What's your job? Or The Sponsor Game!

In the last few weeks some of the local guys I train with have been talking up the formation of a new team. Since I'm the guy who has gone out and found sponsors and created teams from spit and dirt the last decade or so, they thought I might fit the bill.

Ok, that's a reasonable assumption. So what's the first step? Money. Cold hard cash.

How do you attract the ever elusive money? Success. No-one wants to throw money at the under dog. They may cheer him on but they won't back him. If you have something successful people will be lining up for a piece of the action. This has been proven to me time and time again.

So...if we want to make a new team we need money. The only way to attract money is to already be successful. Right. This is that catch 22 thing. How can you be successful without money. Really. Racing is expensive (if we are talking about an Elite team) and you need to be able to pay the bills so the riders can focus on riding and not packing groceries.

Here's the thing. I am just starting to see some fitness. I mean, for brief moments, the slightest glimmer of strength on the horizon. We have a circuit race coming up in 3 weeks. I've won this race before but that was before. I should start to see some strength by then but it won't be enough - not even close. It won't be enough to put me on the podium in the Elite (P/1/2/M) group. Even if I race Elite Masters (we race together) it would take some luck and a wee bit of divine intervention for me to be ready by then.

But...if I race my age category I am pretty sure of a top 3. If I race against other guys who have a wife, kids, job and are the same age as me I will probably finish top 3. This is good. This is what my local team mates want me to do. It would be a fresh podium shot to dangle in front of potential sponsors. It may lack context for them but it will be a guy they are talking to standing on a podium. This has it's allure.

If it were just me I'd ride Elite Master, take my chances and hope for the best. It's the race I really want to do but aren't ready for.

But those sponsors...

So what's my job? What's my role here?

I keep thinking, if I thought hard enough, if I closed my eyes and worked my way back through the years, I wonder if I could find the moment where racing became something other than just going fast.