CTT RIDER SURVEY – HEADLINE OUTPUTS

Back in April 2022, a short survey was sent out to everyone registered on our CTT database with a response rate of c.12% and almost 900 individual comments.  Huge thanks go out to everyone who took the time to make comments and incorporate suggestions in these responses.  All of the responses have now been filtered and sorted and all comments have been reviewed and collated into categories which have identified some key themes.

The initial 4 questions gave a high level view as follows:-

• Currently a rider of TT’s – of which 84% were, 16% were not *
• Competed in any 2022 events – of which 24% had, 76% had not
• Plans to compete in events in 2022 – of which 27% did not, 73% did
• Of the 27% with no plans to compete, indicatively what were the reasons:-
  • Health – Covid related – 10.2%
  • Health – Other (Not Covid related) – 21.2%
  • Cost Related – 13.2%
  • Pursuing other interests – 28.2%
  • Retiring from racing/competition – 27.2%

*16% of the overall responses were individuals who are not riding TT’s and 3.5% of the comments were from organisers/timekeepers, therefore a key next step is to undertake a survey specifically for Organisers and specifically for Timekeepers.

The comments supplied then provided a greater level of insight into more specific themes and subjects – see below. 

The % represents the proportion of the total number of comments that particular subject relates to – for example, “Attitude” as a subject represents 3% of the total number of comments.

Headline Theme / Subject	%
Attitude / Behaviours	3 %
Costs	4 %
Health – Covid	3.5 %
Health – Other	11 %
Events	12 %
Family / Work / Education	7 %
Fitness and/or Motivation	5 %
Focus on other sports / activities	8.5 %
Living abroad	1 %
Membership rules	1.5 %
Multiple reasons	4 %
No plans to ride TTs	2 %
Organiser / Timekeeper	3.5 %  *
Planning to ride in TTs	11 %
Rules / Regulations	4 %
Time available to train	2 %
Traffic Levels and/or Risk	10%
Weather	2 %
Other / General comments	5 %

Whilst many of the above categories are self-explanatory, the following gives a little more detail re the nature of some of the subjects within these categories:-

Attitude – comments related to attitude, behaviours, inclusivity.

Costs – comments related to costs included generally rising living costs, costs of entry, costs of travelling to events.

Living Abroad – comments indicating people have moved abroad or are living abroad – maybe temporary with an intention to return to TTs.

Family/Work/Education – comments indicating priorities are family and work, including shift working, which mean they won’t be racing for those reasons.  This also includes education/study commitments.

Covid – comments specifically related to Covid – having it, recovering from it, not comfortable attending events even at this stage of coming out of Covid.

Health – comments specifically to “Other” health so NOT Covid, but other Health issues – this could be injuries, poor health so retiring from racing, no longer racing due to age.

Events – comments related to Events – cancellations, timing of events, lack of awareness or communication around events, no events or specific event types in areas, wanting more road bike categories but NOT event entry fees, these were included under the “Costs” category above.

Fitness / Motivation – comments related to individual fitness (eg as a result of recovering from an injury so improving but not fit enough to compete), not “getting back into the swing of things” so not planning for events and lacking motivation to do so.

Time Available to Train – comments re not having the time to train.

Focus on other sports / activities - comments indicated riders had either already switched to other sports or activities or were planning to do so (eg going back to Tri, Duathlon and/or other non-cycling sports).

No plan to ride – comments with a clear indication of no intention to ride TT’s this year.

Organiser / TK – comments which indicated the individual didn’t ride but were organisers or timekeepers.

Membership Rules – comments specifically related to club membership rules – so needing to be a member of a club to ride in Open Events when they perhaps didn’t want to be and suggestions around Headquarters Club or other Membership rules.

Rules / Regulations – separate from the Membership Rules above but comments related to rear lights, front lights, helmets etc.

Plan to Ride – comments with clear indications of intent to ride but not yet started (eg Hill Climbs, events in area not yet started or own personal “schedule” of events hasn’t yet started).

Traffic Levels & Risk – comments related to safety (personal and course), traffic levels, become too risky to ride TT events on the open road.

Weather – comments related to the weather – too cold, weather conditions had not been good.

Multiple Reasons Given – comments which covered a combination of factors and reasons (of the above categories), in some cases with detail so these will be reviewed separately.

Other/General comments not covered in the above categories and more generally about the survey itself.

So, what does any of this mean in real terms ?

The survey and specifically the comments from the survey are a truly valuable source of insight and information and aren’t just comment or rhetoric, there have been ideas and suggestions put forward.  Within CTT we have a number of working groups looking at some key subjects – Finance, Communications, Equality/Diversity, IT etc – there is a newly formed working group set-up and being led by Andrea Parish which is comprised of representatives from Districts, riders, Event Organisers who are looking at a broad range of subjects ranging from Events, competitions, regulations and bringing ideas to the table for consideration.  The survey comments that relate to the categories highlighted above will be shared with the various working groups so these ideas, suggestions and feedback can be considered moving forward.

The CTT Board are committed to using the outputs from the survey to help shape the future direction of the sport and to positively drive improvements.  Seeking out the views of our riders is an important step in this process of making changes in our sport and adapting to the changing times ahead of us.  Our next step will be to follow a similar path and survey our Event Organisers, Timekeepers, Treasurers and our District Chair and Secretary – so that we also collect the views, ideas and suggestions of the volunteers who are so important to the running of our sport and how we can refine and adapt our processes and ways of working.

Thanks again to those who contributed to this survey, it’s up to us to now make a difference.

Kind regards

Dawn Sherrin

On Behalf of the CTT Board of Directors