Mike Ripley
OBRA,
>From the 90% optimist....I have to hold back 10% for certain situations.
Summer Racing Dead?.......well if you expect more than 100 people at a
traditional xc event and the time to travel to the event is over 1.5
hrs...YES
No big deal......just the way it is...can't force people to drive anywhere
for a xc race after July hits and the weekends of yard work and other
commitments take over.
If we had more 19-29 year olds with no families than maybe there would be a
demand...I hope the average age is still 37 with a child...maybe its now 38
I did like the comparison to Summer Road Races......finally something
totally in common with One day Road Racing
I know Kenji has the numbers, but XC racing has grown again from talking to
him and seeing the numbers......not including Portland Short Track by close
to 15%
With a 2010 Junior series it will continue to grow.
Can't compare it to cross why would you......cross is excellent on its own
and super cool, quick, fan friendly, during a time of year with kids in
school and not as many vacations to take and no other racing to compete
against for riders.
We have 4 races that draw 300 plus or minus and 2-3 that draw 200 plus or
minus and with land access being so tough and easy to lose we should be
thankful and support the races that we have and keep building them up.
I wish we had summer race with super tight and twisty dry trails, close to
I-5 with a few hills race...oh ya wooded and buff singletrack....berms
also...not too steep to make the cat 3 get sad, but challenging to to Cat
2,1 or Pro and yes....Singlespeed Friendly, no rain (guess I can't put it
on) and did I say Beer? and.....well you get the picture. This describes all
the races in some way and pieces of the puzzle that makes our state great to
Mountain bike race in. It takes effort to get to alot of venues or time and
not perfect by any means, but getting stronger and with more out of state
riders coming this year
SO, keep up the great work all of you who are starting up ST events during
the week in the summer. get new people out to those events and tell them
about us out in the woods...over the mtns......great places to take a trip
to and relax with friends, after all its about the journey.
Mike Ripley
OBRA MTB REP