the riders should dictate the course more than the television coverage, but remember that in order to grow the sport and get it to where we all want it to be, and get the NBCs and ESPNs of the world to put it on their networks, it has got to be good television. It’s difficult when you have ten cameras filming a one-mile downhill and half of it isn’t caught on film. We try to work with them to reduce the areas where they can’t get a long camera shot. We work closely with them and then move the course around to make it happen. They come out in May and walk the course, and make suggestions about trimming branches or moving lines; so there’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to make sure that the television aspect brings another dimension to it that most organizers don’t have to think about.


Describe the crowds here for the uninitiated.

Nick: Without a doubt, I think that in 2010, people were excited to hear about a World Cup but they weren’t entirely sure what it was. We have seen an increase in spectators every year. As word got out that Windham is pretty wild, people would return to the event with friends and family in tow. It has definitely gained in popularity, big time.

Lori: Numbers-wise, we’re still working them out for clarity sake, but we’re estimating that about 23,000 people made it out to the event this year. I think that back in 2010, we were dealing with about 15,000 people. Just to put it into perspective, Chip Seamans is the general manager of the mountain, and he said that during the downhill finals, every lot was full including the tubing park. He said that only happens a busy President’s Day weekend with perfect weather. So those numbers are unheard of during the summer. To match the busiest single day of the ski season is just awesome.


I met a woman and her two kids, both of which were racing in the Eastern States Cup amateur downhill race, and were aged 9 and 13. They happened to be driving through in 2010, with no idea of what the World Cup or downhill racing was and saw everything we had going on in Windham. They stopped at the mountain and the kids were so enamoured with how cool everything was, and now the whole family is into it. The kids are racing ESC and are really into it all because they happened to be driving through Windham in 2010.

Nick: The actual crowd is more engaged and fun than ever before. This year you could just tell that they were there to have a great time. They were there to cheer everyone on. They wanted to be engaged and to be a part of the action.

Lori: Yeah, I have heard that more than once from the UCI that they find the American spectators to be uniquely crazy. In a good way. They’re loud, boisterous, excited, energetic and fun.


Who else is deserving of some credit for making this happen?

Lori: It’s hard because there are so many and I don’t want to leave anyone out.

Nick: There are so, so, so many…

Lori: I can’t emphasize enough that this is such a huge, community effort. Certainly, we have to mention Mike Henry. He’s the technical director and is out there from the snow melt in April through the end of the very last event of the weekend. He makes sure every single course is good to go. He coordinates design and labor and deals with every change the UCI wants changed. He handles all of the last minute things. There’s a group we have identified as “Special Ops” and it’s a group of mostly people doing course work, but there is an inside division as well. They are not specifically assigned to a role or task, but they are the ones doing the most random work that comes up.


They put in an insane amount of hours prior to the race; real back breaking and manual labor. They fix and build the course. They stake however many miles of course and spectator tape. That group concept is really cool. They are behind the scenes and don’t get a ton of attention but they deserve it. I think we have to thank our title sponsors in Stan’s No Tubes and Scott Sports. They have been our sponsors for DH and XC since the beginning and the event just wouldn’t happen without them. They have been hugely supportive obviously financially and also with promotion.

Nick: It’s almost impossible to mention everyone. Like the woman that runs the reception dinner on the Friday night. We only give her a $500 budget to provide a gourmet meal for 250 people. It’s all volunteer work. There are endless people like that who jump in and we realize that we simply could not do this without them. Each of those people have another 20 folks working behind them and would say the same thing about the help they’re getting. It’s an amazing community effort for sure.



Information on the Windham Area Recreation Foundation can be found here.

Be sure to stop in and say hello to Nick at Windham Mountain Outfitters.

More information on the 2015 Windham World Cup can be found here.