JM Newman
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<P>Thank you for the insight Steve.</P>
<P>While racing in Northern California from 1984-93, I saw (and occaisonally was) a rider dq'd for center-line violations nearly every weekend. The officials had an easier time of getting to riders as they were on motorcycles. It seems the BMW Club of NorCal was regularly invovled with bike races. The riders dq'd were made examples of and used to motivate other racers to pay attention and understand that the center-line rule was enforced.</P>
<P>The costs, weather, etc, might make it un-likely for OBRA to have moto officials as opposed to Mini driving officials, but I am sure if we had involvement from a Harley club at races, us boney shouldered, bike racers would argue alot less about centerline infractions when some behemoth bubba on a chopper is toting Candi or our other great officials up and down the pack.</P>
<P>-James Newman<BR><BR></P></DIV>
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<DIV></DIV>>From: flash-@aol.com
<DIV></DIV>>Reply-To: flash-@aol.com
<DIV></DIV>>To: ob-@topica.com
<DIV></DIV>>Subject: [OBRA Chat] Centerline enforcement
<DIV></DIV>>Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2003 09:41:19 EST
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>I could not resist weighing in on this issue. First, my background: raced
<DIV></DIV>>for 20 years, USCF District Rep before Candi, race official at many events
<DIV></DIV>>(including many National Calendar races) and NCAA official n two sports for
<DIV></DIV>>10 years.
<DIV></DIV>> My experience is that participants will break the rules if they feel it is
<DIV></DIV>>in their self-interest. That is just human nature and the reason we have
<DIV></DIV>>sports officials. Second, it is not fun to be the 'bad guy' and enforce
<DIV></DIV>>rules. One thing that was always drilled into our heads as NCAA officials
<DIV></DIV>>was 'the only friend you have on the field is your fellow official'. It is
<DIV></DIV>>not a popularity contest, and it is not fun to make tough decisions (and
<DIV></DIV>>believe me, someone always disagrees with every decision you make). I
<DIV></DIV>>suspect that is one of the reasons our officials have difficulty enforcing
<DIV></DIV>>the CL rule is that cyclists frequently become officials to 'help the sport',
<DIV></DIV>>not realizing that they will have to make unpopular decisions. An additional
<DIV></DIV>>problem is low pay and lack of professionalism. I do not want to criticize
<DIV></DIV>>our officials, but I would spend 40 to 50 hours per season in training and
<DIV></DIV>>evaluation of NCAA contests, and I was paid more in an hour that our cycling
<DIV></DIV>>officials make in a full day. It was a 'serious' commitment.
<DIV></DIV>> Enforcement of any rule begins at the top: OBRA administration takes a
<DIV></DIV>>firm stand and clearly delineates sanctions for violations of rules. Race
<DIV></DIV>>officials are made aware of their responsibilities and evaluated for their
<DIV></DIV>>conformance. At the event, rule is enforced uniformly at every race by every
<DIV></DIV>>official. Riders will not be happy when they are DQed, but eventually they
<DIV></DIV>>will conform. This will not be an easy task, but lives will be saved. Maybe
<DIV></DIV>>not in Oregon this year, but somewhere, someday. Sorry this was so
<DIV></DIV>>long-winded, but it is not an easy question.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Steve Scarich
<DIV></DIV>>
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