John,
I am embarassed to admit it, but my first reaction to your letter was that I
was going to write back and tell you exactly what I thought of your
criticism. Fortunately, I was mid-assignment and thought better of it. So
here's my response:
I apologize, sincerely, that your first race experience was not as good as
it could have been. I started racing this year, and was fortunate enough to
have my first couple races run very smoothly and were great enough
experiences to get me hooked on this. I can assure you that everyone there
from the OSU team was giving it their heart and working hard to make the
race a positive experience for everyone. I hope that you do continue
racing, that some other race is the one that gets you hooked on this amazing
sport.
I can tell you that the volunteers spent many evenings and spare moments
working with the details for this race. I was in a group that was marking
the courses after dark trying to make this race happen. (Think decents can
be scary? Try them in the dark!). None of us are professional promoters,
and while we did have the expert assistance of Jim Fisher, something wich
I'm sure we're all _immeasurably_ grateful for, the bottom line is that
we're all racers and students. Like Damian said, I gained a whole new
respect for the effort that goes into putting a race on. If someone puts
the dixie cups that were supposed to go to aid station 3 into the box for
aid station 4, you can be positive that we're going to get an angry letter
about how there was no water at station 3 and how that is totally
unacceptable.
I realize that effort does not necessarily translate to success, and that
telling you all that we did for the race doesn't change the frustration you
felt after having to turn around after going the wrong way. But this is
mountian biking, and when you crash and loose skin, you don't generally sit
and pick the bleeding wound. You get up, bang your wheel back to some loose
definition of roundness, and make the rest of the ride enough fun that by
the end of it, you know why you spend every spare buck you have and every
spare moment you've got getting muddy with some great friends. That's the
beauty of this crude sport.
The letter from Candi that you responded to was the first compliment that I
heard back from the race, and it made my day. Though you may have leaft
early in frustration, many of us were there until 8:30 taking down tape,
picking up Clif Shot packets, hauling around empty Sobe bottles, packing up
cones.....you get the idea. I thought you get tired after a race, but I
went to sleep about 15 minutes after getting home. Candi's letter made me
feel pretty good about that.
As has been mentioned, we're having a meeting to discuss what we can improve
upon and what we did well, so that next year race can be even better. If
you have input about how we could have done it better, please forward the
information to myself or Damian and we'll be sure to bring it up in the
meeting. Or, even better, volunteer next year. There is no shortage of
work to do, and we can certainly use experience.
I promise you that we tried hard, and I'm sorry that you went away unhappy.
I realize that you're probably getting many responses, but it's because all
of us tried our hardest to make the Mudslinger a success. We may not be
perfect, but our hearts are in the right places. I'm proud to say that I'm
an OSU rider, and that we put on the 2000 'Slinger. As for the magic that
got worked after the race.....well, you saw it---getting 30 college
students/racers to organize and stage the first race they've ever promoted
for a sport they love with all their hearts--THAT's magic.
See you on the trails,
-Jesse Laird
Beaver GRRRRRRRR.
p.s. I don't have the official figures, but we were field-limited to 350
riders, and so 20 riders out of 350 is <10% of the racers out that day. I
think Candi's figure was right.
----- Original Message -----
From: John Bailey <Naga-@NETSCAPE.NET>
To: Multiple recipients of list CYCLING <CYCL-@BOBO.NWS.ORST.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2000 10:16 AM
Subject: Re: [Good job, Mudslinger promotors!]
10%? Maybe if the beginner class had 200 racers in it:) Worse than that,
it
was the lead pack of about 20 people that were misguided and not by their
mistake. The sign was clearing directing us down the hill with no corner
marshal whatsoever.
Understandably this is the first race of the season, but I like many others
was so disgusted I left without sticking around to see what happened. I am
curious to find out what the final verdict was for the 10% that actually
stayed to see what magic was going to be worked.
Thanks and I look forward to the next race :)
Candi Murray <cmur-@teleport.com> wrote:
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