Richard Hogan

Emails tend to sound harsher then they are intended when written so keep that in mind.

So....are you crazy! Where do you live? Or maybe...Where did you come from?

National raking matters to whom? About 10 Oregon racers, 20 tops.

USCF WAS ?thee? organization, they blew it with 6 figure $$$ employees 1000 miles away. They suck 95% of the dollars out of a state and return almost nothing, all i can see is a web site that's really not that great.

OBRA missing out......on what? More racers per capita and only two races less than California which has what? Twenty times population?

More competitive fields. Oregon racers who do travel to other states tend to be very competitive.

Races miss out on increased funds. Who are you kidding? Do you know how much it cost to put on a race in Oregon? With out equipment in 2006 it was $15 plus $1.50 per rider. So a two hundred rider event cost $315. How much if this was a USCF event? I?m guessing well over $1000 probably closer to $1500. This translates to far less funds for an Oregon promoter.

I would encourage Oregon to become USCF certified when and only when the USCF can

1.Provide promoters a Fee structure close to OBRA current. A small increase would be ok, maybe $50 a race and $2 per rider but over that forget it.
2.One annual license for all disciplines at $30 or less.
3.Far less paper work and simple result reporting.

I?m sure there is a 4, 5, 6, etc that would have to be met but it seems to be pointless as the USCF will never achieve 1, 2, and 3.

What really needs to happen is the USCF needs to become OBRA certified. They could learn a thing or two.

Wow Nick you jumped into a snake pit but don't worry we don?t bite........very hard.

I am writing this in hopes that it will spur some conversation on the issue of OBRA races becoming USCF certified. There is a "HUGE" missed opportunity that races in Oregon and South West Washington have because of the lack of certification. USCF is "thee" organization that governs racing in the US, NRC and amateur, from state to state every members points are collected and recorded for national ranking as well as for upgrading purposes (I do not wish to patronize anyone here so please understand that I have only explained this for reasons of those who are unfamiliar). My point here is that OBRA races are missing out on several levels; the most obvious in this case is the lack of national recognition (no one wants to travel to a race that they wont receive points for). Because of this OBRA races miss out on increased funds as well as more competitive fields. On a similar note for those of you that race mostly in Oregon and South West Washington you miss out on the ranking

system as well as points if you were to compete in a USCF race (this is a tragedy seeing as there is a lot of great races in our neighboring states as well as Seattle). We all know that Portland has established itself as a cycling rich community, but just like the cities progressive nature we also should be following that example and become leaders in the progression of our sport instead of living in the past. USCF certification would be a phenomenal asset to racing in Oregon and South West Washington; increasing awareness, funding, competitiveness, and as a result more racing! I encourage everyone to comment on this topic and to start the conversations, good or bad, for or against, please speak up.