eric aldinger
Jay Rideout wrote:
> Considering the yearly OBRA membership dues (low) and the cost of entering these events (low) I have a lot of trouble understanding what the draw is to enter a fee based "outlaw" event except for maybe the disruptive/distructive factor. I can only hope that the volume and variety of OBRA events makes this potentially disruptive activity financially unattractive.
>
> As the venues and conditions for our sanctioned, licensed, and legal events become more and more restricted we really need to protect what we have by channelling our participation through OBRA and the other sactioning organizations in the NW.
> Jay
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Will Cortez
> To: obra@list.obra.org
> Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 7:40:05 AM
> Subject: [OBRA Chat] Race at Reheers?
>
> Thanks to Jon Myers at S&M for that last post about permits and such. I have a pretty good feeling I know who that un-named race group is...idiots.
>
> Anyway, with that said, will S&M put on Race at Reheers in 2008?!?
>
> It was a great race in 2006 and was looking forward to it in '07. What's the word? Is it a permit issue also?
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>
The idea is to avoid paying fees for the race altogether. All of the
marathon length mountain bike races in this area cost around $200.00.
This is a warranted cost for the promoters of events providing medical
support and stocked aid stations. By diverting these responsibilities
(and their costs) to participants, you can negate the need for entry
fees. Since the event I am describing is not a commercial use of the
existing public trail infrastructure, there is no need to get approval
from local land managers (as I understand it). We generally end up
calling these events gatherings rather than races. I suppose I simply
want to see more 50 to 100 mile rides in the woods for free with people
assuming personal responsibility. In the world of road events, look at
how the OR Randonneurs run things, I see group events of severe length
and potential for personal injury. The only fees I see are associated
with voluntarily joining the US sanctioning body so you can have a race
number to track your event times with.
This would not displace any of the existing commercial events offered to
the cycling public. instead they would augment these events and
possibly create new consumers for them who previously did not see the
value in paying to ride a bicycle. As the cost of failure of an event is
simply a lack of participation and popularity, event coordinators can be
more creative in their choice of route selection. Any feedback to these
comments is appreciated. Thank you.