missinwyo@juno.com

Ditto John's post! I agree with just about everything he said from the course being a true mountain bike course to not wanting shorter races to preferring to race later in the summer when trails are dry and my bike handling skills and fitness are stronger. Thanks for summing it up well, John,
Susan
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Pistis Mountain Bike Racing Team

Hey thats a idea, we need all the schools to go year round. Sorry to the teachers in OBRA land.Cliff McCann Pistis MinistriesPistis.us541-659-4104> From: dirtsurf@ykwc.net> To: thompsok@loswego.k12.or.us; obra@list.obra.org> Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 13:10:18 -0700> Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Falls City Firecracker AWESOME> > No summer break for #$%^&* kids!> > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "kevin thompson" > To: > Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2008 12:56 PM> Subject: [OBRA Chat] Falls City Firecracker AWESOME> > > > John, and everyone else who is interested,> >> > I am speaking for myself, none of the handful of other mountain bike > > promoters have said they agree with anything I am going to say here.> >> > This year was my 6th year running the Firecracker. Of course I want more > > people there. It takes just as much work to put a race if 10 people show > > up, as it does if 200 show up.> >> > Several years back, Shane Young was doing the OBRA rep job at the mountain > > bike races and one of the things he did to entertain himself was to track > > attendance through out the season. The conclusion that he made was that > > after school got out in June, that fewer racers showed up to race. After > > reading John's email today, I went back to look at my history in the OBRA > > arcives. My data backs Shane's data up. I checked the old schedules to > > see what conficts where happening on the dates the Firecracker was > > happening. This is what I found.> >> > The most surprising to me was in 2005 the firecracer had an entire July > > weekend to its self (just what John seems to want). I had 97 racers.> >> > The complete history is:> >> > July 2003, Brownsville crit, and state track on the same day, 115 racers> > July 2004, Silverton rr, firecracker is the xc state champ, 89 racers> > July 2005, no compitition the entire weekend, 97 racers> > August 2006, Woodland rr, 75 racers> > May 2007, Swan Island, 158 racers> > June 2008, Silverton, 170 racers.> >> > The last 2 years, the race was before school got out and I almost doubled > > participation.> >> > I tried for 4 years to promote a race in the summer, it was not really > > worth my effort.> >> > Any thoughts?> >> > See you all at Pickets.> >> > Kevin> >> > _______________________________________________> > OBRA mailing list> > obra@list.obra.org> > http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra> > Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org> > > > > _______________________________________________> OBRA mailing list> obra@list.obra.org> http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra> Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org
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Pistis Mountain Bike Racing Team

I agree. That's why I keep trying to move the Jedi race up. Once school is out everyone is on vacation. If you notice, most of us don't go to races alone. With gas prices I fill my car with as many people as possible. So if I don't do a race that means 3 other may not go. Lets say each person only brings one other person. If 10 racers are on vacation thats 20 who arn't racing. That is a big dent for the promoter.

This is not a new problem. It seems this comes up every year at least once or is this the 2nd time this year? Maybe the summer would be a good time for the endurance races. They seem to draw from out of the state.

I sure love living in a State that has so much racing. For me it can never start soon enough every year. Cliff McCann Pistis MinistriesPistis.us541-659-4104> Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 12:56:06 -0700> From: thompsok@loswego.k12.or.us> To: obra@list.obra.org> Subject: [OBRA Chat] Falls City Firecracker AWESOME> > John, and everyone else who is interested,> > I am speaking for myself, none of the handful of other mountain bike promoters have said they agree with anything I am going to say here.> > This year was my 6th year running the Firecracker. Of course I want more people there. It takes just as much work to put a race if 10 people show up, as it does if 200 show up.> > Several years back, Shane Young was doing the OBRA rep job at the mountain bike races and one of the things he did to entertain himself was to track attendance through out the season. The conclusion that he made was that after school got out in June, that fewer racers showed up to race. After reading John's email today, I went back to look at my history in the OBRA arcives. My data backs Shane's data up. I checked the old schedules to see what conficts where happening on the dates the Firecracker was happening. This is what I found.> > The most surprising to me was in 2005 the firecracer had an entire July weekend to its self (just what John seems to want). I had 97 racers.> > The complete history is:> > July 2003, Brownsville crit, and state track on the same day, 115 racers> July 2004, Silverton rr, firecracker is the xc state champ, 89 racers> July 2005, no compitition the entire weekend, 97 racers> August 2006, Woodland rr, 75 racers> May 2007, Swan Island, 158 racers> June 2008, Silverton, 170 racers.> > The last 2 years, the race was before school got out and I almost doubled participation. > > I tried for 4 years to promote a race in the summer, it was not really worth my effort.> > Any thoughts?> > See you all at Pickets.> > Kevin> > _______________________________________________> OBRA mailing list> obra@list.obra.org> http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra> Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org
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david baker

No summer break for #$%^&* kids!

----- Original Message -----
From: "kevin thompson"
To:
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2008 12:56 PM
Subject: [OBRA Chat] Falls City Firecracker AWESOME

> John, and everyone else who is interested,
>
> I am speaking for myself, none of the handful of other mountain bike
> promoters have said they agree with anything I am going to say here.
>
> This year was my 6th year running the Firecracker. Of course I want more
> people there. It takes just as much work to put a race if 10 people show
> up, as it does if 200 show up.
>
> Several years back, Shane Young was doing the OBRA rep job at the mountain
> bike races and one of the things he did to entertain himself was to track
> attendance through out the season. The conclusion that he made was that
> after school got out in June, that fewer racers showed up to race. After
> reading John's email today, I went back to look at my history in the OBRA
> arcives. My data backs Shane's data up. I checked the old schedules to
> see what conficts where happening on the dates the Firecracker was
> happening. This is what I found.
>
> The most surprising to me was in 2005 the firecracer had an entire July
> weekend to its self (just what John seems to want). I had 97 racers.
>
> The complete history is:
>
> July 2003, Brownsville crit, and state track on the same day, 115 racers
> July 2004, Silverton rr, firecracker is the xc state champ, 89 racers
> July 2005, no compitition the entire weekend, 97 racers
> August 2006, Woodland rr, 75 racers
> May 2007, Swan Island, 158 racers
> June 2008, Silverton, 170 racers.
>
> The last 2 years, the race was before school got out and I almost doubled
> participation.
>
> I tried for 4 years to promote a race in the summer, it was not really
> worth my effort.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> See you all at Pickets.
>
> Kevin
>
> _______________________________________________
> OBRA mailing list
> obra@list.obra.org
> http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra
> Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org
>

kevin thompson

John, and everyone else who is interested,

I am speaking for myself, none of the handful of other mountain bike promoters have said they agree with anything I am going to say here.

This year was my 6th year running the Firecracker. Of course I want more people there. It takes just as much work to put a race if 10 people show up, as it does if 200 show up.

Several years back, Shane Young was doing the OBRA rep job at the mountain bike races and one of the things he did to entertain himself was to track attendance through out the season. The conclusion that he made was that after school got out in June, that fewer racers showed up to race. After reading John's email today, I went back to look at my history in the OBRA arcives. My data backs Shane's data up. I checked the old schedules to see what conficts where happening on the dates the Firecracker was happening. This is what I found.

The most surprising to me was in 2005 the firecracer had an entire July weekend to its self (just what John seems to want). I had 97 racers.

The complete history is:

July 2003, Brownsville crit, and state track on the same day, 115 racers
July 2004, Silverton rr, firecracker is the xc state champ, 89 racers
July 2005, no compitition the entire weekend, 97 racers
August 2006, Woodland rr, 75 racers
May 2007, Swan Island, 158 racers
June 2008, Silverton, 170 racers.

The last 2 years, the race was before school got out and I almost doubled participation.

I tried for 4 years to promote a race in the summer, it was not really worth my effort.

Any thoughts?

See you all at Pickets.

Kevin

Pistis Mountain Bike Racing Team

Sounds like you need to do the Return on the Jedi race. It will give you all you are asking for plus a meal.Cliff McCann Pistis MinistriesPistis.us541-659-4104> Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 05:51:36 -0700> From: jpweathe@yahoo.com> To: obra@list.obra.org> Subject: [OBRA Chat] Falls City Firecracker AWESOME> > I saw some of the threads about this race and felt compelled to make a post -- something I almost never do. This course was fantastic -- and with this year's improvements (e.g., single track climbs) it couldn't have been better, except to make each amazing lap even longer!> > To those that would like this sport to be more like triathalons, road races, running races, etc. I say feel free to do those events, or the pseudo mtb race stages you can do in the multi-discilpline (jack of all trade, master of none) adventure races. I like mtb racing, have been doing it since 1991, and the OBRA series has it nailed.> > Note to promoters: when I drive two hours each way to race I expect to race at least for two hours -- it just seems 100% wrong to drive more 2x the time you spend on your bike on a Sunday! Pls. don't shorten the expert/pro classes!> > Yes, xc mtb racing is hard, but let's not forget what people were complaining about in the late '90s when the sport fell off of its peak -- Norba courses that were non-technical with short boring laps -- there was nothing "epic" about the racing. OBRA races have "epic" and "varied" in spades compared to the rest of the country (I have lived and/or raced in NorCal, North Carolina, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Colorado), and I love it.> > If you want a shorter race, race Sport or Beginner. If you are too fast for those categories, ask promoters for a new class -- perhaps the "I'm really fast, able and strong but would prefer to not get tired class" -- maybe it will catch on. Just don't expect me to sign up! I want to be wiped out when I finish a race, and I want the course technical enough that there is no chance I will think about anything in my life for that 2 hours except the trail and the race.> > Want to increase attendance? Coordinate the races so they don't conflict with the road season -- that may mean races later into the summer, but hey wouldn't that be a good thing? Wouldn't the turnout at Horning's been higher if it was 75 and partly cloudy with dry trails than the slop we hiked through in March? > > If I have one complaint about the season is that I freeze my a** off and trash my bike for the first 2/3 of the season every year. But hey, that's Oregon and it's why I just got a SS!> > Cheers,> > jw> > _______________________________________________> OBRA mailing list> obra@list.obra.org> http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra> Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org
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Ben Fischler

You nailed it. Agreed. Keep the courses technical and fun. Mountain
biking is about adventures on dirt and XC racing should reflect that.
Please don't make someone come up with an "All Mountain" racing category

-B.

On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 5:51 AM, John Weathers wrote:

> I saw some of the threads about this race and felt compelled to make a post
> -- something I almost never do. This course was fantastic -- and with this
> year's improvements (e.g., single track climbs) it couldn't have been
> better, except to make each amazing lap even longer!
>
> To those that would like this sport to be more like triathalons, road
> races, running races, etc. I say feel free to do those events, or the pseudo
> mtb race stages you can do in the multi-discilpline (jack of all trade,
> master of none) adventure races. I like mtb racing, have been doing it
> since 1991, and the OBRA series has it nailed.
>
> Note to promoters: when I drive two hours each way to race I expect to race
> at least for two hours -- it just seems 100% wrong to drive more 2x the time
> you spend on your bike on a Sunday! Pls. don't shorten the expert/pro
> classes!
>
> Yes, xc mtb racing is hard, but let's not forget what people were
> complaining about in the late '90s when the sport fell off of its peak --
> Norba courses that were non-technical with short boring laps -- there was
> nothing "epic" about the racing. OBRA races have "epic" and "varied" in
> spades compared to the rest of the country (I have lived and/or raced in
> NorCal, North Carolina, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Colorado), and I love it.
>
> If you want a shorter race, race Sport or Beginner. If you are too fast
> for those categories, ask promoters for a new class -- perhaps the "I'm
> really fast, able and strong but would prefer to not get tired class" --
> maybe it will catch on. Just don't expect me to sign up! I want to be
> wiped out when I finish a race, and I want the course technical enough that
> there is no chance I will think about anything in my life for that 2 hours
> except the trail and the race.
>
> Want to increase attendance? Coordinate the races so they don't conflict
> with the road season -- that may mean races later into the summer, but hey
> wouldn't that be a good thing? Wouldn't the turnout at Horning's been
> higher if it was 75 and partly cloudy with dry trails than the slop we hiked
> through in March?
>
> If I have one complaint about the season is that I freeze my a** off and
> trash my bike for the first 2/3 of the season every year. But hey, that's
> Oregon and it's why I just got a SS!
>
> Cheers,
>
> jw
>
> _______________________________________________
> OBRA mailing list
> obra@list.obra.org
> http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra
> Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org
>

--
-Ben

VFX Supe
Laika

[ ben.fischler@gmail.com ]

John Weathers

I saw some of the threads about this race and felt compelled to make a post -- something I almost never do. This course was fantastic -- and with this year's improvements (e.g., single track climbs) it couldn't have been better, except to make each amazing lap even longer!

To those that would like this sport to be more like triathalons, road races, running races, etc. I say feel free to do those events, or the pseudo mtb race stages you can do in the multi-discilpline (jack of all trade, master of none) adventure races. I like mtb racing, have been doing it since 1991, and the OBRA series has it nailed.

Note to promoters: when I drive two hours each way to race I expect to race at least for two hours -- it just seems 100% wrong to drive more 2x the time you spend on your bike on a Sunday! Pls. don't shorten the expert/pro classes!

Yes, xc mtb racing is hard, but let's not forget what people were complaining about in the late '90s when the sport fell off of its peak -- Norba courses that were non-technical with short boring laps -- there was nothing "epic" about the racing. OBRA races have "epic" and "varied" in spades compared to the rest of the country (I have lived and/or raced in NorCal, North Carolina, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Colorado), and I love it.

If you want a shorter race, race Sport or Beginner. If you are too fast for those categories, ask promoters for a new class -- perhaps the "I'm really fast, able and strong but would prefer to not get tired class" -- maybe it will catch on. Just don't expect me to sign up! I want to be wiped out when I finish a race, and I want the course technical enough that there is no chance I will think about anything in my life for that 2 hours except the trail and the race.

Want to increase attendance? Coordinate the races so they don't conflict with the road season -- that may mean races later into the summer, but hey wouldn't that be a good thing? Wouldn't the turnout at Horning's been higher if it was 75 and partly cloudy with dry trails than the slop we hiked through in March?

If I have one complaint about the season is that I freeze my a** off and trash my bike for the first 2/3 of the season every year. But hey, that's Oregon and it's why I just got a SS!

Cheers,

jw