Candi Murray

Mt Hood cut categories. The 3/4 women category was not the only one cut. Mt
Hood cut these after a lot of thoughtful consideration as to what
constituted a successful event for them. I wish them well.
There are other opportunties for the women. The Elkhorn Stage race is a
unique and well produced event that has all categories going the same
distances. Please consider this event as a subsitute to your plans.

Candi Murray
Executive Director
Oregon Bicycle Racing Association

_____

From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On
Behalf Of Heather Paris
Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 8:50 PM
To: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: [OBRA Chat] Hood

The woes and trials of promoting races are well known to me. I am part of a
small group that promotes two races a year. I take a leadership role in the
promotion and dedicate/donate money and countless hours for which I am not
reimbursed. Regardless, I continue to promote because it is personally
satisfying to see the sport flourish and become accepted by the American
public. I sympathize with the cause and thank Chad for putting on a great
event! To be very frank, I think Chad is a great guy and I am sorry to be at
odds with him.

With that in mind there are a few points I would like to make. First, the
slimming women's 3/4 fields is a self-fulfilling prophecy. In the past, the
numbers have exceeded forty for the women's 3/4 field. Last year, the
traditional four days of racing were shortened by deleting the first road
race stage. Then the last day was a short road race. The $100 entry fee
seemed excessive for a TT, crit and a short uneventful road race. I
apologize if I have offended the stage organizer. However, this was a boring
race up the highway and was a large disappointment for some of the 3/4
women. Again, because of the negative changes, the decrease in numbers was
not a trend but a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It is ironic that the lower ranked women must suffer so that the pro women
can compete. Obviously, other races exist where women of a lower category
can compete. However, they are not The Mt. Hood Stage race and they are not
a stage race that some of us have supported for years. In any case, it is
sad to see that this race will be, by default, eliminating most of the
Oregon women. The competition with women from Utah, California, Washington
and Idaho will be sorely missed.

This is a sad day for women's racing and I am sorry to see that it is headed
up by the Mt. Hood Stage Race committee.

Heather Paris

Heather Paris

The woes and trials of promoting races are well known to me. I am part of a
small group that promotes two races a year. I take a leadership role in the
promotion and dedicate/donate money and countless hours for which I am not
reimbursed. Regardless, I continue to promote because it is personally
satisfying to see the sport flourish and become accepted by the American
public. I sympathize with the cause and thank Chad for putting on a great
event! To be very frank, I think Chad is a great guy and I am sorry to be at
odds with him.

With that in mind there are a few points I would like to make. First, the
slimming women's 3/4 fields is a self-fulfilling prophecy. In the past, the
numbers have exceeded forty for the women's 3/4 field. Last year, the
traditional four days of racing were shortened by deleting the first road
race stage. Then the last day was a short road race. The $100 entry fee
seemed excessive for a TT, crit and a short uneventful road race. I
apologize if I have offended the stage organizer. However, this was a boring
race up the highway and was a large disappointment for some of the 3/4
women. Again, because of the negative changes, the decrease in numbers was
not a trend but a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It is ironic that the lower ranked women must suffer so that the pro women
can compete. Obviously, other races exist where women of a lower category
can compete. However, they are not The Mt. Hood Stage race and they are not
a stage race that some of us have supported for years. In any case, it is
sad to see that this race will be, by default, eliminating most of the
Oregon women. The competition with women from Utah, California, Washington
and Idaho will be sorely missed.

This is a sad day for women's racing and I am sorry to see that it is headed
up by the Mt. Hood Stage Race committee.

Heather Paris

Martha Walsh

Three thoughts from the furor:

1. Not all promoters have the same goals and vision for their races. If Chad wants to focus on bringing the very best riders in the entire world to race their bikes in Oregon, I'd say that's a lofty goal well done. If it makes bike racing more visible to a broader cross-section of the population--helps more people who know nothing about bike racing get excited about the sport--then it benefits us all. To those who say "but Mt. Hood isn't the Tour of California," well, why can't it be?

2. Oregon women riders historically turn up for stage races in Oregon in very small numbers. As Eric suggests below, look at Eugene Celebration, or Elkhorn, or Columbia Plateau, or ye olde Tour of Willamette. Or last year's Mt. Hood. If there's little demonstrated (as opposed to "virtual") interest in stage racing, promoters will continue to respond to that market signal.

3. Women of all ages and categories are warmly invited to come race their bikes on the Mt. Hood weekend in beautiful Wenatchee, WA, where a 3-stage omnium will have FIVE women's categories: cat 4, cat 3, cat 1/2, masters A, and masters B. 9-mile TT, exciting downtown crit, and as much challenging climbing as you want in the road race. http://www.bikewenatchee.org/81.html

-Martha

----- Original Message ----
From: Eric Kytola
To: obra@list.obra.org
Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 11:19:03 AM
Subject: [OBRA Chat] Hood

did Cascade have a womens field? does the Tour of California? how come only 6 cat 4 women raced at the Eugene Celebration last year?



maybe if Hood is becoming a higher profile event, it has just gone through an un-avoidable change. i think we should all be happy that Oregon has such a cool event that holds such a high status (only UCI womens stage race in America!!). i say "way to go Mt. Hood organizers!"

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Heather Paris

I agree that it is great to have a high quality stage race in Oregon. But, Mt.Hood is not in the same league as the Tour of California. Comparing apples to apples, the Tour of Gila offers a women’s 3/4 category and a men’s 4/5. If they can find a way to do it why can't Mt.Hood?

Again, if a lack of volunteers is really the issue then give us a chance to resolve it.

Heather

Eric Kytola

did Cascade have a womens field? does the Tour of California? how come
only 6 cat 4 women raced at the Eugene Celebration last year?



maybe if Hood is becoming a higher profile event, it has just gone
through an un-avoidable change. i think we should all be happy that
Oregon has such a cool event that holds such a high status (only UCI
womens stage race in America!!). i say "way to go Mt. Hood organizers!"

Electronic Privacy Notice. This e-mail, and any attachments, contains information that is, or may be, covered by electronic communications privacy laws, and is also confidential and proprietary in nature. If you are not the intended recipient, please be advised that you are legally prohibited from retaining, using, copying, distributing, or otherwise disclosing this information in any manner. Instead, please reply to the sender that you have received this communication in error, and then immediately delete it. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.