Smithers MINNEAPOLIS

bring back the prairie roubaix

CBOR ride… that or bring back oxbow

Oxbow!

is this a five minute advertisement for excel sports? Admit it smithers youve sold out to the dark side.

There are a ton of roads like that on the western part of this ride.
http://tr.im/GrPg

There’s a dirt road series for next year:

http://www.raceforthecup.blogspot.com/

Minnesota spring classics – yes! Oxbow, yeah! I did it 3 times. A very hard race, but I thought it was fun. I’d say the “Oxenberg” was a heck of lot harder than the hill in that vid. These Almonzo and Ragnorak things aren’t really races.

Too early in the season? It was late April, and road races started happening every weekend in May. Hell, the fricken MN road season is practically over after Memorial Day (can-o-worms opened once again).

Going downhill is part of the game, isn’t it? I didn’t think Oxbow’s downhills were particularly dangerous. Certainly not as challenging as Green Acres CX.

@Dan i : If Almonzo and Ragnorak aren’t racing then Country and Western isn’t music. It’s all in how you groove. Try it, you may like it.

Suggestion:

Why not do a low key gravel road race series starting in July or August, when you guys got all rabid about the CBOR rides this year? There are more openings in the calendar during the later months and maybe there’d be a decent enough turnout if people really are in need of a change of pace (I, personally, am not, but you never know).

Would make more sense to me than trying to shoehorn a gravel race into the “spring” part of the race calendar.

And sorry Lil D, I’m with Dan I on the Almanzo/Ragnarok style event thing. They’re not races.

Ok, what defines “a race” as opposed to a social ride?

I was totally peaking for the CBOR rides!

andy, don’t let Dave Pramann hear you say that! heard ragnorak is a bitch.. i’d try one if they didn’t conflict and require early commitment with limited field size.. nothing attracts a crowd like.. beer.

don’t get me wrong, I have nothing but respect for guys who win these types of events – and I guess it’s a race under a broader definition of “race”.

When the event promoter states up front that the “race” is unsanctioned, with no event insurance, and you’re entirely responsible for yourself (you could die and rot on the side of the road and no one would ever notice) – it’s not a “race”, it’s a competitive group ride at best.

Plotting a route and putting up a blogspot page does not a “race” make.

start line + finish line = race

TCBC’s “Tears, Gears, and Fears” ride is totally a race.

I’m totally doing this “race” again. Puts the e b4 pic

http://nerdybike.blogspot.com/2009/11/prairie-roub aix-reminder.html

btw, the last time oxbox was held it was the first or 2nd weekend of April, b4 durand and the rest. I loved the race, but the downhill was sketchy, Flood wasn’t the only one to crash that day, he just got it the worst, I did an endo into the reeds, broke the jelly doughnut in my jersey pocket, I looked like I’d been attacked by a disgruntled Canuck…

@skibbyroubaix: Why do you hate bike steering?

@little d: OK, fine. Almanzo, Ragnorak, and even Prairie Roubaix are all races. Manly races! Shhhhh! You don’t want all the roadies to show up and ruin it though.

if you are on a bike, it’s timed and there is a trophy it’s a race, fucking roadies… promoters are getting raped for insurance, support and ’sanctioning’… bootleg it all

See: http://heckofthenorth.blogspot.com/
This was a 102 mile road race in Duluth in mid September. Mostly on gravel. Awesome race. No entry fee. No sanction. No real prizes. Real fun.

all interesting points, let me see how this works: i register(read pay money) my ‘club’ with MCF so i get the privilege to promote a race, then do I pay a second fee to USAC for the sanction and insurance or not? and how much is the city/county permit? feel free to enlighten me, the ‘closed door system’ of information management surrounding these questions baffles me. believe me i have gone to the executive of MCF and met with resistance and indifference. let’s have an easy and informative session for independant promoters and we’ll talk, until the ‘the man’ stops harshing my mellow i’m goin’ to continue to promote non-permitted events/races
i’m trying to get the bean counters and insurance accountants out of my race that’s all. is it any wonder that the president of MCF is in the finance industry?

Stay tuned folks, Birchwood may have something up its sleeve…

“i’m trying to get the bean counters and insurance accountants out of my race that’s all. is it any wonder that the president of MCF is in the finance industry?”

If it weren’t for the insurance of the USAC-permitted Opus series, I’d be SOL with my broken collarbone. Non-insured races are all fun and games until someone breaks a collarbone.

Ex-rider here but I’ve got a good route and area for you. NE Iowa, between Decorah and Bluffton. Mix of pavement and packed dirt. No traffic. Gorgeous and bike-friendly community. Talk to Deke at Oneota River Cycles in Decorah.

the president of the MCF is part of the military industrial complex. build bombs and ride bikes….In today’s litigous society, insurance is a necessary evil.

@andrew rosenberg:
i’m goin’ to continue to promote non-permitted events/races
i’m trying to get the bean counters and insurance accountants out of my race that’s all.

not that i would go, but i’m curios… where do all these bootleg races you promote actually take place?? and mean — besides in your head?

Mankato-

Gravel climbs very similar to the video, and no traffic.

@Smithers: You make some good points about the insurance and Rosenberg

I’m curious about club rides though. If someone gets injured on the “Tough-Guy” ride. Let’s say T3 runs into a bridge and breaks his nose. Is your team liable because you advertise the ride on a blog?

@Little D: i’m a total nazi janky whack ass and you are totally right that i would sue every dooshbag on the tuffride.

talk to derrick. i think he had concerns about liability for cat 6 group rides. i don’t know what he ever found out about that.

As someone who is currently being sued because of my PARTICIPATION in a race, I can tell you that having USA Cycling involved helps a lot.

The rider in front of me rolled a tire, and I swerved to avoid him. Last thing I remember is heading towards the hay bales. I woke up 10 meters from the road in the grass with people telling me not to move. A spectator was hurt and now me, the guy who rolled a tire, USAC, promotor, and all the races sponsors are being sued.

personal umbrella policy will cover all the stuff cited above. insurance rocks.

@Smithers: USAC’s insurance company is providing the lawyer for all involved. I was given court papers over 2 years after the incident (June 09). I’ve spoken briefly with the lawyer but haven’t heard a word on the case in months. I guess these things can drag on for years.

Finally, the Hot Stove League begins…

@T3: i am speaking for every alleycat, wednesday night ride,no name race etc…. check the message boards outside of yr own tiny world and upcoming series on sunday night in south mpls originating at smithers and bob samada’s favorite restaurant cafe maude. asshat

@Smithers: and what my dear smithers is yr point, i think yr just being territorial, and silly.

@skibbyslaughter: yes, you are a part of the military industrial complex. and more mother is too

i think i’ll fill up smithers recent comment form that would be fun…is it getting hot in here…i could throw another log on the fire

@Smithers: yea, real intelligent smithers, i attempt an adult conversation, and here is the response, just can’t get past the personal animosity can we now, grow up and HTFU

sorry to hear about your son, hope everything gets better

Smithers, you could connect this to one of your health care reform rants if you wanted to. It’d be real easy. One of the big drivers in claims filed as a result of race crashes has been the increase in numbers of riders without health insurance. Since racers tend to be younger with fewer health issues they are also more likely to go without coverage if their employer doesn’t provide it. And since USAC coverage is secondary, there you go. More riders have it as their primary coverage.

And while it protects promoters, it’s also pretty important to the sponsors too. As Jake points out, if the event insurance isn’t there that puts the sponsor’s liability policy up front. I’ve had more than one sponsor tell me that event insurance was absolutely mandatory for that reason.

I will say this about insurance providers. I can think of three sources for event insurance off hand. Of the three USAC is the worst, and by a large margin. They used to offer the best policy but the policy limits have been falling and that isn’t so much the case anymore. And the single-day licenses are an albatross, they just piss people off and keep them away.

@dan i: re TCBC Tears, Gears, & Fears “ride/race” – and if you are a TCBC member you are covered by insurance on their rides.

So yeah as pointed out by Mr. Stechmann, all it takes is one bad incident and you end up being sued. In his case UCI appears to be handling the major details.

So go ahead do your alley cat what ever racing… it’s all fun until somebody gets hurt or property gets damaged.

Which I belive is the real point of sanctioned races vs. free for alls.

(hmmm… wonder if I could promote an unsanctioned triathlon? )

Smithers,
I’m not reading all the posted comments, makes my eyes dizzy, but I found some sweet roads while scouting for the BWRR to replace plainview.

We should talk. I gots some routes….

FPA

Prairie Roubaix next week!