Mike Murray
To be clear, the mechanism for rule changes is delineated at the start of
the rules:
"Modification of these rules may be made by vote of the club
representatives, generally at an annual meeting. Proposed rule changes shall
be presented to OBRA in written form to be voted on by the club
representatives. The OBRA board may in an emergency, or in the case of a
time sensitive matter, make modifications to these rules. Changes to the
rules which are primarily of a housekeeping nature, such as printing format
or changing numbering, may be made without board approval."
As Candi wrote, this is a new rule adopted at the annual meeting last year.
As I recall there was no discussion re: tandems. This is NOT a new
interpretation. Actually, allowing the younger riders to compete was a
mis-interpretation of the new existing rule.
Mike
-----Original Message-----
From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On
Behalf Of Candi Murray
Sent: Sunday, May 24, 2009 09:13 AM
To: Micros8391@aol.com; obra@list.obra.org
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Juniors on Tandems
This new interpretation was voted on this past January. It came about as a
result of underage juniors racing on the same ccx course as adults and
caused at least 1 accident. If you want this rule amended then someone
needs to put forth a change. However it needs to be clearly defined. You do
not want a newborn on the back of the bike. I would also suggest that if it
is a tandem specific change that the captain be required to be a parental
figure. But the ball is in the tandems court to come up with a clearly
worded change and submit it.
Candi
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From: Micros8391@aol.com [mailto:Micros8391@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 9:36 PM
To: cmurray@obra.org; obra@list.obra.org
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Juniors on Tandems
First off, let me make it clear that this new interpretation of rules
regarding the age of stokers in tandem races does not affect me personally.
My kids are both beyond that age. However, I think this should be
reconsidered. I understand that it is probably not possible to change the
rules in mid-season (or maybe it is). But, I think this is clearly an issue
of interpretation of the rules. And this is a brand new interpretation. Many
of the local time trials have been well attended by this demographic. The
Co-Motion Classic Tandem Race even includes a C category that does a short
time trial and road race that mostly caters to the parent child combination.
I am fairly certain that the people who conceived this rule were not
considering kids stoking tandems. It makes perfect sense to not allow very
young kids to control a bike in a race on open roads or in races with older
riders to whom they could pose a danger. However it makes no sense to not
allow a young kid to ride behind their parent in a tandem race. We have a
big problem in Oregon racing in that there are hardly any kids
participating. This will make it even worse. The OBRA Championship race
today had 7 total kids between the ages of 10 and 14. That covered four
separate categories! Racing tandems with their parents is a great way to
give kids exposure to racing, and turn them into life long competitors and
fans.
Once again, I am not sure there needs a change in the rules, just an
interpretation that makes more sense. Is there a rules interpretation
committee or technical advisory committee within OBRA? If there is, that
body should consider this issue.
Mike Rosenberg
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