John Wilson
Gerri and OBRA, this year the Junior and High School Cyclocross Series is
GOING TO BE GREAT - AGAIN!
All races are mid day (can't vouch for kiddie race timing). We are working
within the Age rules set within OBRA. There is a process to evaluate those
rules. I suggest anyone with passion, or energy around Junior Age
definitions to focus on that process and build a case. Please keep the
conversations constructive (like you all are). Everyone is trying to do the
right thing.
Look for an announcement tomorrow detailing out all the great sponsorship,
grand prize awards, and awesome Cyclocross racing lined up for our Juniors
and new High School teams.
Hood River Sunday is Race one! See you all there.
John Wilson
Oregon Junior & High School Cyclocross Series Director
From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On
Behalf Of Geri Bossen
Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 10:38 AM
To: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Juniors and ccx racing
I completely agree with Mike. Young juniors should not be racing with the
adults especially at the very full CrossCrusade races.
I loved last years Junior Cross Series.
I drove hundreds of miles so the kids could race in a juniors only race. I
took a 13 year-old girl, 10 year-old boy and 9 year-old boy who all learned
to love bike racing. (Well, actually the 9 year-old has been racing cross
since he was 4 because he used to go to watch his Uncle race.) They have
all been looking forward to this years cross races.
That now 11 year-old boy has been training for this year cross season. He
was overheard telling his internet gaming buddys that he would not be gaming
as much because he was training and racing his bike now. This is exactly
what his parents had hoped for.
Because kids are often a package deal, I also took their younger cousins and
siblings: two 8 year olds, a 6 year old, 5 year old and two 3 year-olds.
They all did kid races that were just the right amount of racing for them,
long enough to get muddy but not so long as to create tears.
All of the kids loved the experience and could not wait for this year. They
have their bikes all set up and they have been practicing. The two now 9
year-olds have really been looking forward to racing as juniors this year.
Last year was great!
The Junior Cross Series races were around noon. This meant I had to have
them all up, fed, dressed, van loaded, bikes on and leave around leave
around 9AM which was doable. (I did not really enjoy years ago when I had to
drag ten juniors out of bed around 5am to make an 8 or 9am race.)
Last year, the juniors raced around noon followed by the kids race. My
juniors competed and then helped the younger kids do their races. The 8
year-olds had a long enough race that they were tired and looking forward to
the next race. (A 10-15 minute race is great for this age.) The little
guys loved being like the older kids and racing too.
I was hoping this year would be the same wonderful experience for the kids.
Geri Bossen
> To: obra@list.obra.org
> From: mike.murray@obra.org
> Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2010 12:51:37 +0000
> Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Juniors and ccx racing
>
> Yes this is a big change from previous years and it is intentional. It was
debated on at length at last year's annual meeting and then voted on by club
representatives. Although there are some kids in that age group who might be
able to compete safely this is not generally true for most kids. There were
several cases where the presence of the small kids created dangerous
situations for the kids and for the adults and there were a couple of
resulting injuries. There were also some pushy parents who did not seem to
recognize the risk they were creating by having their small kids in large
field adult races. Kids can still ride in junior only races but not in large
field races combined with adults.
> Mike Murray - Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Micros8391@aol.com
> Sender: obra-bounces@list.obra.org
> Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2010 00:33:49
> To: ;
> Cc:
> Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Juniors and ccx racing
>
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