Candi Murray
Members
Both of these gentlemen bring up points that need some clarification. This
may be long, go get a cup of coffee.
Upgrades
When OBRA broke away from USAC there was an initial problem as USAC did not
want to honor our categories or give credit for upgrades in their system for
participation in any OBRA races . They stated that it was a safety issue
since they could not guarantee the rider status. To solve this problem we
adopted their guidelines. Each year we sign a reciprocity agreement that
states we will adhere to the shared guidelines. These guidelines can be
seen at http://www.obra.org/upgrade_rules.html
.
I do not see how these guidelines can be done arbitrarily. You achieve the
points or experience level, you move up. You don't, then you stay the same.
There is no way that someone that has the required points would be refused
an upgrade. But let's go over them.
To upgrade from 5 to 4 or 4 to 3 can be done in 2 way. You can do it by
results (Placing in the top 6 of road races or criterium) or by just
completing the required number of races. You can do it one way or another,
or a combination of both.
To upgrade from 3 to 2 gets trickier. You can only upgrade on results. Only
road races, criterium, or stage race general classification counts. The
kicker here is that there must be a minimum field size. The guidelines say
60 riders. We have taken the leeway to consider races with 50. But time
trials, hillclimbs, handicap events and races with less then the minimum do
not count. Also the field must consist of at least 50% of the category that
you are trying to move out of. So if you want a 3/4 race to count for
upgrade to Cat 2, the majority of the field must be 3s. The problem with
this is how do you determine this? It is near impossible and for that reason
3/4 races have not counted toward Cat 2 upgrades. If you look at the upgrade
rules you will see that there is a minimum number of points and a maximum.
What that says is that with 25 points you CAN upgrade, but with 60 you MUST.
This allows a rider to stay in the category for a while longer if they are
reluctant to move. ;-)
Just for clarification. PIR does count toward upgrade, when it meets the
field size requirements. You just cannot have all your points at PIR.
Riders interested in upgrading are asked to petition by submitting a request
and listing their results. This is particularly important for riders that
have results out of the area, as they will not be listed on the OBRA page. I
have kept careful records of the field sizes of the road and criteriums so
that the minimums can be verified. I have reviewed these on each upgrade
request.
Sal had a terrific idea. It was to add upgrade points to your results page
on the web. I have contacted Scott and Cheryl and they have put it on their
extensive to do list. Maybe we can work it out so that when riders reach
the point of upgrade it can notify them or Kenji or whoever. We will work
on this project.
Upgrades on the track are done at the discretion of the velodrome manager.
They are set to the ATRA guidelines that require riders to place in a
minimum number of omniums before upgrading.
Upgrades on mtn are done by the Mtn Bike Representative, Mike Ripley, who
lives in Eugene.
Downgrades
The OBRA rules state
Downgrade Guidelines: Riders who do not score points in a 12 month period
may elect to be downgraded one category.
The one area that I have veered on this, is that I do not believe that a
rider should stay a Cat 1 for life. If they do not place in a race in 2
years I automatically downgrade them to 2.
Is this clear to everyone?
Now let's address some of the comments from the two gentlemen.
Mr. Shucker states that a different standard was held to Northern riders
then to those south of Salem. This is patently untrue and I ask him to
provide examples. I will admit to early on in my career that I made some
decisions not based wholly on points. Almost every time I did this it came
back to bite me. When Sal took over I shared this experience and stressed
that it was important to be consistent. I can honestly say that I never
looked at anyone's address before I did an upgrade. The only disadvantage
of living out of the area is that the field sizes are harder to achieve.
Winning the weekly Eugene and Medford series races with only 15-20 rides in
the field does not count toward upgrade. Winning the PIR race with 60-100
riders in the field does count.
I have no idea where this Portland bias comes from. It surfaces from time to
time and I do not understand its origins. The Board is comprised of 6
members. 1/3 of them are from out of the Portland area. There has been a
Medford member for the last 8 years. I have no recollection of an Eugene
person ever running for the board. At most annual meetings there is little
or no representation from any club from Eugene.
Mr. Root states that a Masters 1/2/3 race should be considered differently
then a Sr 1/2/3 race. I closely looked over the upgrades rules, and sent
messages to USAC and have shown that there is no difference in ability level
from a Masters 1/2/3 race and a Senior 1/2/3 race. If you look at the
guidelines no where does it state any different. As I stated above if the
composition of the riders cannot be determined then the race cannot count.
Therefore a Masters race (open, no category definition) would not count but
a 1/2/3 race is a 1/2/3 no matter what age the riders are. Placing in a
Masters 1/2/3 race and stating that it should not count is disingenuous. At
no time were the decisions made twisted to suit a personal opinion.
Sal
The Board of Directors has taken the stance that silence is golden. I agree
that subject of changes in personnel is not something we consider
appropriate for discussion in a public forum out of respect for both the
organization and those involved. While there has been some demand for
answers I think that the requests were not well thought out. I feel that the
termination of an employee is between the employer and employee and no one
else. To cover the particular reasons would do nothing but cause
embarrassment for Sal, myself and the organization. I choose not to do that.
One point that does need clarification. Sal was hired to step into my job.
Our intent was for him to take on tasks over 12 months and if successful to
gain the title at that time. We did not give him a title at the beginning. I
called him Administrator. He was not the Executive Director. Mistakes were
made, many were mine. We have moved forward.
Me
I asked to be relieved of the Executive Director position over 1 year ago.
Maybe I should have just walked away at that time. I want to show up and
wear a yellow shirt and officiate. After 20+ years, I no longer have the
energy or stamina to do this position. I truly want someone to succeed in
replacing me. It was my hope that it would have happened by this time.
Candi
-----Original Message-----
From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org
] On Behalf Of David Root
Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2007 9:42 PM
To: Jason Shucker; obra@list.obra.org
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Sal - Kenji - & the Murrays
Jason, I tend to strongly agree about the upgrade / downgrade bias. I told
myself that I wasn't going to write anything about this but I read your
e-mail and I couldn't help myself.
First off I have to say that the Murrays have done great things for
Cycling in Oregon.
That being said, I think that there needs to be a more clear standard to
upgrades and downgrades.
Since I have been a OBRA racer I have seen many inconsistency's and flaws
in this current system. One example is the fact that Candi is upgrading or
denying downgrades based upon Masters race's and Master PIR and as far as I
know any type of Masters race especially if it is a open Masters or 123
Masters race. So assuming you are a master cat 3 and you do a masters 123
and place in the points no matter the field size then you get upgrade
points. If any dont believe me on this then I have the e-mail saved
confirming this and I will repost it if nessesary. My original upgrade was
also partly based on Masters points.
In USA Cycling (USCF) they do not use such practices in
upgrades/downgrades. They go according to category races and correct field
sizes only in counting towards upgrades/downgrades.
I feel that I am partly responsible for Sal's untimely departure because
he gave me and some other racers who race mostly masters and hadn't placed
in any 1/2 races for a long time or not at all a downgrade. I am sure he
felt he was doing the right thing based upon OBRA rules on upgrade/downgrade
procedures but he was demanded/forced to change that decision based on a
personal opinion and twisting of the rules.
If this upgrading/downgrading based on Masters races is going to be apart
of the OBRA rules then it needs to be officially added to the rule book and
the Web site and not left to interpritation.
Just my humble opinion.
David
Jason Shucker wrote:
Hello OBRA,
Let me start by saying this e-mail most likely will not be popular with
the majority of the list, but that's ok. I am going to say what I think a
lot of people have felt for a while now, and with the firing of Sal, and the
hiring of Kenji, I feel that now might time to bring this up.
First off, what the Murray's have done for Oregon Cycling has been great,
and without them, we would not have one of the best, if not the best states
in the country for cycling. Their endless dedication to our sport and our
state have been a great asset to all of us, and I have no problem thanking
them for all their hard work and efforts over the years. Thank You
Murrays!!!!!
That being said, for anyone living south of Salem, it has become painfully
obvious to a number of us southern riders that there is a HUGE bias towards
Portland area riders. I won't get into specific details, but Candi has had
no problem upgrading PDX riders who haven't "earned" their upgrade and in
all honestly don't deserve to be where they are. While riders in Eugene,
Medford, Bend, etc all have to get the exact number of upgrade points. I
even know of a few instances in-which a rider had the needed points, but
they were not upgraded because Candi did not want to. I have more examples,
but I don't want to get into details or name, names. Simply put, for all
the great things the Murray's have done for us, there has been a blatant
bias towards Portland riders and race organizers. This was something I was
hoping would change with the hiring of Sal Collura last year. Sadly though,
with his firing, it does not appear this will change
For many of us, we have no clue why Sal was fired, nor did we see any
reason for his firing. Myself along with many other riders thought he was
doing a great job and saw nothing different with Sal helping to run the
show, then we did while Candi was 100% in charge. However after one year,
Sal was fired for what appears was no reason. My thought, along with
others, is that simply Sal lived in the wrong zip code. How could someone
from Springfield, OR show biased towards Portland riders?
As for Kenji, I am sure he'll do a good job, he his a smart educated
individual who is passionate about cycling. However, aside from his great
blogging skills, I fail to see what he brings to the table that Sal did not.
Sal has been a bike racer for many years, he has promoted many successful
races, he has volunteered numerous hours to OBRA, and he is very passionate
about cycling and OBRA. Aside from the fact he lives outside of the 503
area code, I just don't see what he did wrong. Can anyone fill me into to
what Sal did wrong?
Thank you Sal for all your hard work, those of us in the Willamette Valley
appreciate you and all you do, and hopefully the fact that you were treated
in poor fashion from OBRA will not discourage you from promoting all the
races you provide to all of us in Valley. Without you, we would be screwed!
Once again, Thank you to the Murray's for all your hard work and
dedication throughout the years. Regardless of my opinion, without you and
your efforts we would not have the opportunties we have and I thank you a
million times over for you dedication to us bike racers.
And to Kenji A.K.A. "KMan", I know you will do a great job and help lead
OBRA into the future, I just hope this new job does not take away from your
blogging skills. And please remember to keep in mind, this is the Oregon
Bicycle Racing Association, not the Portland Bicycle Racing Association. :)
Shuck On It!
Jason
PS. I know there are probably mixed opinions, but I think the majority of
those of us in OBRA feel we are owed at least some information as to why Sal
was fired.
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