Brian Engelen

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to thank Bob at Bob's Red Mill
for sponsoring our Cross races. I think he really appreciated hearing from
me and it made me feel good too.

Brian

_____

From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On
Behalf Of Todd.Dye@CH2M.com
Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 3:53 PM
To: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Open Letter from River City Bicycles

And to add to that,

Not only should we be supporting the businesses that support OBRA and our
races, but we need to let them know it when we do. I have to imagine that
it is darn near impossible for a shop to track who comes in the door and why
unless they ask or you tell them.

Being from Corvallis, River City isn't exactly a local shop for me, but I
can say that I've been in there and spent money a few times (and have
received excellent service), and I can guarantee I never would have gone
there if I hadn't heard about them through their sponsorship of OBRA and
word of mouth through OBRA chat.

Same goes for other businesses that sponsor races, teams and OBRA. Last
year I had a bunch of work done on my car and bought a car from Capitol
Subaru. I never would have done that if I hadn't heard about them through
their sponsorship of a race team. I let them know on one of those customer
satisfaction surveys that I specifically went to their dealership because of
their support of a cycling team.

Filling out a customer survey seems like a good way to get word back to the
management that make the decisions on where to invest their
sponsorship/advertising dollars.

The more we let the sponsors know when/why we are supporting them, the more
likely they are to realize the return on their investment and continue to
provide that support.

Todd Dye

Pacific Power Blue Sky/Fullcycles.com Race Team

_____

From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On
Behalf Of Kevin
Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 3:20 PM
To: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Open Letter from River City Bicycles

Tough times indeed. If we don't support our local bike shops then doors
will close, and events they sponsor will disappear. What good is "saving" a
dollar or two on your purchase if a good percentage of the rides/races you
enjoy are gone? The "wrench" who's employed there might not be there the
next time you need him!

Support your local bike shop!

Kevin

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
What is happening in Kevin's corner of the bike world?
http://the-whir-of-spokes-in-air.blogspot.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

--- On Tue, 3/31/09, Murray, Candi P wrote:

From: Murray, Candi P
Subject: [OBRA Chat] Open Letter from River City Bicycles
To: obra@list.obra.org
Date: Tuesday, March 31, 2009, 2:49 PM

Dave asked me to post this for him. You can respond directly to him

Candi

Open letter to OBRA members

Having just passed our 14-year anniversary, I have spent some time
reflecting on River City Bicycle's position in Portland and the biking
community. I'd like to thank all of you for the support that you've shown
River City over the last fourteen years. While we are proud of what we've
done so far, we would not have been able to give back to the community in
the many ways we have if we did not have the support back from the bike
community.

One of the things I am proud of is the long-term relationship we have
maintained with many biking organizations around Portland. Many of these we
started at the early beginnings of the store such as Team Rose City, John
Benenati's B.I.K.E. Cyclisme' program, and Emerald Velo, and have since
expanded to the Vancouver Specialized/River City team, Sorella Forte', the
River City shop team, Hammer Velo, and Rapha Racing. We have also maintained
long-term sponsorship with some great OBRA events, the Mt. Tabor race
series, Tuesday Night PIR (and now Monday Night), Oregon Mountain Bike race
series, Alpenrose track series, and the River City Cross Crusade Cyclocross
Series. There are probably some others I'm forgetting at the moment. The
total costs of these programs to River City exceed $50,000 annually.

Racing sponsorship is a very tricky proposition for businesses. This should
be obvious to any fan of the sport, considering the revolving door of trade
teams that come and go at every level. From my perspective, it can be a very
difficult expense to justify at times, particularly if one just looks at the
numbers or at the direct return on investment. But for River City, what we
count on most to justify our continued support of racing sponsorship is the
fact that each and every one of you is considered to be the expert on bikes
to all of your friends and acquaintances, and that you will suggest to them
that River City is, indeed, a good bike shop, and worthy of their business,
whether or not we support your specific team or event. We do our best to
live up to the recommendations that we get from our good customers, and are
constantly improving what we do and how we do it. We have a very high
caliber of staff here, true bike shop professionals who take their jobs as
seriously a
s you take yours. As the bike industry gets more technical and complex every
year, we are able to maintain a high quality of staff for many years, some
almost from our inception. This should be considered an asset to the biking
community, as I'm sure most, if not all of you, have had bike problems that
have had to be fixed by an expert.

To conclude, I would like to thank you for continuing to support not only
River City Bicycles, but also all of the sponsors of Oregon bicycle racing.
This is a difficult business environment for everyone and we all need to
recognize who we count on for support. So when you are thinking about that
next bike related purchase please consider that the internet company or
national chain that may offer a perceived lower price is doing so without
the service or contribution to OBRA and our local biking community that we
all benefit from and enjoy. We all vote with our wallets, and we all decide
what is important to us in the long run.

To the road,,

David Guettler

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