Ron and Dorothy Strasser
All who care,
As the winner of the cyclocross master bar it is very clear that it does not
always reflect the best rider/racer. I am not the best all 'round cross
racer. Truth is that winning in larger fields is a more accurate guage.
The new rule changes may help make it seem more fair. The only reason I won
the cross bar is that I competed in more races than most. One thing that
did level the field some was that the cross races (other than Crusade) had a
40 or 45+ cat that I raced in at the ripe old age of 57. All said and
done... I plan on racing in those events again next season no matter what
points are given. This I will do for the totally selfish reason that it is
so much fun and good for me. I guess that the most negative thing that I
see in the rule change is how it impacts the folks that race in the smaller
fields and cannot make it to the larger races in the metro area because of
"life". Some of those folks might have used the bar as a motivator. If
they are so motivated, I guess they can try to make some of the bigger races
in the future.
Personally I think the whole Lance Armstrong (winner of 7 tdfs) is an
amazing personal story, but really does not reflect the reality of cycle
racing. It does fit into the America "has to win" persona. What if Lance
would have finished 2nd or 3rd all those years? From my view he would have
still been a champion. Society is so caught up on WINNING that it loses the
real champions... those that compete! When I finish behind Zimbleman,
Schwyhart, Leet, Schreck, Spir, Montgomery, Romasco, Nurre, Lacey or some
others...I am not a loser in my mind.
I say lets just move on to the next race. If it is the first race of the
season, or the championship, it is still just a race on a specific day and
each of us will do the best we can on that day...rain or shine. =) ron
----- Original Message -----
From: "Heather VanValkenburg" <hvan-@msn.com>
To: <lis-@comcast.net>; <ob-@topica.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2006 6:38 AM
Subject: RE: [OBRA Chat] Comment on proposed BAR changes
Brian-
The idea is to award folks for doing well in larger fields. For example,
most local women's races have small fields of 6-10, so merely showing up,
and trailing in 20 minutes after the winners have finished (in my case
many times) can earn you BAR points. On the other hand, a stage race field
may have closer to 40-60 women, and the stakes are the same. The fields
are even smaller for track, time trial, mountain bike (I think), and most
criteriums. As someone who doesn't go uphill very quickly (most of OBRA
can tell you that about me and my feelings about climbing), I race in very
small fields on the track and most criteriums. Heck, I did my first and
only cross race this year to take advantage of the current system.
I have gotten used to the system that is unfair for others. Look at the
top 5 women in the overall BAR- mostly track riders. Kori's just a great
non- track racer, who had to attend almost every cross race to keep her
position. Based on the old formula, I can win one PIR a month (gets me top
5 in overall monthly series and counts as one road race), do the "food"
races (pies, bananas, and cake) do one time trial a season (top 3 based on
the average turnout of 1-5), and just show up at the track for a few
races, and I finish well in the overall BAR. (oh yea, let's not forget the
blue lake cross.)
Ask the cat 3 guy that does almost all local races, yet finishes 11th most
of the time. He will be very happy with the new system. I agree the new
system will hurt my overall standings, but it's a lot more fair to the
women who do very well in a few select stage races and deserve the
recognition.
-Heather VanValkenburg
----Original Message Follows----
From: Brian L <lis-@comcast.net>
Reply-To: lis-@comcast.net
To: ob-@topica.com
Subject: [OBRA Chat] Comment on proposed BAR changes
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2006 18:45:02 -0800
A. Best All Round Rider Competition.
Points for the BAR will be weighted based on attendance. i.e. Races with
10 or less riders will get .5 of full points. Races with 11-20 will
receive
.75 of full points. Races 100+ will receive 1.50%.
Since the BAR is a participatory award, shouldn't these incentives be
reversed? i.e. Wouldn't we want to reward people for going to the smaller
races rather than the races that are full anyway? I have no problem with
people getting easy BAR points at the smaller races, for perhaps that
extra
incentive helps those races survive.
The proposed bonuses seem more appropriate for something like the Oregon
Cup.
Just a thought,
Brian
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