To the coaches: OUTSEASON® PRIMER FOR WINTER TRAINING IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

thekidduxc

Coaches - I really like this post. In the future, I gently suggest you expand your summer OS focus beyond the Southern Hemisphere athletes. The middle east/GCC follows the Southern Hemisphere athlete schedule as our summers are intolerable. Our competitive season in the GCC is late October through May.

People are already to spend money here on coaching. Every time I tell expats (mostly British, Western & Northern European, or Austrailian) athletes I am an EN member, they give me a blank stare as they have never heard of EN. It would be a minimal cost to extend your reach to this demographic; something I believe would be worth the ROI.

While the GCC is a small market, I promise you there is a passionate community of cyclists and triathletes worth reaching. Living in Dubai and traveling to Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait frequently, I witness an incredibly passionate group of expats whom display their passion with their wallets. What some people spend here on personal triathlon coaches is very expensive. In addition, these cats are dropping crazy money bikes. The average bike I see on the track/path is an excess of $8,000. Every Friday/Saturday when I go ride at our cycle track (a 130KM dedicated cycle path with perfectly paved roads) there are no less than 125 cars in the car park.

Coach Rich

Posted By David Walters on 16 Jul 2016 05:05 AM

Coaches - I really like this post. In the future, I gently suggest you expand your summer OS focus beyond the Southern Hemisphere athletes. The middle east/GCC follows the Southern Hemisphere athlete schedule as our summers are intolerable. Our competitive season in the GCC is late October through May.

People are already to spend money here on coaching. Every time I tell expats (mostly British, Western & Northern European, or Austrailian) athletes I am an EN member, they give me a blank stare as they have never heard of EN. It would be a minimal cost to extend your reach to this demographic; something I believe would be worth the ROI.

While the GCC is a small market, I promise you there is a passionate community of cyclists and triathletes worth reaching. Living in Dubai and traveling to Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait frequently, I witness an incredibly passionate group of expats whom display their passion with their wallets. What some people spend here on personal triathlon coaches is very expensive. In addition, these cats are dropping crazy money bikes. The average bike I see on the track/path is an excess of $8,000. Every Friday/Saturday when I go ride at our cycle track (a 130KM dedicated cycle path with perfectly paved roads) there are no less than 125 cars in the car park.

Hey David,

Thanks for the input! Can you recommend ways/venues/opportunities to reach these athletes? For example are there any specific websites or social groups on the web where we could share content like this with them? Thanks in advance. 

Paul Hough

Summer out season would work for a lot of South Florida and Texas athletes.

thekidduxc

Posted By Coach Rich on 16 Jul 2016 08:54 AM 

Hey David,

Thanks for the input! Can you recommend ways/venues/opportunities to reach these athletes? For example are there any specific websites or social groups on the web where we could share content like this with them? Thanks in advance. 

I reached out to multiple local athletes here to make sure I received a decent sampling. I did my best to assign a value to each potential location.

Grade: A

TriDubai / http://tridubai.org/#intro 

• TriDubai is a platform that supports triathletes via offering group rides, runs, and swims. TriDubai does NOT offer any coaching services. There is no membership fee associated with TriDubai. However, many athletes whom participate in the group sessions have a coach or are searching for a coach. 
• Best locations to connect with TriDubai athletes - website, facebook, twitter, instagram

Grade: A-

Various Social Platforms @ the key LBSs. The LBS have an impactful and active presence on FB, Twitter, & Instagram. These LBS tend to use their social platforms v their websites as a way to communicate with their customers.

• LBSs are a magnet for cyclists and triathletes. Given the issues associated with online shopping for non UAE stores (read as shipping and customs), every LBS here essentially operates as a triathlon store to stay relevant. 
• LBSs all operate group rides at the popular route spots. 

The key players are (in no specific order) 

• Wolfi's Bike Shop (Dubai) / www.wbs.ae / Tends to be more cycling focused as the owner (Wolfi Hohmann - yes he is German) is cycling centric.
• Cycle Hub (Dubai) / www.thecyclehub.com / very popular shop which hosts the Wednesday group ride @ the Dubai AutoDrome
• Yas Cycles (Abu Dhabi) / www.yascycles.com / the premier bike shop in Abu Dhabi. The General Manager is Bart Van Den Dries whom used to complete professionally on the pro tour. 
• Besport (Dubai/Abu Dhabi) / www.besport.ae / Not exactly a popular shop but still a lot of triathletes.
• Trek UAE (Dubai) / www.trekbikes.ae / a dedicated Trek shop with two great locations. Al Qudra is the 100+KM paved cycle track in Dubai. It consists of a stick (18K x 2)and a loop (49K with multiple off shoots). The stick is and empties out onto the loop. The spot where the stick and loop meet has a convenience store and one of the Trek UAE shops.
• Probike (Dubai) / www.probike.ae 
• Ride Boke Shop (Dubai) / www.rdiebikeshop.com 

Grade: B

Race Registrations Sites

• It is logical to assume that websites which provide registration platforms for athletes to registers in local races would be a good way to connect with potential athletes looking for coaches. The two players in this space are PremierOnline (www.premeironline.com) and RaceME (www.race-me-events.com). PremeirOnline probably hosts registration for 85% of the local races while RaceME handles the balance of registrations.

I hope this is the insight you are looking for.