Long, Steve
I couldn't agree more for some of the same reasons and for different
reasons.
I just feel that if a racer wants to race, they should get out there and
race and not worry about anything but trying to be competitive. My
question is generally, what can I do to make myself more competitive?
-----Original Message-----
From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On
Behalf Of Fischer, Jim E (Corvallis)
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 10:44 AM
To: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: [OBRA Chat] Proposed category change for OBRA Road and Crit
racing
Folks,
OBRA is making a change to the women's road/crit fields to offer 1/2/3
as well as 3/4 groups allowing the 3s to pick where they want to race.
Please send your comments (for or against) to Kenji.
I agree with the goal to increase participation by women in the 3s and
4s, but I feel this will NOT have the desired effect.
The supposition is that there are 4s who've been upgraded to the 3s only
to find they cannot keep up with the 1/2/3 fields. This change will let
the slow 3s gain experience and fitness with the 4s before they start
really racing with the 1/2/3s.
The issue is with the upgrade criteria/implementation, not with the
category structure.
One issue with the current 4s field is that it's too fast to encourage
new beginner ladies to race because the fast 4s, while not having
sufficient points to upgrade, really need to be moved up to the 3s...and
WANT to be moved up. If 3s are allowed to race in the 4s, this
discrepancy will get worse. If the 3s can "race down" with the 4s, this
will draw down an already small 1/2/3 field at most road races. As the
promoter of Cherry Pie, the 1/2/3 field has barely had 10 riders for the
past two years...most of them 3s. This change would cause us to
reconsider even offering a 1/2 field for the women.
If the goal is to increase participation...to grow the 3s, we need to
grow the 4s...and this cannot happen if the 4s are too fast to encourage
new beginner riders.
I suggest we do the following:
1.) Keep the categories as they are.
2.) Encourage/enable the fast 4s to move up, thus growing the 3s, and
encourage the promoters/judges to score them separately. (May require a
change to upgrade criteria and futher discussiona and a team rep vote in
January.)
3.) Encourage/enable the slower cat 3s to downgrade. Our lives and
bodies change, and we may lose fitness as a result. Downgrades offer an
opportunity for racing in an appropriate category while still having
fun.
I'd be curious to hear other points of view if you want to share.
Regards,
Jim Fischer
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