There has been months of speculation and rumor but now it can be officially announced. There will be a NORBA national next spring right here in Texas. The name is "TMBRA NORBA National Outback Blowout" on March 11-14, 2004. Location is Cameron Park in Waco and the Broken Oak Ranch in Valley Mills.
I have been appointed race director and will be working side by side with Larry Lenamon, Ian Moore, Bryan Jenkins, Rob Leffel, and the rest of the Waco Bicycle Club who have set up the groundwork for this event. This will be a TMBRA wide event, with board members from all over the state working together to pull this off. The city of Waco is 100% behind the effort and the Conventions Bureau has promised cooperation as well.
There is lots left to be finalized but here's what we know already:
1. We will choose a host hotel by the end of the week, at that time lodging information will be launched on the new website www.texasnorbanational.com.
2. For the first time, camping will be allowed in Cameron Park. There is a section of the park on the opposite side of the river from the trail system. There are 18 sites with power, and mostly unlimited primitive campsites. Cost will be $25 per nite for site with power, $10 per nite per tent for primitive. Standby for instructions on how to reserve your site. The campsite is approximately 1/2 mile from the start area and a special lane over a bridge to the site will be limited to bike and pedestrian traffice during the races.
3. There will be a new event for Texas, Marathon, on Thursday March 11 at Broken Oak ranch. It is a new UCI individual event, 100K in distance. This will be a UCI World Championship qualifier so we expect international participation. Camping will be allowed at Broken Oak on Wednesday night. Racers will get free admission in their packet but spectators will be charged a land access fee.
4.Schedule is still tentative and will not be finalized until after a national promoters meeting November 1-2 but here's some tidbits. Experts, semi pros, and Junior X will have a three stage race beginning on Friday. Only the cross country race will count for TMBRA points, but if you want to finish "in the money" you will have to do all stages. Pros will do four stages including a Fat Boy Crit on Saturday evening in downtown Waco. This will be on the same course used that day for a TXBRA sanctioned crit race for citizens. Sport and beginners will race only cross country with beginners tentatively slated for Saturday. This will be TMBRA State Championship Series race as well as a national event. You will earn points both ways.
5. No one will complain about this course being too easy. The race course at Cameron Park is totally revamped, using only a small part of previous years courses. Starting at the river park end, each approximately 7 mile lap features over 1000 feet of climbing! The city Parks division is making sure their park will be a diamond for the national spotlight. The entire park will be closed to the public for the duration of the races. Of course, there will be no admission fee for spectators, racers,etc.
6.We will need lots of volunteers to show our best face for the national scene. Sub-director posts will be made soon and you can start putting your name in the hat. There will be plenty to do and see for this event.
7.There will be both a Tech and an Expo area for the race grounds. Tech is more of a national thing where the big teams set up near the start area. Prices will be set for this area after the national meeting but expect somewhere around $2 per square foot. The Expo area will be in a different area, near registration and food court, and lining the start loop, expect around $1 per square foot. These prices are estimates, instructions for reserving space will come after the meeting.

Not much else to post yet. I want to thank Tobin Behling and Lisa Nye for having the perseverance to bring this to Texas. I want to thank Larry, Ian, Rob, Bryan, and a host of other Waco locals who did the the groundwork for this event and will continue to do much of the legwork as we get this off the ground. This will be TMBRA's finist moment, a chance to showcase our great mtb community to the rest of the world, See ya there!


Scott Schaefer
Race Director
mtbscott@swbell.net
281-217-2851
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Expert 40-49, Warda Race Director, TMBRA Board Member