Thank you to everyone who made the trip down to the Jedi race weekend. As a result of your willingness to travel a little I was able to donate several hundred dollars to local Grants Pass band students for their upcoming trip to Washington DC. The same students did a fine job of helping the event go smoothly.
Also, congratulations to our 2014 Jedi Masters, Tyler Fox and Mary Dallas.
Shawn Logue
Just to clear the air. The winner of the Return on the Jedi's time was 2:41. That was on the pro/expert course. I will guess the winner of this years sport course (it is longer than last year) will be at 1:45. The winner of the Beginner course will be at 1:00.
The Return on the Jedi is a Great Course. It is perfict for the State Championship for XC and Short Track.
www.pistis.us for all info for the weekend.Cliff McCann Pistis MinistriesPistis.us541-659-4104
From: hinke@ashlandhome.netTo: obra@list.obra.orgDate: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 15:23:27 -0700Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Falls City Firecracker: great event, but where are the women???
I agree that racing is hard. But it's also supposed to be fun, right? I mean, not too many of us make our living racing. Most of us just enjoy hanging out with like-minded people doing something fun.
I'm starting to get prepared for the Jedi state championship XC race coming up and was looking at last years results to try to gauge how much time it'll take me. Most of the men in my category took between 3-4.5 hours to do the Jedi race last year. Ouch! I'd better train some more.
I also noticed there were only 5 women who did the race. Their times for the pro/expert women were off the charts and very unreasonable for just about any "normal" mountain bike race. The pro woman took 4h14m to complete the course, while the expert woman took just under 5 hours! That's right: 5 hours. (Better start training more, eh?) How many people want to race that long or can race that long (ignoring all of the 12 hour and 24 hour racers out there)? That's a long time to race. I'm not sure I'd come back to a race if it was that long. I also understand that it's a tough decision for the promoters. If they make the course too short or easy, people will complain. If they make it too long people will complain. Finding that sweet spot is a challenge.
Anyway, I love the Jedi.
John
-----Original Message-----From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org]On Behalf Of Melissa BoydSent: Monday, June 02, 2008 2:59 PMTo: sue butlerCc: obraSubject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Falls City Firecracker: great event,but where are the women???
It does seem like women are avoiding mountain bike races, and some of the responses I heard said that it is "too hard".
Races are supposed to be hard! But, some promoters seem to take great glee in making them as hard as possible. That may be discouraging some of the women who are just getting started. For instance, if half the riders in a category find a long section of singletrack climb (or descent) unrideable and have to push their bikes, is that "too hard" for that category? What if it's 80%, or 100% that have to walk? Is that getting excessive? If the beginner women find they are spending more time pushing their bikes than riding them, it may be hard to get them to come back and try again. And yet, that may be just the Best Course Ever for the Expert riders and the strong guys.
Most races have beginner's distances that are shorter than the Sport and Expert races. Although it would be harder for the organizers, they might get more novices to give it a try if the beginner's course was technically easier and not just shorter.
Melissa
On 6/2/08, sue butler wrote:
I agree that this was a great race and a lot of fun. When do you get to race on almost ALL singletrack?I also agree that it was extremely disappointing to have only 4 women line up for the afternoon session of racing. I know the Silverton road race took a few 'regulars' out of the pack, but I continue to wonder why other women don't like to race their mtb's? It is great fun, great people and a great workout! Stay tuned for upcoming mtb clinics that will be at the short track races, which start later this month. Maybe this will help get more women out there racing their mountain bikes. I think all the men that were there need to work on one woman each to get them there. Because I know when you have no one to race, sometimes then you don't go and the cycle continues... I was just glad to be home and able to race a new venue!!!_______________________________________________OBRA mailing listobra@list.obra.orghttp://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obraUnsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org
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