BAR ASSOCIATION POINTS OF DISCUSSION

Teams represented (22 people in attendance):

Atlantic Velo, Conte's (Richmond), Charlottesville Racing, Chesapeake Cycling Club, Evolution Cycling, James River Velo Sport, Monticello Velo Club, PDO-Velo, Team Hampton Roads, Tripower and Virginia Beach Velo as well as promoters for Richmond Cyclocross and RMH Wellness Center.

Any issue that had been presented to the Board during the season, plus an items brought up specifically at the meeting were discussed.

1. Bar jerseys and skinsuits. Motion was passed for the Association to continue subsidizing 50% of Senior Bar and Omnium winner's jersey costs (one jersey each, additional jerseys purchased at full price) and to cover 100% of juniors' cost (again for one jersey). This applies to racers competing for a VA Cycling Association member team. Individuals racing for a team which is not a member of the VA Cycling Association will not have any of his/her jersey costs subsidized by the Bar and will pay full price (approx $40). Skinsuits will not be subsidized, but if enough eligible riders (minimum of 12) are willing to pay in advance, Jeff Parker the BAR jersey coordinator, will order skinsuits as well. Jerseys should be available in April.

2. VA Cycling Assoc. Awards Banquet. The originator of this proposal was not in attendance and no one else stepped forward to present a detailed plan.

3. Cyclocross Inclusion into the BAR. It was determined that cyclocross has it's own BAR type series and does not really fit into the road cycling focus of the VA Cycling Association.

4. Separate Cat 4 and Cat 5 riders in BAR races. Motion was passed that no BAR event can run a combined Cat 4 and Cat 5 field. The discussion centered on the safety issue and many antidotical stories of crashes in races last season created by combining experienced and inexperinenced racers in one field.

5. Team Eligibility Requirements for Team BAR Championship. Motion was passed to allow only VA Cycling Association member teams will be scored and eligible in 2003. The winning team will receive the BAR team trophy to hold for the season and jersey patches that can be placed on individual team member's jerseys. Association will look into get sublimated patches or jersey panels that will have the VA state emblem and "Team BAR Champions" printed on them.

6. Team BAR Scoring. Motion was passed that team BAR scoring will be based on the combined overall standings of the top 3 riders from each team in each BAR category. So Team XYZ's team BAR score will be based on the overall point standings of it's top 3 riders in each BAR category - not on a scoring formula based on top 3 riders in each individual race. This rule change was passed due to the consensus among member teams that the current scoring penalizes teams with mulitple riders placing in races by reducing the overall team score. (ie, under the old scoring system a team receives a higher score with a single rider placing 6th than another team that places riders 1, 4 and 15.)

7. BAR fees collected by promoters. Motion was passed that BAR fees for "BAR" designated races will remain $1 per rider per day. BAR fees for training races were reduced to .50 per rider per day. Along with this, it was decided to develop a BAR invoice for promoters to use when forwarding fees to the treasurer.

8. Scoring Depth. There was a great deal of discussion as to how deep BAR races should be scored. Current scoring depth was retained (15 deep) with a promise to look at the matter again at the next BAR meeting. Reasons for this were two fold. First, approval was given for the BAR to look into a new digital camera that will allow promoters to accurately score events much deeper than presently possible. Second, a large number of the BAR races this season will have a separate 1,2 and 3 race allowing Cat 3's to compete and score within their racing peer group.

9. BAR camera. See above. Motion was passed purchase a new camera and to set a $1500 limit on the camera purchase. Randy Collins (MVC) "volunteered" to research and purchase the new camera.

Also the 2003 race calender was sorted out and several new races were added including three multi-day events in Central and Western VA.

The new officers were elected as follows: President - Bill Collins, Vice President - Liz Schleeper, Treasurer - Jake Helmboldt, Secretary - Dennis Rainear.