Candi Murray/Oregon Bicycle Racing Assn

VN: As far as those organizations that are not affiliated with USA Cycling.

You have made some progress in recent weeks. You just managed to bring

Northern California back and it appears that you have reconsidered the whole

regional rep' concept - the program that many say started the split in the

first place.



GB: First and foremost was to open the line of dialogue. I have tried to

visit with as many of these groups as I can and tell them that ?we are not

at war with you.' Our first priority - as is theirs - is the health of

cycling in this country.



Sure, we'd like to see a unified cycling community in this country, but it's

incumbent upon us to produce a product and services that makes that decision

self-evident. I spent an excellent evening with Mike Murray (of the Oregon

Bicycle Racing Association) and it became clear that we have to produce a

better product before we can get promoters and state organizations like his

back. He asked why he should rejoin and, frankly, I had no answer for him.



VN: As I recall, you spent that evening with Mike before you met with the

NCNCA. So, while agreeing with Mike that you couldn't offer him an

acceptable deal, you were able to sell that same package to California. Why?



GB: Right off the bat, Mike and Candi are dealing with a smaller area. I

went there to see what they are doing and they are doing a great job. They

are immersed in cycling. The track is vibrant, the promoters are happy on

the mountain-bike side and things are clicking along nicely. They have

little incentive to change. It's important to remember that very few of

their riders have dual licenses and their license fee is considerably lower

than ours and most of their racing takes place inside of Oregon.



California is a different case. The vast majority of their riders were also

carrying a USCF license. First and foremost the NCNCA move was made to

benefit the riders. For them, the cost of racing to individual racers has

been cut. The riders benefit.



For the promoters, we were able to bring them an insurance package that was

competitive with what they were offering and still providing the coverage

they were looking for. They just felt that what we had to offer worked for

them.



The Murrays on the other hand had other factors at play. I have every

intention of continuing the dialogue and hopefully some day we'll be able to

offer a package that they like. The bottom line is that we are all talking

now.