Dear OBRA Community,

The OBRA board and staff want to express our sincere gratitude to all the OBRA racers, (both old and new), and to the amazing race promoters, (both old and new) for a fun and exciting 2021 race season. 23% of the 2021 OBRA members were first-time members. Congratulations on pinning that number on for the first time! We hope that your experience this year will keep you coming back. With many unknowns due to the pandemic, the OBRA race promoters took the risks and gave us an outstanding race calendar, and proved that bike racing during a pandemic can be done safely. You gave us a reason to be joyful; thank you.

On December 1 every year, OBRA flips the calendar and we start taking individual and team memberships for the following year. We kept the individual adult and team membership dues the same at $40 and $155. Juniors 17 and under are now free and U-23 (18-22) is $10. When you click on “Join OBRA” at the top of the homepage: obra.org, you will be able to renew your membership. Although $40 may seem like a low price, it is prohibitive to some. This is why you will find an option to donate $40 to help someone without the means to join. We want every person with a desire to participate in our sport to have access. Team dues can be renewed here: industry.obra.org/product/team-dues As in the past, discounts are available if your team puts on a race or has 2 active, working officials.

The 2022 race calendar is starting to fill up: obra.org/schedule We have most of the CX races submitted but they won’t go on the calendar until after the promoters meet next month. In addition to what is currently on the calendar, it looks like there will be a road race at Henry Hagg Lake on the old Banana Belt course and a strong possibility of the Eugene Roubaix coming back in 2022. I am also in discussion with a promoter that may have an early-season road race and TT. Keep checking back to see updates.

Finally, good luck to everyone in the OBRA community (both old and young) that is traveling to CX Nationals this week. For those of us that are not going this week, we can watch and root for our friends on FloBikes. Information on which races and how to tune in can be found here: usacycling.org/article/how-to-watch-the-2021-usa-cycling-cyclocross-national-championships

Stay tuned for an announcement in regards to the OBRA annual meeting. If you have thoughts on rule changes or are considering running for the OBRA board of directors, please reach out to me. ckenlan@obra.org

Happy Holidays,
Chuck