Re: Fwd: race fees

Jessica Cortell

2001-05-03

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A few more thoughts on mountain bike racing in Oregon. Thanks Mike for

letting me know the situation on recognizing out of state licenses. I think

the biggest problem concerning various licenses is probably communication.

I had a few more thoughts on this subject last night.



I think one reason there is on average less participation at each mtb race

is due to the huge schedule of races we now have. A big thanks to OBRA, the

series organizers and race organizers! I think we used to get larger turn

outs at some of the well known races because they were not many races to

choose from. I used to average maybe 1-2 mtb races a month and sometimes

would have to travel out of state to get to one. Now we have the series

with pretty much a race every weekend from April thru Oct. Very few people

have the time and energy to make it to all of these so consequently the

average turnout per race is decent but not as high as when there was only a

few races to choose from. I think the involvement with OBRA and the mtb

series has overall improved mountain bike racing in Oregon by having many

great races to choose from!



Jessica Cortell

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From: Jessica Cortell <jessica-@hotmail.com>

Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Fwd: race fees

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<P>On the topic of race fees and participation.  I think the mtb race fees are generally too high.  It puts me in a bad mood everytime I have to pay 35.00 to do a race on top of gas, food, etc.  I start thinking I could just stay home and go for a fun ride without paying.  I think 20 dollars preregistered and 25 day of would be better.  </P>

<P>On the note of prize money....I remember the good old days of paying 15 dollars or so to enter and then winning 150-300 dollars..Nice!!  Now the prizes rarely even cover the expense of getting to the race.  Also for the last two years, I kept hearing there would be prize money for the series, so I went to the trouble to get myself to a huge number of the races, going broke in the process, only to get a little ribbon in the end.  Hmmm.</P>

<P>Obviously, prize money is nice but that's not the only reason to go to a race.  Generally, if I know or hear it is supposed to be a good course in some great place, then I'll want to go.</P>

<P>I have discussed this issue of attendance versus entry fees with several promoters before and as other people have mentioned, attendance isn't always directly related to the entry price.  One thing I have noticed is that with OBRA instead of USCF/NORBA, is that Oregon races no longer bring in the riders from other states that they used to.  We used to get a large turnout of people from WA, CA, Canada and other places for some of the big races like the Mudslinger and Revenge of the Siskiyous.  I think OBRA is great but it seems to have created a situation where people tend to compete only in their own state.  For example, if I decided to go up to WA right now to do an mtb race, I don't even know what license I need or whether I would have to spend additional $$ for another license.  If we could sort out these licensing issues between states, etc it could help.  Overall though, I think the lower attendance is due to a combination of factors.</P>

<P>Jessica Cortell          </P><br clear=all><hr>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at <a href="http://explorer.msn.com">http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></p>

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mmur-@teleport.com

2001-05-03

Jessica Cortell wrote: "

"One thing I have noticed is that with OBRA instead of USCF/NORBA, is that

Oregon races no longer bring in the riders from other states that they used

to. We used to get a large turnout of people from WA, CA, Canada and other

places for some of the big races like the Mudslinger and Revenge of the

Siskiyous. I think OBRA is great but it seems to have created a situation

where people tend to compete only in their own state. For example, if I

decided to go up to WA right now to do an mtb race, I don't even know what

license I need or whether I would have to spend additional $$ for another

license. "



I could see why OBRA would make it less likely that Oregon riders would turn

out to Washington or California events since many Oregon riders have elected

to not get licenses through USAC. I can't see why it would decrease

Washington and California riders from coming to Oregon races since OBRA

gives a free, no benefits OBRA membership to riders with an out of state

address. If anything, it would be expected that out of state ridership

would increase because there is no requirement for a USAC license.



It seems to me that the more likely reason that people are competing mostly

in their own state is because there are more events to go to making it less

necessary to travel.



I agree that it would be a great thing if we could go back to a single

license system but I don't see that happening any time soon. USAC

membership costs have gone up. Their insurance charges remain much higher

than the market value and they continue to offer little in terms of service

for the fees they charge. Their membership is going down at the same time

that OBRA membership is going up dramatically. In addition, it appears that

USAC has serious financial troubles and likely will have difficulty paying

their bills this year. Although there is some value for the race organizer

and the individual member in being associated with a nation wide

organization the costs are too high. It looks as though their ship is

sinking and it is best that we are not tied to them.



Mike Murray



Jessica Cortell

2001-05-02

<html><P>On the topic of race fees and participation.  I think the mtb race fees are generally too high.  It puts me in a bad mood everytime I have to pay 35.00 to do a race on top of gas, food, etc.  I start thinking I could just stay home and go for a fun ride without paying.  I think 20 dollars preregistered and 25 day of would be better.  </P>

<P>On the note of prize money....I remember the good old days of paying 15 dollars or so to enter and then winning 150-300 dollars..Nice!!  Now the prizes rarely even cover the expense of getting to the race.  Also for the last two years, I kept hearing there would be prize money for the series, so I went to the trouble to get myself to a huge number of the races, going broke in the process, only to get a little ribbon in the end.  Hmmm.</P>

<P>Obviously, prize money is nice but that's not the only reason to go to a race.  Generally, if I know or hear it is supposed to be a good course in some great place, then I'll want to go.</P>

<P>I have discussed this issue of attendance versus entry fees with several promoters before and as other people have mentioned, attendance isn't always directly related to the entry price.  One thing I have noticed is that with OBRA instead of USCF/NORBA, is that Oregon races no longer bring in the riders from other states that they used to.  We used to get a large turnout of people from WA, CA, Canada and other places for some of the big races like the Mudslinger and Revenge of the Siskiyous.  I think OBRA is great but it seems to have created a situation where people tend to compete only in their own state.  For example, if I decided to go up to WA right now to do an mtb race, I don't even know what license I need or whether I would have to spend additional $$ for another license.  If we could sort out these licensing issues between states, etc it could help.  Overall though, I think the lower attendance is due to a combination of factors.</P>

<P>Jessica Cortell          </P><br clear=all><hr>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at <a href="http://explorer.msn.com">http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></p></html>