Shane M. Young
This discussion is long and convoluted. There are many good points, but
there is no focus. There are three types of racers that need to be
addressed separately.
1. New Racers: How to get new blood into the sport? This is a big
untapped marked that has lots of potential. Why don't people know about
the sport? For what I have seen, there is very little advertising. I come
across people riding all the time that don't know that Oregon has racing.
Websites: There are plenty of websites that have information about racing.
MTBR.com and Racecenter.com are just two sites. I see that OBRA does have
some information at Racecenter.com, but there are a lot of people that know
about MTBR that don't know about racing.
Magazines: I have seen very little information about Oregon racing in the
calendars of Bicycling or Mountain Biking. Yes there is information in the
Oregon Cycling magazine, but if you don't race do you even get the
magazine?
Another thought is a first time racers category. Yes this could be
considered beginners or it could be for the first race people do.
2. Current Racers: How to get racers to attend more races? We have heard
people complain about not enough this and not enough that. Some people
have made some very valid points.
Course design: A purpose of a Series is about providing all types of
courses. Some flat, some hilly, some technical, some short and some long.
I believe OBRA does a very good job at this...
Entry fees: $25 for a race is fair...
Racing information: I have found the OBRA site to be slow on getting out
information. It is outdated. Getting information about races is spotty at
best. Several of the races I got information about after pre-registration
was over. The race information comes in all formats, consistency is King.
Plus results can be slow and varied. As a racer that may not be winning
the best way for me to judge how I am doing is not what place I take but
how far I am off the lead. With out times for each race it makes it hard
to track improvement.
Race categories: Separating Pro/Semi-Pro from the experts. This will only
make a difference if we enforce the rules for moving people up. So far I
haven't seen racers moved up because they are winning in the beginner and
sport classes. There are five or more people in the beginners category
that need to be moved up, under the OBRA rules, myself included. So if we
were to divide Pro/Semi-Pro from the Experts, we need to make sure that the
winning Experts move up.
Distance to a race: Hello!!! Portland is not the only place in the state.
I live in Corvallis, which means on average any given race is atleast two
hours a way. Most of the races have camping on-site for free. So enjoy
nature and camp. Though a solution are mini-series. Have something for
people that attend all the races in an area (Portland, Eugene or Bend). I
believe the road racers are doing this and Bend did this last year and is
somewhat doing it this year, though I am not sure if it worked for them or
not.
A family affair: Making course more family friendly or stuff for families
to do when racers are out. How many people would show up more if they
could bring their whole family (and the whole family wanted to come)? I
think Race at Reehers did a good job at this year. Spectator got to see
riders at least 4 times and riders were not too much time on the same
course for that to happen.
3. Burned Out Racers: How to prevent burn out? How to get these racers
back?
Lastly, although complaining has it place and is helpful, we need to do
more. It is time to step up to the plate and get involved. First if you
have extra room in your car, see if some one needs a ride to a race. Bring
a friend that hasn't raced before. Help the race promoters and OBRA. This
is where OBRA and promoters can help us as racers. I haven't seen much
information about how I can help on none race days. I sent mail to Ed
asking him if he wanted help on the website but I never heard anything
back.
Just $.02 from someone that loves the sport and wants to help out.