mike.m-@obra.org

Chris Brandt [mailto:chris_br-@hotmail.com]:

"As far as the national ranking points, I was under the impression that

there was going to be some kind of reciprocity between OBRA/NORBA/USCF as

far as racing categories are concerned (aside from "pro", I might add)."



There was an agreement to have reciprocity for rider categorization. USAC

later effectively said "Oh, we only meant for the road." Practically, road

and track categorizations are going straight across. I know that OBRA Pro

mountain bike categories are not being honored by USAC. I am not sure about

other categories for mountain bike.



National ranking is, of course, a separate deal from categorization.



Chris also wrote:

"I was also under the impression that USA Cycling was working to integrate

"State Championship" caliber points into their rankings, regardless of the

sanctioning body. This would enable riders in Oregon to qualify for the

"National Championship" race, even though they may never race outside of

Oregon."



I am not aware of any such deal. For road and track qualifying for

Nationals is based on category. Using State Championships to qualify was

dropped many years ago, to my mind just another stupid move by USAC. I do

not know how riders are qualified for Mountain Bike Nationals.



Chris asks:

"Is this one more way to put pressure on the promoters?"



That would be a big yes. USAC thinks that they are increasing the value of

their product by having a ranking system and only ranking people at their

events. You get to decide if this makes participating in a NORBA event more

or less attractive to you. Personally I think that it decreases

participation.



Mike Murray