INTERVIEW: Cyclingdirt.org's Colt McElwaine

In the recent issue of XXC Mag, I wrote a piece called In Search of Porn. Sadly (or fortunatly?) it was about what it takes to get in the mood for riding on the trainer, and how for me it take some kick ass race videos.

One of the major players in today's bike racing porn industry, err, maybe I'll just call it "race coverage," and video race coverage, is Cyclingdirt.org's Colt McElwaine. As a follow up to my article, Colt was kind enough to answer few questions about the state of mountain bike coverage, how Cyclingdirt.org came to be and where it's going. I hope you enjoy.

How and when did Cyclingdirt.org come to be?

Behind Cycling, my second favorite sport is Running. In the Track and Field world it's not unusual to have a video from the race online the night of the meet. In November of 2008 I was racing 'Cross in Long Island, NY the weekend of the NCAA Cross Country Running National Championships and found myself sitting in the hotel room for hours at night watching video online from the race and interviews with the runners. Seeing these elite athletes talk casually about their races to a friend with a video camera made me feel like I was a part of this tight-knit community. It turned me into that much more of a fan of the sport. The next day after the 'cross race, while hanging around sharing stories from our races, I wished we had the type of video coverage that so many other sports enjoyed. Five days later I bought a video camera. Six days later I turned it on for the first time and filmed my first race. A week after that I was on a plane to Europe to film the Cyclocross World Championships. It's been non stop ever since. This was the first video-

You've covered a lot of racing, in some pretty cool places, do you have a favorite, or one that stands out?

Traveling is the best and worst part of my job. The things that stand out most are usually the obstacles that got in the way. Things like getting in to a small Canadian mountain town at 2am and having to find WiFi and a place to sleep (in that order.) The best location this past year was Costa Rica during La Ruta. The race videos hopefully show how beautiful that place is. And getting to surf in the Caribbean Sea on the off days didn't hurt.
There have been a lot of great interviews on the site too. Do you have any favorites?

To be honest, I never really watch the interviews after I record them. For me, they tend to bleed together by athlete and not so much stand out as one particular interview. Georgia Gould, Barry Wicks, Jeremy Powers, Kathy Sherwin, and Adam Myerson are a couple of my favorites to talk to. The most viewed interview all time is the Emily Batty Intro.

What are some of your plans for cyclingdirt.org in 2010?

Like any first year business, 2009 was all about finding out what works. In 2010, we'll still be at the best races around the world, but there will be an added emphasis on the mountain bike community as opposed to just the mountain bike racing community. We'll also be at a few less XC races and a couple more 100 milers, 12/24's, and stage races. The biggest change will be the ability to broadcast live remotely from anywhere in the world. We debuted the technology at Cyclocross Nationals this year and got a great response. I'm excited to bring live video coverage to the mountain bike scene this season.

Where do you see the site in the future?

We have big plans for the future of the company. Off-road cycling on TV is a thing of the past. We can do so much more for the sport with the power of the internet and the willingness of it's fans to adapt to the new media. With the Cyclingdirt Network, the future won't be just Cyclingdirt, but a network of hundreds of sites with the same goal and same technology to grow the sport. We have the technology to have millions of videos from every race around the world. The future is finding more people with video cameras.

You're around so much racing, do you think the U.S. scene is getting stronger, and what do you think it will take for it to keep growing and do you see sites like yours playing a part in its growth?

The U.S. scene is absolutely getting stronger. Aside from best ever international results this year, nearly every race I was at was experiencing increased ammeter attendance from the years prior. As far as what it will take to keep growing, that's a long list. I think the most important thing for the sport as a whole is the emphasis on hosting FUN events. It's not enough to mark the course and get the categories off on time. There needs to be barbecues, and raffles, and bike limbo. The people who want to take it seriously still can, but most people just want to ride hard for a couple hours then sit around drinking beer with their friends. I hope my site can play a part by, if nothing else, showing people what they're missing. I dare you to watch the race videos from La Ruta and tell me that doesn't make you want to book your tickets.

Thanks Colt!

Big thanks to Colt and to Cyclingdirt.org for their continuing coverage of XC, Cross, and XXC racing. In fact they just put some stuff up from The 24 Hours In The Old Pueblo. Check it out!