To be or not to be

isn't the question. The question should be to be and let be.

Swedens cycling scene is rotting, from the inside. I don't care what elite cyclists tell you, they can tell you what they like, if you are like me, a happy recreational cyclist you probably don't care too much what they get up to. On a personal note I am happy that they compete where they do, but I do wish that more like them would also take that step away from the recreational rides and into the competitive arena.

The thing is, they don't. And it's a bloody odd situation. The number of licenced boys and girls that compete in Sweden has dropped steadily since 2000 and there are no signs of this improving.
The number of events you can compete at are also dropping steadily to the extent that even the Swedish Cup has been cut in half with the number of events in 2011. For some reason, whatever that reason may be, the number of competitive cyclists in Sweden are dwindling, as are the number of events they can compete in.

The really odd thing is, the amount of money, time and effort being ploughed into Swedish elite cycling by the Swedish Cycling Federation is increasing? So someone, somewhere is getting more money, and doing (by all intents and purposes) less effective work.

So either people just aren't into cycling, which I refuse to believe as bikes are being sold more than ever or it's just not attractive enough. Or could it be that for the Swedish Cycling Federation has just got it wrong?
I'm prepared to go for the latter. It's just a gut feeling, a hunch if you like. I don't have the figures that could give my argument weight. But I'm sure that if you were to take a percentage of the population of Norway, Denmark or even the UK you'll find that a higher percentage of them cycle competively than do here in Sweden.
The main difference is that in the other countries I've mentioned, you are ranked after your ability and NOT your age.
So where as in Sweden you will only compete with cyclists that are in your age group, in the UK you will cycle with cyclists that are equal, or slightly better or slightly less better than yourself.

Make the transition to football and perhaps it's better to understand.
Wayne Rooney would never have been the youngest player to play for England.
Ryan Giggs wouldn't still be kicking a ball at Manchester United. But here they are, one Legend, and one legend in the making playing in the same team. What Giggs doesn't know about being a professional you can stick up your left nostril (and some players do), what Rooney needs to learn you could stamp all over him. So who better to learn from then, than a man like Giggs.

SCF's annual meeting will be on March 12th. Interesting to see if they've taken the bait offered by Project Swedish Cycling, or if another 2 years have been wasted.