Don Leet
I wonder how many of you in OBRA land see the similarities to what Oregon
did and what the organizers of the Paris Nice and Tour are doing. I wonder
what we see from this revolution. When this happened in Oregon there was a
lot of negative discusion but now it is mostly forgotten and we even put on
our share of USA cycling events.
I am not taking sides as I have no clue as to all the differences but there
are similarities non the less.
Don Leet
----- Original Message -----
From: "Candi Murray"
To:
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2007 5:02 PM
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] OBRA's History
>I wrote this in 2000
> Candi
>
> The Oregon Bicycle Racing Association (OBRA) was originally started in the
> late 70s. Called Oregon Cycling Association (OCA), it was then the
> district
> association of USCF clubs. The name was changed to the Oregon Bicycle
> Racing
> Association several years later to avoid confusion with the political
> group,
> the Oregon Citizen's Alliance which was getting much negative media
> attention at the time. There was not much activity for the first few
> years
> after OCA was formed. When Steve Scarich became the District
> Representative
> he pushed to increase the strength of the organization. Organization was
> improved and a system of collecting fees from races was established. A
> few
> years later Mike Murray was elected to the board. Mike wanted more racing
> in Oregon than was currently being done so he turned the focus of the
> group
> toward making it easier and easier to produce quality events. He bought
> traffic signs, photo finish equipment, PA systems, CB radios and much
> more.
> Whenever OCA had money Mike spent it. So instead of individual promoters
> having to rent and/or stockpile equipment, this equipment became available
> to all events big and small. Over the years we have added to the equipment
> and now have a large truck that can be used to transport whatever is
> needed
> to a race. We developed a automated phone line for race information and
> purchased an 800 number, established a web presence and with the advent of
> the electronic age we have been able to acquire 800 email address from our
> 1700 members and now distribute race flyers, results and notices at the
> click of the mouse. This year we also added a chat group that allows
> members to post for sale items and have discussions.
>
> Dissatisfaction with the United States Cycling Federation came on slowly
> and
> climaxed in December of 1998 when they fired all the Regional
> Representatives in favor of a plan to only utilize 10 people nationwide to
> service the membership. At this same time alternatives to the insurance
> provided by the national governing body became more readily available and
> the question was asked, 'What are we getting back for the dollars that are
> sent to Colorado Springs?' An annual membership ranged from $35 to $50
> and
> then the charge for insurance was about twice what was available
> commercially. OBRA figured that Oregon alone was sending about $200,000
> annually to USAC in USCF and NORBA membership fees and race permits and
> surcharges. In exchange we received little in the way of services and now
> we were not even getting a local representative. The straw that broke the
> back was when USAC doubled the permit fees for the weekend day series
> races.
> To send a message to Colorado Springs the series promoters choose to
> insure
> with an insurance plan purchased by OBRA and to forgo USCF sanctioning.
> We
> sent letters to every USAC board, director and staff member explaining why
> we were doing this and further explaining that it was likely that all
> Oregon
> events would do this unless USAC made changes to address our concerns over
> the diminishing level of service. We only received one response. It
> became
> apparent that local racing was not what the governing body was about. It
> is
> what OBRA is about, to promote and increase the number of events and
> racers
> within the state. In the fall of 1998 there was a vote of member clubs
> that
> was unanimous that we would offer the OBRA insurance plan to all events.
> This meant that virtually all Oregon events were no longer associated with
> USAC. We have met with the principle of USAC to see if we could work out
> our difference but to no avail.
>
> OBRA has been successful beyond our imagination. Our membership swelled
> to
> the highest levels ever when David Beede contacted us about branching out
> into mountain bike racing. The dissatisfaction among NORBA members was
> even
> greater than that from the road/track side. Last year we were able to
> organize a race series amongst the mountain bike races and added them to
> our
> already existing email network. This has given them a voice that they
> have
> not experienced before.
>
> Now other states have followed our lead. American Bicycle Racing (ABR) in
> the Midwest, Bicycle Racing Association of Colorado (BRAC - which has now
> changed its name to American Cycling Association) represent Colorado,
> Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and parts of Texas and North California/Nevada
> Cycling Association (NCNCA) have all formed a coalition of association-
> Federation of Independent Cycling Associations (FIAC). We have started
> incorporation proceedings and are working toward a shared rulebook and
> rider
> reciprocity. No matter what happens, the OBRA membership has chosen to
> concentrate on cycling within the state. Our 2000 calendar has over 200
> says of racing, we offer free membership to juniors and strongly suggest
> that the race organizers reduce entry fees for those under 18. Our Best
> All
> round Competition has expanded to recognize the outstanding performances
> in
> each discipline and new for 2000 we are hosting an Oregon Cup of specific
> races. One thing to remember is that while we try to give the impression
> of
> an organized workforce, volunteers do all of the functions of OBRA; there
> are no paid positions. What makes it work is that riders know that to get
> they must give back also.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On
> Behalf Of Quenton Conant
> Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2007 4:18 PM
> To: obra@list.obra.org
> Subject: [OBRA Chat] OBRA's History
>
> Hey,
>
> I've looked for a history of OBRA and maybe I didn't look in the right
> place, or maybe it's not there, but I'm curious to hear/read the history
> of
> OBRA. The driving force behind it's formation, etc... Anyone out there
> know?
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