Founded in 1898, the Century Road Club Association (CRCA) is not just one of the oldest and biggest cycling clubs in the country - it also plays an important role in the vibrant New York City cycling scene by hosting all current races in Central Park and stepping in to help save races like the Grant's Tomb Criterium, the Tour de Fort Lee Criterium and for a brief stint the Harlem Criterium when those events came under pressure. This has all been accomplished while operating entirely as a volunteer-led not-for-profit organization. For those volunteers serving on the CRCA Board the task isn't exactly thankless but it certainly involves a significant load of work for modest tangible reward (free CRCA membership). And it is a task that has gotten more difficult thanks to challenging demographics for cycling and an increasingly difficult revenue/expense equation for bike races.

Thankfully some talented and dedicated members of the New York City cycling community have continued to do an excellent for the Club in recent years - redesigning the membership interface and website, taking on the additional workload of the Fort Lee Criterium, creating and growing the Women's Development Series, improving the club's finances and sponsorship program, stabilizing the Club's relationship with NYC Parks and any number of other successes. For better or worse, however, this upcoming year promises to be a transition year as several longstanding CRCA Board members are stepping back from the club and key leadership roles will pass onto to new blood for the 2019 race season. The importance of bringing in a new generation of dedicated leadership cannot be understated - without the CRCA, racing in Central Park may no longer exist, unique events like the Grant’s Tomb Criterium would have expired several years ago and all of the club’s numerous other development activities (CRCDF Junior & U23 program, free coaching sessions) would cease.

As such I wanted to flag this big transition year to the New York City community well in advance of CRCA Board elections that will take place in a few months. If you're interested in taking on a leadership role on next year's CRCA Board but have questions about doing so feel free to reach out via e-mail (Team@ToBeDetermined.cc). TBD has had longstanding representation on the CRCA Board from several different team members so we'd be happy to answer any questions you may have about getting involved.