mike.m-@obra.org
Doug Evans [mailto:Dou-@sprbrk.com] wrote:
"I keep expecting Mike Murray's response to this.
I believe that there is actually a rule that you cannot wear a jersey in a
race for a team that you are not representing."
I would hate to disappoint. The applicable rule is:
"9.2 - CLOTHING
9.2.1 All riders must wear jerseys that cover the shoulders. Shorts must
reach mid-thigh. No article of clothing may be worn that serves solely an
aerodynamic purpose.
9.2.2- No rider may wear the jersey of a club or team that the rider is not
eligible to represent.
In mass start events Category 1 and 2 riders from the same club/team must
wear uniforms that are obviously similar unless the rules for the specific
event require otherwise."
Although a literal interpretation of this would make it illegal for you to
wear your US Postal jersey to a race, in practice this is ignored. (In
fact, the wearing of Speedos or even less demonstrates that the whole rule
is not very vigorously applied.) The actual reason for the rule is not to
prevent the wearing of pro replica clothing but to prevent someone from
masquerading as a member of another team and confusing team racing dynamics.
Perhaps the rule could be worded a bit better to accomplish this.
In the past, while riding in races organized and officiated by a somewhat
more oppressive organization, I have seen officials have riders turn their
jerseys inside out or cover sponsors names and logos with duct tape. I
would like to think that people at OBRA events are a bit less petty than
that. On the other hand, there is a reason why there are the etiquettes and
customs in the sport even if they are not coded in the rules. National
championship and world championship jerseys have value because of what the
represent. The value of this is diminished if they are not represented
accurately. However, OBRA does not award these jerseys and we have no rules
that specify when they can be worn.
Pro clothing is another issue. It is clear that this is similar to wearing
a Red Sox hat while playing softball. There is no harm in that. Whenever I
see someone wearing pro replica clothing I am reminded of something Glen
Sanders told me. Glen rode for top teams which would sell their excess and
outdated clothing. He told me that when he saw someone riding in clothing
for a team he had been on he was always struck with how ironic that was.
After all, as he said "I am 5'5" tall, have acne and stutter when I talk to
women and I'm their role model?"
Knowing Peter well it is difficult to imagine that he was rude, elitist or
any of those other bad things. I suspect that he may be owning up for the
actions of some other old guy who was rude and elitist, as many can be. It
certainly is not difficult to imagine that the hapless young rider might
have been approached by more than one person. The very structure of road
and track racing does tend towards elitism. This is one of the
disadvantages compared to mountain bike racing and cyclocross. Here in
Oregon I think that everyone has done an excellent job of trying to buck
this tendency and the participation that we have shows the value of that.
It is, however, a subject that requires constant vigilance so we need to
continue to be aware that we are not in a position to turn anyone away.
Mike Murray