3/10/01

     We.., the new season has started.  The first points race of the year was held in fairly decent weather for February.  There were approximately 100 racers at the Winter Blast MTB.   Although it was early, there racing was good.  I was told that everybody had a good time.  Meanwhile, I was home in bed with the flu.  Last weekend, I attended the annual officials meeting held by John and Barbara Rigby.  It was very informative for everyone.

     There are a few rule changes that everyone needs to be aware of.  First, the junior gear restrictions are back.  I think it is a good idea.  Our juniors need to learn to spin and, believe me, you can tell the difference since they stopped this rule a few years ago.   When the rule was in effect, we had riders like Greg Lemond and Lance Armstrong coming up.  They learned spin to win.  For those of you that have never seen a roll out, you will this year.  We will set it up at each race and your junior will have to pass the roll out before and after each race.  The rule is that for one complete rotation, your bike can not roll more than 26 feet (or 7.63 meters).   We probably will only test the top three finishers after each race, however, all will be tested before the race.  Blocked gears are legal at all races except Nationals.  I would advice all juniors to even train with the gears that are legal.  

     I wish I could explain the ranking system that the USCF has come up with, but I flunked out of calculus.   I am serious about how difficult it is to understand.  The points are awarded differently at each race - putting more importance on State and National Championships.   At some point in the future, this will be how they pick exactly who gets to go to Nationals.  As soon as I can figure out how to explain this with pie charts and all kinks of graphics, I will put it on the web.

     Now for some local news.  The official assignments for Nationals have come out this week.  I am proud to say that my wife, Vicki Mackzum, has been asked to be Chief Official of Masters Nationals in Spokane, Washington.  Vicki has worked nine National events in the last six years, three of them as Chief Judge - including Masters Track and Road Nationals last year.  This is the highest honor that can be given to any official in the United States, excluding the Olympics.  I can not tell you how hard it is to get an assignment like this and how hard Vicki has worked to get it.  We should all be proud of what she has accomplished as an official.  I know we all see her at all of the races in the state and then when we go to Junior Nats, Elite Nats, or Masters; there she is.  Vicki is highly respected throughout the East as a top official.  When your see her this year, congratulate her.

     Also, I read a few weeks ago that former TBRA Champ, Laura Shufford will be racing for Trek this year.   I hope someone will keep us informed as to how she is doing this year.  Last year, she won a couple of pro races and had a pretty good Hewlett Packard until the crash.   For all the teams and clubs, we will have a monthly Bio place on the site, so send us what you want everybody to know about your club or team.

     If anyone would like to be added to my e-mail flyer list, let me know.
   

Frank Mackzum
TBRA Director

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