Location - Jane E Lawton Community Rec Center, Lawton Social Hall
Address: 4301 Willow Lane, Chevy Chase, MD, 20815
Meeting Agenda (announced)
12:30 Roll call of Class A clubs (Sunny Gil)
12:40 General Status of MABRA 2024 (Paul Lengermann)
Board Nominations (Stacie Kemp & Jeff Travis)
Elections (Jeff Travis)
13:15 Financials (Zachary) & Class A vote on Racer Fee
13:30 Women’s & Junior’s Committee Reports (KJ Philips & Sunny Gil)
13:45 USAC & Officials Update (Jared Ferber, Mimi Newcastle, Bill Nagle)
14:00 Q&A, Awards, & Mentions
14:20 Break (10 mins)
14:30 Race Director Meeting
Road Gravel & MTB Events (Paul, Stacie, Sunny)
Cyclocross Events (Craig, KJ, Chris)
16:30 Adjourn & Clean up
Note: The meeting began about 45 minutes late as a previous event in the meeting space ran over. We adjourned on time.
Class A Club Roll Call
At the meeting, as required by MABRA bylaws, we reached a quorum of Class A clubs, with representatives from 17 Class A clubs attending.
There were approximately 50 participants. A list of those who signed the attendance sheet is appended at the end of the minutes.
General Status of MABRA 2024
Participation
Presented remarks:
Participation rose to an estimated 18,557 Rider Days in 2024, up 7.6% or 1,314 rider days from 2023.
Nearly all of this increase reflected a pick up in so-called “fun rides” in the MABRA district such as centuries and charity rides.
The bulk of that increase in turn reflects some special factors.
Return of events canceled by weather in 2023.
Inclusion of an event that typically doesn't occur in the MABRA region.
But recurring events also saw growth, on net.
But road and cross also saw participation rise some.
Rider days rose nearly 3% for Road.
Permitted events decreased by 1, but riders per permitted event rose by 8.5%. This reflects two factors:
One new event (Chocolate City) saw high turnout that more than offset the 2 events that were lost (though CCTT #1 will be back in 2025).
Two events expanded from one to two days (Summit Point, MABRA Championship).
For the non-expanding recurring road events (14), participation results were mixed: 8 events saw increases, while 7 saw declines. But rider days for this group did decline on net reflecting lower participation at TradeZone and Greenbelt.
Rider days rose about 1.5% for cyclocross.
This reflected one new event (Crosstoberfest) but lower riders per permitted event which was down about 6%.
Of the 13 returning cyclocross events, rider days fell by 274 in 2024. Four events saw increases (AACX, BelAir, Tacchino, Cap Cross), while 9 saw decreases.
Audience Discussion:
Some audience members expressed optimism that road participation could rise further in 2025.
Suggestion by member to increase cost of CX trailer rental to help defray budget deficits.
Suggestion by member that MABRA work to negotiate a larger contract on behalf of the region for facilities such as portable restrooms.
Suggestion by member to explore private sponsorships that can help reduce the costs.
Rider Survey Results
Presented remarks:
The ~180 responses may or may not be representative of the community’s views. Next year MABRA will try to expand poll participation. Conditional on the responses received, these were some of the key takeaways:
Road is the most preferred primary race discipline but cyclocross is a close second.
But nearly two thirds of respondents also raced at least one secondary discipline, with these split roughly evenly across road, cross, and gravel.
Nearly half of respondents wanted MABRA to prioritize road events in 2025, which exceeded other disciplines.
Although not everyone participated in the Road Series, many who did found it motivating, and nearly ⅔ of respondents thought the Road Series should continue
There was also interest in exploring a unified 2025 CX series
Nearly 90% of respondents supported a small increase in the MABRA racer fee which has been set at $1.50 since 2021.
Audience Discussion:
We discussed ways to boost participation in future surveys.
Suggestion made by member to distribute surveys to club presidents
MABRA Board Updates & Elections
Outgoing Members
Sunny Gill (President) and Chris Larkin (juniors’ representative) have completed their terms and did not seek reelection.
Sunny will continue to work with the Board in a volunteer (non-voting) position to oversee the leadership transition and to provide help as needed during 2025. Sunny will also take over the road coordinator role from Paul Lengermann in 2025.
THANK YOU, Sunny and Chris for terrific work on the Board and your support of the MABRA community.
Elections
Jeff Travis kindly stepped in as an uninvolved party to conduct the election.
Stacie Kemp (Artemis) was reelected for a second term by acclamation of the Class A and B clubs in attendance.
Chris Hair (RCV) was elected to a first term by acclamation of the Class A and B clubs in attendance.
Mike Marinaro (BYC) will become the new juniors’ representative on the Board, pending confirmation by a majority vote of all member clubs with 3 or more juniors.
Board Positions
The newly convened 2025 Board will meet soon to formally elect its 4 officers: (President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary).
Previously, members have agreed to confirm Paul Lengermann as President.
In addition, the Board intends to choose Craig Etheridge as Vice President and Chris Hair as secretary.
Stacie Kemp will remain as member-at-large, KJ Phillips as women’s representative, and Zach Quinn as treasurer.
Financials
Zach Quinn provided a brief overview of MABRA’s financial position:
MABRA is in sound shape financially with $36k in its bank account.
We received $22,460 in income in 2024 and incurred $26,513 in expenses
MABRA has incurred deficits in two of the past three years of about $4000, which it views as unsustainable.
Given the rising costs of many of MABRA’s funding priorities like supporting race promoters, officials, juniors, and women, we will continue to run deficits absent a pull back in support or securing new funding sources.
A small increase in the racer fee should enable us to maintain current support levels going forward, a least for the next few years.
Audience discussion:
We discussed some of the specific, larger line items in the budget, including the road series, juniors support, and CX tape.
Vote to Raise the MABRA Racer Fee
After the financial presentation, a vote was held on the Board’s proposal to raise the MABRA racer fee from $1.50 to $2 for regular races, and from $0.75 to $1 for training races.
MABRA’s agreement with USAC permits the collection of such a fee up to $2, and its bylaws permit changes to the fee either by a four-fifths vote of the Board or by a majority of Class A clubs attending the annual meeting where a quorum is present.
A majority of Class A clubs in attendance approved the increase, with two objecting (Equip, Charm City).
MABRA Women’s 2024 Recap:
Presented remarks:
Kate “KJ” Phillips provided an update on diversity and women’s racing.
She discussed several women’s racing initiatives including:
Ensuring parity in Women’s payouts and expanding opportunities for racing
Working with RDs to make start times less onerous, and encourage placing men’s fields in front of women during near-same-time race starts.
Work on WTFNB initiatives with USA Cycling to grow inclusion, including USA National Championship eligibility changes that support Non-Binary fields at the highest levels across disciplines. Additionally expanded Non-Binary fields in MABRA Road and CX events.
Congrats to all of our MABRA Women, Junior Women, and WTFNB riders who participated in National and World Championship events this year!
Audience discussion:
Member question regarding incident statistics.
Member question about bringing back a recurring Women's meeting.
Member question about skills clinics.
MABRA Junior’s Update
Presented remarks:
Sunny Gil provided a brief overview on behalf of outgoing juniors’ rep Chris Larkin who could not attend.
MABRA juniors saw great success on both the national and international stage. For example:
2024 National Champs!
Dahlia Hair (11-12 W): ITT, Road and Crit
John Papadiks (13-14 M): Crit
Lily Edwards (15-16 W): ITT
Lidia Cusack: (17-18W): ITT and Cross
But there were many local highlights as as well, including:
Successful Fastrack juniors road series
Good participation in all disciplines, with cross leading
Priorities for 2025 include:
Keeping the excitement & momentum going for all abilities of juniors
Finding ways to equitably support all juniors
Seeking out more opportunities for juniors racing via MABRA
THANK YOU to the promoters for keeping juniors in focus
Audience discussion
Board will identify creative ways to support junior racing in 2025. One pathway is through a scholarship program for national and international championship events.
Member introduction and overview of Pan-American CX championships being held by DCCX for the 2025 and 2026 seasons
Leading into 2030 CX becoming an Olympic Sport
Request for members to connect with teammates who might have dual citizenship to join a relay team so that the US will have a better chance of sending a team in 2023
USAC & Officials Update
Presented remarks:
Mimi Newcastle and Jared Ferber provided updates on race officials activities in 2024.
We added 5 new officials in 2024, which has helped to alleviate strains on officiating at MABRA races, although these remain fairly acute.
However, MABRA still at times must use officials from outside the region.
Officiating is still heavily dependent on a small subset of officials: nearly half of all days officiated were by the top 5 most active officials.
Bill Nagle discussed how developing new moto referees is the most pressing officiating need for 2025. MABRA is increasingly reliant on bringing in motos from outside of the region which adds significantly to race promotion costs. Bill provided an overview of the requirements to become a Motoref and passed out an informational sheet to be distributed throughout the region
Audience discussion:
Question related to Safesport addressed and overview given from Jared F regarding the Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policy (MAAPP) and it’s impact to all Race Directors
Suggestion that a page be added to the MABRA website that acts as a resource Safesport links and updates.
Mimi indicated that Safe Sport (like other sports) may be required as part of USAC membership for all participants.
USAC members can access Safe Sport training free of charge through the USAC membership portal.
Breakout meetings for road and cyclocross race directors followed the regular meeting
Adjournment at ~4:30PM
Attendance (all those who signed in; approximate chronological order)
Allan Wallace (Bike Doctor)
Sunny Gil (Bike Doctor & MABRA Board)
Paul Lengermann (DT Racing & MABRA Board)
Mike Hysong (Squadra Coppi)
Josh Bleisch (NCVC)
Jeff Travis (Spaceman Event Services)
Michael Marinaro (Baltimore Youth Cycling)
Craig Etheridge (Charm City Cycling & MABRA Board)
Glenn Stevens (Sportif & USAC official)
Laraib Laubach (District Velocity Racing)
Kyle Helson (District Velocity Racing)
Mimi Newcastle (USAC official)
Bill Nagle (USAC official)
Nick Brandt (BYC)
Mike Roth (ABRT)
Stacie Kemp (Artemis & MABRA Board)
Jay Lazar (Charm City Cycling)
Chris Muffels (Rock Creek Velo)
Bill Short (Squadra Coppi)
Bill Schicken (Crosshairs Cycling)
Taylor Jones (CXD Trek Bikes)
Thomas Krispin (Adventures for the Cure)
Rac Meneses (BBWR/USAC official)
David Bodda (WWVC)
Time Smiley (WWVC)
Steve Bourque (CXHairs)
Elliott Caldwell (Crosshairs cycling)
Brian Marchionini (DC Velo)
John Chambers (Redshift)
Cillian Chambers (Redshift)
Jared Ferber (USAC official/BBWR)
Mack Yates (NCVC)
Alex Gray (BBWR)
Kris Auer (C3 Charm City)
Joe Jefferson (AVC)
Greg Butler (Squadra Coppi)
J. Franco (Metanormal cc/Racing)
KJ Phillips (MABRA Board)
Zach Quinn (NCVC & MABRA Board)
Chris Hair (RCV)
Brad Hawk (Bikenetic)
Alex Saroka (BBWR)