Mike Ripley
Thanks Ron and steve for bringing this up. Last year and this coming
up season at most of the races there will be 40+ expert, 40+ sport
and 50+ sport. The 50+ sport is designed to be an open class that
will race 1.5 to 2.5 hrs depending on the venue. Last year at the
Mudslinger Jay Rathe won it in 2:01 and thats a solid two hrs that
would of placed him 4th in the 40+ expert. I know he would love your
competition if you raced in the 40+ expert division last year. The
expert course was hard with some 50+ guys racing for 3.5-4 hrs. I
personally like beginners to race 1-1.5 hrs and sport 1.5-2:15 and
expert and above 2hr-3hrs for a winning time. The basic idea is fun
and a challenge and I know that you 50+ guys or 40+ sports do not
want a under 1.5 hr race and the 1.5-2.15 is where most xc race times
should fall for the flow of the event and still provide enough
challenge to compete against other guys your age. Some of the problem
with any of this is the plate color, yellow verses blue and maybe it
does not matter to most of you but we do have it as a badge of honor
and if we are fit it is nice to represent with a yellow plate. For me
personally I tried one year to go back to a blue plate and got
smacked around verbally( just trash talk) by the guys in my field (it
was all in fun). I hope by having a sport 50+ field each promoter can
try and make there sport courses 1.5-2.15 for a winning time and have
good competition and you guys still feel great about competing and
have fun. Of course if you really want to go long, come out and give
Mr. Goodier a run for his money at my 50 miler the Test OF Endurance
in the 50+ class. If some of you guys get yellow plates and 5 or
more sign up I will give awards for the long course at Mudslinger.
There are a few classes like this. Single speed-----sport course or
expert? Sport 40+ women Its in for at least 7 races this year. Expert
junior---needed? 3-4 riders? or like I have suggested to Jacob Rathe
and Adam Brooks to race expert 19-39 or semi-pro---they are that
fast. We currently have 19 classes that most of the promoters will be
offering along with a few races with clydesdales and some unique
categories. I suggest that everyone race to there ability level and
have a good time doing it.
Thanks for tuning in.
Please respond off-list or turn the attention to master road racers
or dogs or another popular obralist subject.
Mike Ripley
OBRA mtb rep
541-342-1493