Emily

First of all-I do not think anyone ran Sal out of town-he loves the sport, and he is still out there racing, and putting on races every week (along with Mike, Orion, Galen, and others).
If we all "love" the sport of cycling so much, then we "all" need to step up, not just a board of people, or a certain region of people-everyone.
I do not race bicycles, for that matter I no longer date anyone that races bicycles, but I have always been impressed with what OBRA has down out here in the Northwest-I never saw anything like this when living in Dallas, TX, and for sure not when I was back in Iowa.
Maybe we need to think about giving more to OBRA than our money. Maybe a structure such as that with Hood to Coast, all registered teams for the event must provide 3 volunteers to work the event-if not, they are penalized. Many racers take advantage of working so they can get their registration fee comped-and I usually give mine to a welcoming racer.
And as Candi and Kenji have mentioned-they have provided training to the officials in the Southern region-and if I am not mistaken, that yellow jacket does come with some sort of compensation.
Maybe it is just the cold weather that is keeping volunteers indoors-I will keep my fingers crossed that is the case.
See you at Alpenrose in the morning.