USAC @ USOC in COS

Friday morning found me in the PJs Coffee shop at the Moisant Stock Yard (MSY), otherwise known as the Louis Armstrong International Airport waiting for my flight out to Colorado Springs (COS) for the USA Cycling (USAC) Local Associations conference. After an uneventful flight I walked out the front door of the airport to the waiting bus from the Olympic Training Center (OTC). I really lucked out this year on the accommodations. It turns out there were a few high-class athlete suites available in the "athlete center" building, and since I had turned in my paperwork early I got assigned one. Last year I had been in one of the unrenovated old dorms with a bathroom down the hall, so this was really a step up. Friday night we were treated to an open bar and dinner at a local golf club. Having unrestricted access to both wine and food, together with the bug decrease in physical activity I've endured since last week, left me feeling like a stuffed turkey.

Saturday started off with another "all you can eat" breakfast, followed by a day of presentations on insurance matters, rule change proposals, new website content, etc. I was glad to see some of the new things that will be on the website beginning in December. In fact, they have already rolled out the new "My USA Cycling" design and layout, which I think is a nice improvement. They will also be rolling out some interesting things next year, including online one-day licenses and a completely redesigned ranking system. Finally, this one will be based on the calendar year and it will use a points system that is additive rather than the incomprehensible one they used to have that is subtractive. They also have a new "Encyclingpedia" section with general information on it. It isn't live yet, but you can sneak a peek at it if you happen to know the URL. The entire USAC office will be moving to a new Colorado Springs location in early January, so that will be a lot of work for the staff, I think. They will be taking over a strip mall that they've re-designed. The interesting thing is that right in the middle of this building is a bar that will be staying for the next couple of years.

So the 2009 masters nationals will be June 28 - July 4 in Louisville, followed by elite/junior nationals July 7-11 at a location that they weren't free to announce yet.

I just returned from a dinner at the USOC Visitor Center hosted by AMB, the chip-timing folks. It looks like they will be a new USOC "Affinity Partner" which basically means that we might be able to get a discount. Even so, I'm pretty skeptical about the feasibility of using chip timing for any of the regular events because we don't have the turnout we would need. Florida requires AMB chip timing for their points series. Not coincidentally, the president of the Florida Local Association is also running a business doing chip timing with the AMB system. Anyway, I think the price of the chips, currently $100 each, is going to have to come down rather dramatically before it will make sense for the smaller local associations like LAMBRA.

Tomorrow I'll have to head back to the airport after lunch. I am definitely starting to feel a little dragged out after a full week of conferences, wine, food, and inactivity. Hopefully I will be able to find some time to put all of this new information to good use. It looks like we'll have our LAMBRA meeting the first week of December, assuming I can find suitable space and get everything ready in time. It won't help that I'll be taking the week of Thanksgiving off for a trip to Disneyworld, though.