Dear OBRA Community,
As we near the end of the 2022 racing calendar, we at OBRA have three big thankyous to send out. First, to our outstanding race promoters. They work countless hours and stress over the details of permits, sponsorship, volunteers, registrations etc. to bring you memorable experiences. The second thank you is to the communities and agencies that welcome us to race on their streets, parks, trails and backcountry roads. Without these partners, bike racing in Oregon would not exist. Finally, I want to thank the OBRA members that show up at the races, compete and cheer on other racers. Participating in OBRA races has a unique sense of community which is 100% due to our members.
The OBRA annual meeting and awards party will be on January 21, 2023. This year we will be going back to an in-person meeting. Time and location will be forthcoming. The annual meeting is where members of the association come together to hear reports on the previous year, elect board members and propose changes to the racing and administrative rules. Each year two board members are elected at the annual meeting. If you are interested in running for the board, please reach out to me: ckenlan@obra.org and board president Stacy Westbrook swestbrook@obra.org. I will need a couple of paragraphs about you and you will be given 5 minutes to introduce yourself at the annual meeting. If you want to propose changes to the OBRA racing or administrative rules, please email me your proposal. Please include which rule you are amending or where you envision a new rule being placed in the rules. Here are the racing rules and administrative rules Although an OBRA member can offer input and debate the proposed rules, per our bylaws, voting is done by one representative of each 2022 OBRA member team.
2023 OBRA individual and team memberships are now available at the OBRA store. OBRA will be raising the annual adult individual membership dues in 2023 to $50. In the month of December, memberships will remain at $40. In 2023 U-23 memberships will remain $10 and junior memberships will remain free. Team dues will also remain the same at $155. We have also added a non-binary (NB) gender option to the member profile.
Due to the membership fee increase, and the overall cost of bike racing, OBRA now has a financial assistance program to help people with financial hardship begin or continue to race. Things that this program can cover are: annual OBRA memberships, race entry fees, and bike maintenance, travel etc. To apply for financial assistance, fill out this form. A committee of OBRA board members and staff will review the application and get back to you. The form can be found on the OBRA homepage under the “resources” menu item.
Another price increase is on the OBRA member benefit Spot insurance policy. It will be going from $79 per year to $107 per year. The bad news is that quite a few OBRA members with this policy fell off their bikes this year. The good news is that they had the policy to cover their out of pocket medical expenses. The price increases to $107 on January 1. If you want to take advantage of the $79 premium now, you can do it when you renew your membership during the month of December.
Hope to see everyone at the annual meeting and awards party on January 21.
Chuck