With nominations for the positions available on the USA Cycling Cyclocross Committee closing in just a few days, we’re bringing you the fifth candidate statement, Logan VonBokel, a VeloNews reporter from Fort Collins, Colorado.
Logan VonBokel racing in Colorado. © Flannery Allison
I have been involved in the cycling community for just over eight years, which by most people’s standards is not long. Yet, with all of my short time in this world, I have seen cyclocross hit its stride in our country. What I lack in extended experience, I make up for with a fresh perspective and in experiences that cover most spectrums of the cycling community.
I currently work at VeloNews as Tech Reporter, which has me reviewing the latest in bikes and gear. Much of my focus since joining the magazine has been in cyclocross. With what I’ve seen in the technical side alone, our sport is leading the charge of innovation. Today, more than ever brands and riders are taking cyclocross more seriously and the products being offered reflect that.
However, this year will prove to be barrier for US cyclocross, but hopefully its one that’s hop-able.
With the Master’s World Championship’s two year tenure gone, and the hype of Elite’s almost a bitter memory with of the collapse of the USGP series, the US calendar needs a strong push from its governing body to continue at its current trajectory.
In the past I’ve worked for One2Go Event Services — a UCI level timing and results company. At One2Go, I’ve worked national championships as well as the 2012 Masters World Championships.
I am the former president of the Colorado State University Rams cycling team, who is one of the top ranked collegiate teams in the country. While president we promoted multiple weekends of racing for both collegiate and general USAC cyclists. I worked to broaden our community involvement, which included helping volunteer at the Fort Collins USGP.
I’ve also worked in triathlon promotion, helping to promote multiple triathlons in the Kansas City area. So while, I have experience in headache of cycling event promotion, my experiences extend to much larger headaches and multiple disciplines.
When it comes to the question of how to help our sport progress, especially this year, I will not claim to have all of the answers, though I look forward to taking the experiences I have and learning on the job. What I do claim is that I know this sport from every angle. As a racer, promoter, mechanic, contractor, and as a journalist, I’ve seen every side of bike race.
I believe strongly that the future of this discipline will come from the grass roots level, and simultaneously, from the professional level for both the women and the men. Cyclocross is a superior arena of sport when compared to every other discipline in cycling.
In this year of rebuilding I think its important for people to reconsider ways to make that arena both more easily accessible as well as welcoming to new cyclists, whether they are racing in their first event or spectating the Elites. There still needs to be a focus on the professional level, as no sport has ever succeeded without its heroes. With a focus on benefitting the experience at the beginner and professional levels, the efforts from the top and the bottom would work toward the middle, benefitting the entire sport.
