After two unbelievable winter runs of Savage Sprints at Hot Italian, with grown men and children begging me to continue, I'm not quite ready to hang it up yet. But this last run of nine shows took over 200 hours to produce, averaging out to about 8 bucks an hour. That's not counting over 100 volunteer hours and all the work Gene Redmon of TimeYourRace did for pennies in return to make the gig legit. But I couldn't help thinking all the while how cool it would be to do a huge event on a soundstage and promote it like rock concert. We could have the entire West Coast track community and all of our local cycling clubs involved. But alas, my credit cards are maxed out and the current model is not sustainable. I have two options, take it to the next level or cut my losses and walk away.
So in my plan for, as Emily Kachorek puts it, "a more sustainable Dino," I'm swinging for the fence. Plan A is to run a Kickstarter and raise the funds to set up shop and build a whole new Savage Sprints system that will stand up under the pressure of world class sprinters and serve as a talent ID tool for junior racers. It would be a cross between a rock concert, a circus act, and a prize fight, played out on a handmade art-bike installation. I would be able to continue going full throttle on the velodrome project, possibly do another winter roller race series, and continue to generate the content and buzz needed to keep our dream in the public eye.
Plan B would be to liquify everything but a bike or two, buy a TIG welder, build a powder coating oven in my garage, and continue to work part time while I develop the skills to earn a decent living. Savage Sprints would be finished for sure and my available time to push the velodrome project might get tight for a while. So here we go...it's game seven, bottom of the nineth, two outs, a full count, we're down by three, the bases are loaded, and I'm looking fastball all the way.
Ride fast and swerve!
