Board of Directors Candidates

Incumbents: will be running again.

Russell Cree

Russell is a Physical Therapist and cycling coach at Upper Echelon, a sports medicine and training facility for endurance athletes in Portland, OR. He has been involved in competitive cycling since 1994 and first promoted a race in 1996. Russell has since been involved in promoting road, criterium, cyclocross, and mt bike events ranging from clinics, collegiate, to state and national championship events. He has been an asset to the racing community not only donating his time but his business for OBRA events including the upcoming Awards party and past events such as the Velodrome benefit party and junior cycling fundraiser.

Glen Gann

Glen is a long time OBRA racer and our lone representative from Southern Oregon. He is a former Cat 1 racer and continues to race. He promotes the Southern Oregon TT Series and the Championship Thursday Series in Medford. Glen and his wife are critical assets to both officiating and race promotion in a growing region (including officiating Spring Thaw). He provides a unique perspective and important voice to those from outside the Willamette Valley.

Additional candidates (listed in alphabetical order)

Matthew Barney

Hello, my name is Matthew Barney and I am writing to inform you of my interest in becoming more involved in the Portland cycling community beyond just competing in varying disciplines. With that said I would like to become an Oregon Bike Racing Association Board Member. I have the ability and passion to positively make an impact with OBRA. It is still quite unclear how and I would like to explore where my talents fit in, but I would like to offer my time, my leadership, my knowledge gained through being a fitness and cycling coach, as well as my knowledge gained through education and business experiences to the OBRA board of directors. Perhaps most importantly, I want to learn as much as I can about OBRA, the people who are involved with OBRA and I strongly desire to be a part of the cycle world with you.

Steven Beardsley

My name is Steven Beardsley and I am running for the OBRA board this year. I would like to bring my experience and knowledge-base to the OBRA board to positively impact OBRA and the cycling community. My experience in cycling began in 2005 as a Cat 5 on the steep banks of the Alpenrose Velodrome. Since then, I have progressed to a Cat 1 racer on the road, track and cyclocross, and have won many of the most prestigious races in the Northwest. Outside of racing, I have gained invaluable insight into the cycling community through coaching, race promotion, officiating and participating in non-race cycling events. All of these experiences, alongside my desire to give back to the OBRA community and be a part of its continued growth and success, have driven me to run for the OBRA board this year. I am excited to be a candidate, and I hope I get the opportunity to serve on the OBRA community once more by sitting on the OBRA board.

Stephen Bedford

I am interested in participating as a member of the OBRA board of directors. I have raced for 4 seasons and in that time I have upgraded to cat-1, raced in collegiate events, NRC events, national championships, and major stage races. I have competed in various track events including AVC, FSA, and track elite nationals. I also have extensive experience racing in other states such as Washington, Idaho, Callifornia, and Wisconsin. I am finishing up my accounting degree and believe that my analytical and critical thinking skills are well developed because of my educational experiences. I understand budgets, finance, and business processes and I feel that I have much to offer at OBRA. I love the sport and want to see it grow both at the novice and elite ends of the spectrum. I have a particular interest in increasing participation of track racing at Alpenrose and I would like to raise the level of races here in Oregon with respects to the level of competition, team involvement, and race organization. I also believe that my relatively recent entry to the sport provides me with a fresh perspective, free of biases and longstanding predispositions. I have a desire to improve the racing landscape in Oregon for myself but also for the community of racers to which I belong. Thank you for your consideration.

Jan Moss

I have over 10 years of experience racing in OBRA in almost all disciplines (no track...yet). I also have 4 years of experience doing first aid for OBRA races. I believe I am a good mentor for women's racing. I have a positive reputation within OBRA and WA racing. I know many promoters and feel that I can "think" about their needs. I am no expert on OBRA rules, but I am a quick learner. It is time for me to give back to the OBRA community that has provided me so much.

Tom Rousculp

Tom has been a long time bike advocate as part of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance Team. He has contributed significantly to the bike racing community as the leader of the Cross Crusade kiddie cross. He offers a unique perspective on the interplay between bicycle racing and bicycle advocacy.

Jordan Staples

I have been racing in OBRA since 2006 where I competed in the following disciplines: crits, road races, TT's and cross. I became an OBRA official in 2005, where I quickly worked my way up to become a Chief Referee in many different types of racing formats, such as Cross, Road, TT, and Crit events. I have had the ability to work many local and national level stage races. In that time, I have had the opportunity to work closely with many race promoters, both large and small, as well as have direct contact with racers ranging from Cat 5 all the way to Professional/ Sponsored riders on major National level teams. Lastly, I have worked closely with various members of the cycling industry (Oakley, Northwave, GSG.) as well as local businesses that have wanted to enter into cycling through sponsorship concerns (Kell's). It is through all of these interactions that I feel I can bring a unique perspective to the OBRA board as someone who has risen up through the ranks and can empathize with everyone from the local racer through the professional level promoter. For me, being and official/ CR has always been about making OBRA the best it can be (and the best in the country), and by joining the board, I feel that I can continue what I have started by being able to influence the bigger picture of what is at stake for the future of OBRA.