State Champ races

Joe Cipale

2007-05-14

How many of you who attended the OBRA Road Championships/Reharsal Race in Madras a few years back liked that course? Despite the nasty downpour the night before the Rehearsal date...

Joe

Ron and Dorothy Strasser wrote:

> Yeah!
> Evan... Now that you are a resident of Baker ( I still call it that because=
> they changed the name back to Baker City a few years back to get in touch =
> with their heritage... while I was growing up in Nyssa it was Baker), you =
> are getting a much better understanding of the great distances between popu=
> lation areas of the great Eastern part of our state. Don seems right about=
> moving the championships around and your idea of same day events may work =
> depending on what the promoter can pull off. In the meantime (now that you=
> have all that extra time you used to spend stuck in various types of large=
> population traffic jams here in the metro area...maybe you can figure out =
> a way to stage a great mountain bike race over in the Baker "City" area (or=
> John Day or LaGrande). About the same distance for riders to Ashland. Th=
> ere is plenty of area to find the venue. Now with that said, I do not want=
> you to feel pressured to promote a race, but what I hope is this gets you =
> riding a great deal around you new home "always looking for those options o=
> f singletrack, good areas to stage a start or finish and nice vistas to mak=
> e a climb worth the sweat. It was great seeing you at Chainbreaker even th=
> ough you were just a blur whizzing by.
> See you later,
> ron
> ----- Original Message -----=20
> From: Don Leet=20
> To: Evan MacKenzie ; obra@list.obra.org=20
> Sent: Monday, May 14, 2007 8:25 AM
> Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] State Champ races
>
>
> Actually last year state championship was Picketts charge not the Chainbr=
> eaker. One of the reasons the Chainbreaker may have had less participants (=
> I am not sure they did) is they choose not to be part of the Rivercity Seri=
> es. We at Picketts mulled it over and at the end decided to be part of the =
> series. I think in fairness to the whole state the state championships need=
> to move around with the Willamette Valley being the most commonly used are=
> a. World Championships use the same logic. Mainly in populated areas (Europ=
> e) and once in while someplace far away (New Zealand).=20
> Don Leet
> ----- Original Message -----=20
> From: Evan MacKenzie=20
> To: obra@list.obra.org=20
> Sent: Monday, May 14, 2007 8:20 AM
> Subject: [OBRA Chat] State Champ races
>
>
> This may have been addressed before or after the Spring Thaw, and I KNO=
> W people were all over this list last year after the hillclimb champs at Mt=
> Ashland, but I'm going to add to the fire one more time.
>
> =20=20=20=20=20
>
> I'm not concerned so much about out-of-staters racing in our state cham=
> p races, but I am concerned about Oregonians even being able to make it to =
> the race.
>
> =20=20=20=20=20
>
> In the future, can we have State Championship races in a more central l=
> ocation? In fact, I would even recommend that we just have them all in the =
> Bend area. It's about as central as you can get in this state.=20
>
> =20=20=20=20=20
>
> Ashland is an 8 =BD hour drive from Baker City.not much less from La Gr=
> ande and certainly not less from Ontario. That means racing in any race in =
> Ashland is pretty much a three-day commitment and 17 hours in the car from =
> out here on the east side. Uh, yeah, not going to happen.
>
> =20=20=20=20=20
>
> Now I am not opposed to racing in Ashland. I did the Super D last year =
> and loved it (of course, that was when I lived in Portland). And I am in no=
> way suggesting the people down south reduce their local calendar. But.woul=
> d it be really tough to combine the XC and DH into one day so people travel=
> ing from far away could do both? Or.move the Spring Thaw to a later date an=
> d then do the Super D that day in the afternoon or the next day? Now that w=
> ould be worth driving for.
>
> =20=20=20=20=20
>
> I also noticed that the crowd at the Chainbreaker last year was quite a=
> bit larger when it was the State Champ race. That's too bad, because it wa=
> s just as fun this year. Thanks to Web Cyclery for putting on a great race.=
> =20
>
> =20=20=20=20=20
>
> Just my .02 for this morning.
>
> =20=20=20=20=20
>
> -Evan
>
> =20=20=20=20=20
>
> Evan MacKenzie
>
> Planning Director
>
> City of Baker City=20
> PO Box 650
> 1655 First Street
> Baker City, OR 97814
>
> 541-524-2030
>
> =20=20=20=20=20
>
> www.bakercity.com
>
> =20=20=20=20=20
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> obra@list.obra.org
> http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra
> Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> ---
>
>
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> Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org


Craig Austin

2007-05-14

There HAS been a great mountain bike race in Baker City for many years now; April 30, 2006 was the 12th edition of the Oregon Trail Classic. I think they skipped it this year. It's not part of the OBRA series, it's actually part of the NORBA series and last year it was the NORBA state championship for Oregon (put on by wildrockies.com). Turnout was pretty small, mostly from Idaho, probably because it wasn't an OBRA event. I actually found out about it looking for Idaho races. It was possibly the most fun course I've ever raced on; I know I've never felt like I was on a bobsled until that race. I'm sure Evan rides that area as often as he can now that he's back in Baker.

(As an interesting aside, related to all this talk about state champs, Idaho's Cody Peterson won the pro field last year, but handed the Oregon State Champ medal to second place finisher Evan Plews on the podium, because he said he's not from Oregon. I don't know how it was "officially" recorded by NORBA, but there you go.)

It would be great for someone to put on a race in Eastern Oregon. It's worth the drive. I think having races in lesser-travelled parts of the state is good for the sport and offers some nice variety. It's a long way to Lakeview, but I still plan to go to their race one of these years when schedules allow. Same goes for the Diamond Lake race that's on the schedule later this year. We're lucky to have these kinds of choices.

Craig

________________________________

From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org on behalf of Ron and Dorothy Strasser
Sent: Mon 5/14/2007 9:07 AM
To: Don Leet; Evan MacKenzie; obra@list.obra.org
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] State Champ races

Yeah!
Evan... Now that you are a resident of Baker ( I still call it that because they changed the name back to Baker City a few years back to get in touch with their heritage... while I was growing up in Nyssa it was Baker), you are getting a much better understanding of the great distances between population areas of the great Eastern part of our state. Don seems right about moving the championships around and your idea of same day events may work depending on what the promoter can pull off. In the meantime (now that you have all that extra time you used to spend stuck in various types of large population traffic jams here in the metro area...maybe you can figure out a way to stage a great mountain bike race over in the Baker "City" area (or John Day or LaGrande). About the same distance for riders to Ashland. There is plenty of area to find the venue. Now with that said, I do not want you to feel pressured to promote a race, but what I hope is this gets you riding a great deal around you new home "always looking for those options of singletrack, good areas to stage a start or finish and nice vistas to make a climb worth the sweat. It was great seeing you at Chainbreaker even though you were just a blur whizzing by.
See you later,
ron

----- Original Message -----
From: Don Leet
To: Evan MacKenzie ; obra@list.obra.org
Sent: Monday, May 14, 2007 8:25 AM
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] State Champ races

Actually last year state championship was Picketts charge not the Chainbreaker. One of the reasons the Chainbreaker may have had less participants (I am not sure they did) is they choose not to be part of the Rivercity Series. We at Picketts mulled it over and at the end decided to be part of the series. I think in fairness to the whole state the state championships need to move around with the Willamette Valley being the most commonly used area. World Championships use the same logic. Mainly in populated areas (Europe) and once in while someplace far away (New Zealand).
Don Leet

----- Original Message -----
From: Evan MacKenzie
To: obra@list.obra.org
Sent: Monday, May 14, 2007 8:20 AM
Subject: [OBRA Chat] State Champ races

This may have been addressed before or after the Spring Thaw, and I KNOW people were all over this list last year after the hillclimb champs at Mt Ashland, but I'm going to add to the fire one more time.

I'm not concerned so much about out-of-staters racing in our state champ races, but I am concerned about Oregonians even being able to make it to the race.

In the future, can we have State Championship races in a more central location? In fact, I would even recommend that we just have them all in the Bend area. It's about as central as you can get in this state.

Ashland is an 8 ½ hour drive from Baker City...not much less from La Grande and certainly not less from Ontario. That means racing in any race in Ashland is pretty much a three-day commitment and 17 hours in the car from out here on the east side. Uh, yeah, not going to happen.

Now I am not opposed to racing in Ashland. I did the Super D last year and loved it (of course, that was when I lived in Portland). And I am in no way suggesting the people down south reduce their local calendar. But...would it be really tough to combine the XC and DH into one day so people traveling from far away could do both? Or...move the Spring Thaw to a later date and then do the Super D that day in the afternoon or the next day? Now that would be worth driving for.

I also noticed that the crowd at the Chainbreaker last year was quite a bit larger when it was the State Champ race. That's too bad, because it was just as fun this year. Thanks to Web Cyclery for putting on a great race.

Just my .02 for this morning.

-Evan

Evan MacKenzie

Planning Director

City of Baker City
PO Box 650
1655 First Street
Baker City, OR 97814

541-524-2030

www.bakercity.com


________________________________

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Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org


________________________________

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Evan Plews

2007-05-14

I think that this has gone a little to far. The facts: Spring Thaw is one of
the longest running XC races in the state if not the country. It was a
"classic" race when I did it the first time in 1995. I haven't been able to
make it every year due to time conflicts and location. However, it is still
worthy of the "state championship" from time to time.

Thanks to SOMBA for a great event. Probably the only negative side was that
it was in conflict with the NMBS series and we were missing some of Oregons
top riders for the Pro categories.

Bottom line it that the championships SHOULD move around and that this is a
"free market" sport. We are all pay-to-play athletes. If you have a
conflict, or can't afford it, or don't like it, don't do it!

To bag on a venue for your own personal reasons is a lame thing to do.

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Evan MacKenzie"
To:
Subject: [OBRA Chat] State Champ races
Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 08:20:13 -0700

This may have been addressed before or after the Spring Thaw, and I KNOW
people were all over this list last year after the hillclimb champs at Mt
Ashland, but I?m going to add to the fire one more time.

I?m not concerned so much about out-of-staters racing in our state champ
races, but I am concerned about Oregonians even being able to make it to the
race.

In the future, can we have State Championship races in a more central
location? In fact, I would even recommend that we just have them all in the
Bend area. It?s about as central as you can get in this state.

Ashland is an 8 ? hour drive from Baker City?not much less from La Grande
and certainly not less from Ontario. That means racing in any race in
Ashland is pretty much a three-day commitment and 17 hours in the car from
out here on the east side. Uh, yeah, not going to happen.

Now I am not opposed to racing in Ashland. I did the Super D last year and
loved it (of course, that was when I lived in Portland). And I am in no way
suggesting the people down south reduce their local calendar. But?would it
be really tough to combine the XC and DH into one day so people traveling
from far away could do both? Or?move the Spring Thaw to a later date and
then do the Super D that day in the afternoon or the next day? Now that
would be worth driving for.

I also noticed that the crowd at the Chainbreaker last year was quite a bit
larger when it was the State Champ race. That?s too bad, because it was just
as fun this year. Thanks to Web Cyclery for putting on a great race.

Just my .02 for this morning.

-Evan

Evan MacKenzie

Planning Director

City of Baker City
PO Box 650
1655 First Street
Baker City, OR 97814

541-524-2030

www.bakercity.com

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Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org

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Ron and Dorothy Strasser

2007-05-14

Yeah!
Evan... Now that you are a resident of Baker ( I still call it that because they changed the name back to Baker City a few years back to get in touch with their heritage... while I was growing up in Nyssa it was Baker), you are getting a much better understanding of the great distances between population areas of the great Eastern part of our state. Don seems right about moving the championships around and your idea of same day events may work depending on what the promoter can pull off. In the meantime (now that you have all that extra time you used to spend stuck in various types of large population traffic jams here in the metro area...maybe you can figure out a way to stage a great mountain bike race over in the Baker "City" area (or John Day or LaGrande). About the same distance for riders to Ashland. There is plenty of area to find the venue. Now with that said, I do not want you to feel pressured to promote a race, but what I hope is this gets you riding a great deal around you new home "always looking for those options of singletrack, good areas to stage a start or finish and nice vistas to make a climb worth the sweat. It was great seeing you at Chainbreaker even though you were just a blur whizzing by.
See you later,
ron
----- Original Message -----
From: Don Leet
To: Evan MacKenzie ; obra@list.obra.org
Sent: Monday, May 14, 2007 8:25 AM
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] State Champ races

Actually last year state championship was Picketts charge not the Chainbreaker. One of the reasons the Chainbreaker may have had less participants (I am not sure they did) is they choose not to be part of the Rivercity Series. We at Picketts mulled it over and at the end decided to be part of the series. I think in fairness to the whole state the state championships need to move around with the Willamette Valley being the most commonly used area. World Championships use the same logic. Mainly in populated areas (Europe) and once in while someplace far away (New Zealand).
Don Leet
----- Original Message -----
From: Evan MacKenzie
To: obra@list.obra.org
Sent: Monday, May 14, 2007 8:20 AM
Subject: [OBRA Chat] State Champ races

This may have been addressed before or after the Spring Thaw, and I KNOW people were all over this list last year after the hillclimb champs at Mt Ashland, but I'm going to add to the fire one more time.

I'm not concerned so much about out-of-staters racing in our state champ races, but I am concerned about Oregonians even being able to make it to the race.

In the future, can we have State Championship races in a more central location? In fact, I would even recommend that we just have them all in the Bend area. It's about as central as you can get in this state.

Ashland is an 8 ½ hour drive from Baker City.not much less from La Grande and certainly not less from Ontario. That means racing in any race in Ashland is pretty much a three-day commitment and 17 hours in the car from out here on the east side. Uh, yeah, not going to happen.

Now I am not opposed to racing in Ashland. I did the Super D last year and loved it (of course, that was when I lived in Portland). And I am in no way suggesting the people down south reduce their local calendar. But.would it be really tough to combine the XC and DH into one day so people traveling from far away could do both? Or.move the Spring Thaw to a later date and then do the Super D that day in the afternoon or the next day? Now that would be worth driving for.

I also noticed that the crowd at the Chainbreaker last year was quite a bit larger when it was the State Champ race. That's too bad, because it was just as fun this year. Thanks to Web Cyclery for putting on a great race.

Just my .02 for this morning.

-Evan

Evan MacKenzie

Planning Director

City of Baker City
PO Box 650
1655 First Street
Baker City, OR 97814

541-524-2030

www.bakercity.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Evan MacKenzie

2007-05-14

I stand corrected.

They were both fun races last year.

_____

From: Don Leet [mailto:donoso@bendnet.com]
Sent: Monday, May 14, 2007 8:26 AM
To: Evan MacKenzie; obra@list.obra.org
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] State Champ races

Actually last year state championship was Picketts charge not the
Chainbreaker. One of the reasons the Chainbreaker may have had less
participants (I am not sure they did) is they choose not to be part of the
Rivercity Series. We at Picketts mulled it over and at the end decided to be
part of the series. I think in fairness to the whole state the state
championships need to move around with the Willamette Valley being the most
commonly used area. World Championships use the same logic. Mainly in
populated areas (Europe) and once in while someplace far away (New Zealand).

Don Leet

----- Original Message -----

From: Evan MacKenzie

To: obra@list.obra.org

Sent: Monday, May 14, 2007 8:20 AM

Subject: [OBRA Chat] State Champ races

This may have been addressed before or after the Spring Thaw, and I KNOW
people were all over this list last year after the hillclimb champs at Mt
Ashland, but I?m going to add to the fire one more time.

I?m not concerned so much about out-of-staters racing in our state champ
races, but I am concerned about Oregonians even being able to make it to the
race.

In the future, can we have State Championship races in a more central
location? In fact, I would even recommend that we just have them all in the
Bend area. It?s about as central as you can get in this state.

Ashland is an 8 ½ hour drive from Baker City?not much less from La Grande
and certainly not less from Ontario. That means racing in any race in
Ashland is pretty much a three-day commitment and 17 hours in the car from
out here on the east side. Uh, yeah, not going to happen.

Now I am not opposed to racing in Ashland. I did the Super D last year and
loved it (of course, that was when I lived in Portland). And I am in no way
suggesting the people down south reduce their local calendar. But?would it
be really tough to combine the XC and DH into one day so people traveling
from far away could do both? Or?move the Spring Thaw to a later date and
then do the Super D that day in the afternoon or the next day? Now that
would be worth driving for.

I also noticed that the crowd at the Chainbreaker last year was quite a bit
larger when it was the State Champ race. That?s too bad, because it was just
as fun this year. Thanks to Web Cyclery for putting on a great race.

Just my .02 for this morning.

-Evan

Evan MacKenzie

Planning Director

City of Baker City
PO Box 650
1655 First Street
Baker City, OR 97814

541-524-2030

www.bakercity.com

_____

_______________________________________________
OBRA mailing list
obra@list.obra.org
http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra
Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org


Don Leet

2007-05-14

Actually last year state championship was Picketts charge not the Chainbreaker. One of the reasons the Chainbreaker may have had less participants (I am not sure they did) is they choose not to be part of the Rivercity Series. We at Picketts mulled it over and at the end decided to be part of the series. I think in fairness to the whole state the state championships need to move around with the Willamette Valley being the most commonly used area. World Championships use the same logic. Mainly in populated areas (Europe) and once in while someplace far away (New Zealand).
Don Leet
----- Original Message -----
From: Evan MacKenzie
To: obra@list.obra.org
Sent: Monday, May 14, 2007 8:20 AM
Subject: [OBRA Chat] State Champ races

This may have been addressed before or after the Spring Thaw, and I KNOW people were all over this list last year after the hillclimb champs at Mt Ashland, but I'm going to add to the fire one more time.

I'm not concerned so much about out-of-staters racing in our state champ races, but I am concerned about Oregonians even being able to make it to the race.

In the future, can we have State Championship races in a more central location? In fact, I would even recommend that we just have them all in the Bend area. It's about as central as you can get in this state.

Ashland is an 8 ½ hour drive from Baker City.not much less from La Grande and certainly not less from Ontario. That means racing in any race in Ashland is pretty much a three-day commitment and 17 hours in the car from out here on the east side. Uh, yeah, not going to happen.

Now I am not opposed to racing in Ashland. I did the Super D last year and loved it (of course, that was when I lived in Portland). And I am in no way suggesting the people down south reduce their local calendar. But.would it be really tough to combine the XC and DH into one day so people traveling from far away could do both? Or.move the Spring Thaw to a later date and then do the Super D that day in the afternoon or the next day? Now that would be worth driving for.

I also noticed that the crowd at the Chainbreaker last year was quite a bit larger when it was the State Champ race. That's too bad, because it was just as fun this year. Thanks to Web Cyclery for putting on a great race.

Just my .02 for this morning.

-Evan

Evan MacKenzie

Planning Director

City of Baker City
PO Box 650
1655 First Street
Baker City, OR 97814

541-524-2030

www.bakercity.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Evan MacKenzie

2007-05-14

This may have been addressed before or after the Spring Thaw, and I KNOW
people were all over this list last year after the hillclimb champs at Mt
Ashland, but I?m going to add to the fire one more time.

I?m not concerned so much about out-of-staters racing in our state champ
races, but I am concerned about Oregonians even being able to make it to the
race.

In the future, can we have State Championship races in a more central
location? In fact, I would even recommend that we just have them all in the
Bend area. It?s about as central as you can get in this state.

Ashland is an 8 ½ hour drive from Baker City?not much less from La Grande
and certainly not less from Ontario. That means racing in any race in
Ashland is pretty much a three-day commitment and 17 hours in the car from
out here on the east side. Uh, yeah, not going to happen.

Now I am not opposed to racing in Ashland. I did the Super D last year and
loved it (of course, that was when I lived in Portland). And I am in no way
suggesting the people down south reduce their local calendar. But?would it
be really tough to combine the XC and DH into one day so people traveling
from far away could do both? Or?move the Spring Thaw to a later date and
then do the Super D that day in the afternoon or the next day? Now that
would be worth driving for.

I also noticed that the crowd at the Chainbreaker last year was quite a bit
larger when it was the State Champ race. That?s too bad, because it was just
as fun this year. Thanks to Web Cyclery for putting on a great race.

Just my .02 for this morning.

-Evan

Evan MacKenzie

Planning Director

City of Baker City
PO Box 650
1655 First Street
Baker City, OR 97814

541-524-2030

www.bakercity.com