"Online registration simply proved too difficult for some to
comprehend. The night before the race, we had about five guys show up
with transaction reports that had been automatically sent to them."

I laugh my ass off when I hear promoters complain how difficult it is
when riders don't register in advance. I still have a start list,
PRINTED and SOLD to spectators after all riders had registered
"on-site", for the 1992 East Flanders Provincial Amateur Road
Championships. From rider number 1 (Danny Annaert) to number 461
(Patrick Verhertstraten), each riders name and hometown are listed
along with sponsors from around the Province. I bought this start list
for about a buck after the race had been on for about 20 minutes. Did
I, or any of the serious spectators, care that it was one color?

Although I agree almost entirely with the complaints and analysis
about masters currently adversely affecting the sport, promoters
should challenge themselves to search for reasonable sponsorship,
charge low, affordable entry fees (if any at all) and register
exclusively "on-site". That is before they write about riders not
being "professional".

Eric Hollenbeck
(No I'm not Belgian, thats why I was a spectator :-)