Sorry, but here's a rant, with biking in general and minor league bike sport in particular in mind (Si's innocent comment [above] re' the ACU in the topic about the cancelled Welsh road races has sparked this):
Since I started off-road racing in 1971, my experience of the ACU is that they're a top heavy, over-regulating and beaurocratic bunch of short sighted, empire-building, killjoy p.i.t. arse's. I wouldn't be in the least surprised to learn they've been involved in the C.O.W. fiasaco as well as this, the latest foray into their well trodden path of 'we-know-what's-good-for-you-so-don't-argue'.
They've managed to reduce the popularity of virtualy all disciplines of grass roots bike racing to a level where the general public, and a lot of bikers, hardly knows it exists.
Certainly IMO they've missmanaged motorcycle grasstrack racing, the sport that I've been mostly involved in; overseeing it's slide from one of the best attended spectator (and rider) off-road bike sports in the country (over 7,000 spectators at the 1976 Exeter-based 'Western Winner') to what it is today, a shadow of it's former self with dwindling attendances right across the board - anybody in SWB ever rode in a grasstrack race meeting, or attended one as a spectator? If so, you'll be speaking from a position of strength and I'd be interested to know your thoughts.
Motorcycling in ALL it's forms, including road, is declining in popularity - witness the increasing age of the average biker compared to 15 years ago. The ACU need to realise, and quickly, that the big league black-top circuit racers need the foundation of successful and popular grass roots racing, in every form, to keep biking in the public eye and therefore interesting and maybe something they, the public, should aspire to. The ACU are not doing a very good job of that at the moment.