jim_fi-@hp.com
Greetings,
I have heard from several folks about the course markings at Bear Springs. The
promoter of that event is Petr Kakes. He's the person to contact regarding that
race, specifically. Unfortunately, there is no process set up with OBRA to do
anything about this sort of thing. Promoters in Oregon put on races for many
reasons; personal satisfaction, giving back to the sport and revenue are a few.
However, there is not much money in it, and there is a tremendous amount of
effort required. Most promoters would do much better financially if they simply
spent the time at work rather than promoting a race, but they choose to throw
their hats in the ring.
I gave have been thinking about this quite a lot since folks have become lost
due to poor course marshalling/marking in two of the last five mountain bike
races. We will be working on ways to minimize this in the future, and I'll
listen to any suggestions from the membership.
As far as sandbagging and upgrading is concerned, there is more to it that
blindly following the NORBA rulebook. As outlined in the OBRA rules for this
season, it is stated exactly as it was for NORBA; top five in five or top three
in three (given minimal field sizes) and a forceable upgrade is possible.
However, somebody has to win, right? If competition is tight, is it fair to
force people up? I am aware of the riders to whom you refer. I have been
keeping an eye on the results for riders finishing way out front in the sport
and beginner fields (experts will not be forceable upgraded). Some have already
upgraded.
With five races completed, results are starting to settle out. I will review
the times and finish places this week and will probably need to upgrade a few
folks. When upgrading, riders will be allowed to keep 1/2 their accumulated
points.
I am interested to hear views from the riders regarding the upgrade policy.
Please do NOT address your individual responses to the entire distribution.
Thanks!
Jim Fischer, OBRA ATB Representative
-----Original Message-----
From: Candi Murray [mailto:ob-@teleport.com]
Sent: Monday, May 01, 2000 10:10 AM
To: jim_fi-@hp.com; ob-@topica.com
Subject: [OBRA Chat] Fwd: Race at Bear Springs
X-From_: Msdu-@aol.com Mon May 01 16:09:15 2000
Delivered-To: ob-@teleport.com
From: Msdu-@aol.com
Date: Mon, 1 May 2000 12:08:06 EDT
Subject: Race at Bear Springs
To: ob-@teleport.com
X-Mailer: AOL 5.0 for Windows sub 105
I am not positive if this the right channel to post my question or thoughts
as to the race I participated in yesterday, but maybe you can make sure the
powers that be can possibly see this. Thank you. First, I realize that
putting on a race is extremely demanding,timely, and costs money and I do
appreciate the efforts put forth, unfortunately, it is disappointing to get
lost during a race. Myself along with at least 25 other sport riders became
disoriented and subsequently lost about 8 miles in the race. The top 4
riders took the correct turn as the rest of us blew past it because the
course marshall directed us down a service road as our speeds were at least
25 to 30 mph. Kind of tough to take a sharp left on to single track if
nobody directs us to. The descent put us about 600 vertical below the actual
course which we had to climb back out of and resume the ride. If you look
closely at the top 4 riders times and the 5th riders time, there is an 18
minute difference which I guarantee is a result of becoming lost as above
mentioned. I realize that not much can be done at this point, but I just
wanted it to be mentioned that this wasn't the most favorable of races
compared to others that I have participated in. The course design was great,
very challenging, just a couple small mishaps that skewed the overall
enjoyment. Lastly, how does it work for individuals who continually place in
the top 5? I remember from NORBA formats that if you place in three top 3 or
five top 5, you were automatically bumped up to the next category. Does that
hold true for OBRA? If so, its time to start looking at certain plate
numbers and bump up. It doesn't fair well to be sandbagging to the rest of
the competitive fields. Thank you again, the race series has and is very
well run and fun to participate in.
To respond to the whole group send to ob-@topica.com.
To respond to the list manager send to ob-@teleport.com
To unsubscribe send to obra-uns-@topica.com
___________________________________________________________
T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16
Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics