Randy Dreiling

Candi is 100% right as far as XC racing goes...on the
other hand at the first Will Pass DH 60-70% of the
racers were new...it was amazing.

OBRA did a great job getting info out to past and
current racers, as well as other places.

one of the biggest problems from a promoters view is
we put our flyers in shops not just bike but outdoor
shops...but they get buried, someone throws them
out....I think as promoters we need to work with shops
to create an info center that works for both of us.

As far as the question "where does the money go"...I
promise you no one is getting rich as a
promoter...after bills, OBRA fee's, prize $, dontaion
to charity that helps the event...I make bewteen
$500-$1,000, given the time and effort a promoter puts
into an event, that comes out to about min. wage if
that.

Finally besides all the OBRA post...I have been sent a
lot of private replies to my question....the truth is
there is no right answer...some people love short loop
courses, while others hate them...some people don't
mind traveling while others will not, some people like
the 19-35 age group, others hate it and so on and so
on...the truth is for every view there is a opposite
view.

Thanks eveyone

--- Candi Murray wrote:

> There seems to be a greater lack of new riders in
> mtn bike racing then in
> the other disciplines.
> I have the members for the last 6 years. Each year
> we twice mail to all 6000
> people on the list. Last year we put the calendars
> in every highschool and
> health club in the state.
> Candi
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org
> [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On
> Behalf Of Ryan Storfa
> Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 1:03 PM
> To: obra@list.obra.org
> Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Is Cross Country racing
> dying?
>
> Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if this is a
> problem of a lack of
> new riders or has the existing participant base just
> gone somewhere else?
> If the existing participants have left, which ones
> (i.e. young, old, men,
> women, beginner, sport, expert, Portlanders,
> non-Portlanders, etc) left
> first, which ones are currently leaving and where
> are they going? As soon
> as you know who isn't showing up and who triggered
> the exodus, you could
> probably design some way to get those people back.
>
> I think previous e-mails have said mtn biking isn't
> dying everywhere but it
> seems to be around here. Given the rise of cross,
> road racing and free
> riding, I imagine there is a bit of cannibalization
> happening. That would
> argue that you should look outside Obra for new
> members or else any
> incremental increase in mountain biking will
> negatively impact road and
> cross races.
>
> On that front, Obra has to have the names and
> addresses of past members.
> Maybe some sort of a mailing to past members that
> didn't renew? For that
> matter, you can buy local mailing lists. REI
> members might be a good place
> to start and I know they sell their lists. From a
> mass market point of view
>
> I saw quite a few ads for River City and Bike and
> Hike during the tour this
> year. I have no idea what it cost them (although I
> suspect some of the cost
>
> was offset by the Cross Crusade and Giant
> respectively) but could Obra or
> the race organizers partner with someone to create a
> generic TV spot to
> promote mountain bike racing and/or list of upcoming
> events?
>
> That being said, I think the format of mtn biking
> may need to be changed in
> the future to keep any new participants around. I
> like the idea of having
> urban/short loop type events because they're good
> for spectators (more
> spectators = more future participants). The less
> intense "festival" type
> atmosphere for the longer/remote courses might be
> good too. It might be
> easier to convince people to drive 4 hours if they
> can make a weekend out of
>
> it and have something to do when they aren't racing.
> Again, this format
> would be good for spectators.
>
> In the end, I would suspect that the rise and fall
> is a bit viral. As soon
> as you convince some new people to get into the
> sport, they bring their
> friends, their friends bring their friends and next
> thing you know we're
> back in the mid 90s, race promoters are on the cover
> of Fortune and all is
> well again (disclaimer: the last point was a joke).
>
> Ryan
>
> PS - Another option is to get Floyd to switch back
> to mountain biking.
>
>
> >From: jakebigham
> >To: RCJohnson1@attglobal.net, obra@list.obra.org
> >Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Is Cross Country racing
> dying?
> >Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2006 09:28:41 -0700
> >
> >Rick-
> >Your email is both insightful and dire but let me
> interject an
> >observation. I am guessing that most bike racers of
> every strip (track,
> >cyclecross, road, downhill, cross country) are over
> 18 years old, I'll bet
>
> >the average is closer to 30. For most of these
> people, mommy isn't driving
>
> >them anywhere. There is tremendous opportunity to
> bring in new adult
> >participants into cycling with the right outreach.
> It is not a totally
> >closed group of participants. I am under the
> impression that OBRA is
> >(steadily?) growing over the years. I think there
> may be some unexpected
> >issues resulting from that growth: larger fields,
> difficult logistics,
> >frequent crashes, less of a "newbie friendly"
> atmosphere. It is just
> >speculation on my part but supported by at least a
> little personal
> >observation.
> > Mike and Candi occasionally reference
> participation and membership
> >statistics so I will defer to them, but my guess is
> that most new riders
> >(for better or worse) are not coming from the
> diabetic obese child segment
>
> >of our population. Your description of the woes of
> American society and
> >culture may be correct but at the level of looking
> for participants in
> >area racing (of all sorts) my guess is that there
> is lots of untapped
> >potential (as you say, "..coma if we give up")
> >-Jake
> >On Jul 25, 2006, at 8:46 AM, Rick C Johnson wrote:
> >
> >>Randy,
> >>Why couldn't you ask a question with a simple
> answer? Like "what is the
> >>air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?" Geez,
> is XC racing dying? I
> >>say not as such, but it could slip into a coma if
> we give up on it.
> >>Consider the following.
> >>
> >>Modern America is the land of fads - todays out
> there, extreme,
> >>be-part-of-the-happening-scene activity is
> tomorrows old news. Americans
> >>loose interest fast - especially when there's no
> national heroics
> >>involved. Americans crave attention and always
> want to win. But fewer
> >>and fewer kids these days grow up with any
> appreciation for hard work,
> >>and get less and less active every year. Mom and
> Dad work on a computer
> >>all day and the kids get chauffeured to school.
> The TV has become the
> >>nations babysitter. School athletic programs are
> cut to save money and
> >>obesity sky rockets. No coincidence that our most
> recent sports hero
> >>(who started his career as a MTB racer) grew up
> with no TV busting his
> >>ass on a farm. Where will the next one come from?
> >>
> >>What the big picture comes down to is the majority
> in our country have
> >>no appreciation nor desire for true sports
> competition. They'll pay
> >>attention only when someone (an American) is
> winning, then switch the
> >>channel back to NASCAR and have a few beers. As
> for mountain bike
> >>racing, to do it well you have to train as hard
> (or harder) as any other
> >>sport, develop exceptional riding skills, be
> willing to get dirty and
> >>accept a higher risk of injury. And after all that
> you'll still get beat
> >>most of the time. Factors like drive time, is it a
> loop course, or how
> >>long the race is are just small details. They
> matter only to the people
> >>who have already made the commitment to
> participate.
> >>
> >>As a promoter you have my sympathy. You're in a
> situation
=== message truncated ===

Randy Dreiling
Owner Oregon Adventures www.oregon-adventures.com
Executive Director Oakridge/Westfir Area Chamber of Commerce
www.oakridgechamber.com
Mt Bike Oregon www.mtbikeoregon.com
Other Oregon Adventures Events
Oakridge FTF, 12/24 of Willamette Pass
Willamette Pass Downhill/Super D's Series
www.oakridgefattire.com A simple site to download flyers

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