2012 Criterium Detroit City Canceled
Hello,
It is with a heavy heart, and a heavier hand that I write this email. After months, days, hours, several beers, lots of tears, a very helpful team, that I write you to tell you that there will be no Criterium Detroit City in 2012. There have been many developments in the past few months that I've been trying to fix and refix. Our course downtown was canceled due to a scheduling conflict. We tried to move the course but haven't found a suitable replacement course. We have made lots of headway with several new routes for the course, but I have been unable to raise enough money to put on the crit, or find the perfect course.
In full and total disclosure, last year I was able to raise $5,200 in sponsorship dollars, the race cost us $16,000 to put on (and that was the amount after we pulled every favor in the book). This year, I can't pull those favors again, it will cost more, and there just isn't enough time.
This is just a bump in a roubaix-esque course - there are lots of them, and you'll never know which one gave you the flat, and you know you'll get back in it.
I will be at Detroit Bike City on March 24th to talk about the future of the race. There is a future. The race will be back in 2013 in a new location. The point of Criterium Detroit City is, and has always been, to show off Detroit. To do that we will move the race course around the city and show off it's great assets.
To the racers - you have to know that for me canceling this race is the hardest thing I've ever done. Putting the race on last year was hard, I broke down a week before the race as I was given two bills for $2,500 each that I couldn't pay. But I stuck with it. My moto last year was "it's going to be the most amazing thing you've ever seen, even if I go broke doing it." I wanted to show you something you had never seen before, and I hope that I did. In continuing with that tradition, I want to give you a race that you will always remember, and at this point I can't. I can't keep getting you (and me) excited every time we have a silver lining. I thought we had a course, I was wrong. I thought we had a new course, I was wrong. I thought we had a title sponsor, I was wrong. I want to give you an experience that you've never had before, and right now, I can't.
I have been trying to figure out a way around this. But I can't. I don't want to waste my planning teams time, they are a great bunch of people and I want them to focus on something that will work, like CDC 2013. I can't waste resources that I don't have, it seems that last year taught me something. Next year the race will be back - better than last year.
This is the saddest email I've ever written. I am not giving up, it's just not in the cards this year. The last thing I want to do is to let you down, and I feel like that's what I'm doing, but I'm just trying to save you from thinking there will be a crit when in fact, there wont be. I feel like I've failed you, and that's not something that's easy for me to say. I hope you understand our / my position in this matter. Last year I pulled off a race and I'm still not sure how, this year the cards didn't fall right, and I'm out of options.
I need to thank some very important people - Andy of Young Basile Law Firm in Troy, Andy, thanks for your support last year, you were one of the few people that I could talk to and run numbers by. Thank you so much for all you did for me. Kevin of Penske Corp. Kevin, thank you for pushing our race through to the right people. You not only helped us get our foot in the door at Penske you also raced the Cat 5 race, got crashed out, and still stayed and watched the entire day of racing. For me it is hardest to say thanks to you, you are the kind of racer that makes canceling the race the hardest. Tom and his whole team from UNIVERSAL Ambulance, any and all racers that participated in CDC need to thank Tom's team for being a the race. They donated their services to the race for free. They were an amazing group of people, Thank you Thank you! John at Quicken, thanks for all you did for the race, I hope we can continue to work together in the future. Rob Barr at the Detroit Athletic Club, thanks for being so supportive and for having such a beautiful background for our race. Josh at the Opera House, last year you were such a huge help to the race, the marketplace and to us. Annette at Yelp, you rock my socks off and you know it. There are so many people, I can't stress enough how amazing you all were, if I didn't say your name I'm sorry, I just can't continue to write them all down and see my screen through the tears. Last but not least - John Harris at the Boll Family YMCA, next to Andy you were our longest and most dedicated supporter. Race day couldn't have happened last year without you. Thank you so much for all you did for me, for us, for the race.
We're using 2012 as our free lap, be back to win big next year!
Thanks for your support, I'll see you at the other races, and in 2013 back here in Detroit -
Erika Fulk
[Criterium Detroit Website]
It is with a heavy heart, and a heavier hand that I write this email. After months, days, hours, several beers, lots of tears, a very helpful team, that I write you to tell you that there will be no Criterium Detroit City in 2012. There have been many developments in the past few months that I've been trying to fix and refix. Our course downtown was canceled due to a scheduling conflict. We tried to move the course but haven't found a suitable replacement course. We have made lots of headway with several new routes for the course, but I have been unable to raise enough money to put on the crit, or find the perfect course.
In full and total disclosure, last year I was able to raise $5,200 in sponsorship dollars, the race cost us $16,000 to put on (and that was the amount after we pulled every favor in the book). This year, I can't pull those favors again, it will cost more, and there just isn't enough time.
This is just a bump in a roubaix-esque course - there are lots of them, and you'll never know which one gave you the flat, and you know you'll get back in it.
I will be at Detroit Bike City on March 24th to talk about the future of the race. There is a future. The race will be back in 2013 in a new location. The point of Criterium Detroit City is, and has always been, to show off Detroit. To do that we will move the race course around the city and show off it's great assets.
To the racers - you have to know that for me canceling this race is the hardest thing I've ever done. Putting the race on last year was hard, I broke down a week before the race as I was given two bills for $2,500 each that I couldn't pay. But I stuck with it. My moto last year was "it's going to be the most amazing thing you've ever seen, even if I go broke doing it." I wanted to show you something you had never seen before, and I hope that I did. In continuing with that tradition, I want to give you a race that you will always remember, and at this point I can't. I can't keep getting you (and me) excited every time we have a silver lining. I thought we had a course, I was wrong. I thought we had a new course, I was wrong. I thought we had a title sponsor, I was wrong. I want to give you an experience that you've never had before, and right now, I can't.
I have been trying to figure out a way around this. But I can't. I don't want to waste my planning teams time, they are a great bunch of people and I want them to focus on something that will work, like CDC 2013. I can't waste resources that I don't have, it seems that last year taught me something. Next year the race will be back - better than last year.
This is the saddest email I've ever written. I am not giving up, it's just not in the cards this year. The last thing I want to do is to let you down, and I feel like that's what I'm doing, but I'm just trying to save you from thinking there will be a crit when in fact, there wont be. I feel like I've failed you, and that's not something that's easy for me to say. I hope you understand our / my position in this matter. Last year I pulled off a race and I'm still not sure how, this year the cards didn't fall right, and I'm out of options.
I need to thank some very important people - Andy of Young Basile Law Firm in Troy, Andy, thanks for your support last year, you were one of the few people that I could talk to and run numbers by. Thank you so much for all you did for me. Kevin of Penske Corp. Kevin, thank you for pushing our race through to the right people. You not only helped us get our foot in the door at Penske you also raced the Cat 5 race, got crashed out, and still stayed and watched the entire day of racing. For me it is hardest to say thanks to you, you are the kind of racer that makes canceling the race the hardest. Tom and his whole team from UNIVERSAL Ambulance, any and all racers that participated in CDC need to thank Tom's team for being a the race. They donated their services to the race for free. They were an amazing group of people, Thank you Thank you! John at Quicken, thanks for all you did for the race, I hope we can continue to work together in the future. Rob Barr at the Detroit Athletic Club, thanks for being so supportive and for having such a beautiful background for our race. Josh at the Opera House, last year you were such a huge help to the race, the marketplace and to us. Annette at Yelp, you rock my socks off and you know it. There are so many people, I can't stress enough how amazing you all were, if I didn't say your name I'm sorry, I just can't continue to write them all down and see my screen through the tears. Last but not least - John Harris at the Boll Family YMCA, next to Andy you were our longest and most dedicated supporter. Race day couldn't have happened last year without you. Thank you so much for all you did for me, for us, for the race.
We're using 2012 as our free lap, be back to win big next year!
Thanks for your support, I'll see you at the other races, and in 2013 back here in Detroit -
Erika Fulk
[Criterium Detroit Website]
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