We sent sponsorship inquires and proposals hoping to gain valuable sponsorship dollars. Any racer will admit that cycling is expensive. Many of our requests were answered with emails reading, 'your small cadre of racers holds promise but currently we are not able to offer sponsorship to fledgling teams.' Our smaller sponsors, who generously offered equipment discounts in lieu of money required larger teams who could broadcast their brand at major cycling events.
Immediate reactions struck: the letters--narrative driven were too long, too colorful, too detailed. We just couldn't offer the results--a proven track record. Then the third and final thought, which really contains the first two struck: It's the economy, dollars are tight. Our three year tenure with midlevel results doesn't offer the confidence necessary for sponsorship. Our beautifully written proposals, with the prose of an MFA grad student, might have value in academia but in business succinct, results oriented writing trumps beautiful prose. It's all about time and clarity.
It would be easy to feel discouraged. And we hope that last year's team will understand, will view what could be seen as a setback as an opportunity. As night faded to day on December 31st, the opening lines of our proposals began to resonate: " WOB Racing is a grassroots team for those interested in racing, for those who want to experience the competition of racing without the pressure of winning results required by most teams. We're comrades, we're learning from each other, we're teaching the young to ride and keeping the old riding.
Those words were forgotten. Our brand identity began to deviate from our mission statement, one that parallels our title sponsors: "Cyclists serving cyclists".
For 2010 you'll see our new colors, black and red instead of green and black. You might even notice that we're testing new equipment, something our sponsorship agreements prevented. The freedom offered goes beyond the dollars that might have been--sure we'll miss them but we're freed of contractual agreements, free to try new stuff, and that is part of learning to ride, finding the stuff that works.
As we ride our trainers and rollers, lift weights, swim and skate through the dark winter months we'll remind ourselves who we are, "A grassroots cycling team racing for fun".
Happy New Year
