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Getting started in mountain bike racing?
Wed, 07/13/2005 - 5:50pm
I'm re-entering the world of off-road riding after a 15 year absense, and am interested in finding out more about racing.
I've been having a really hard time finding information on local mountain bike racing. Plenty on road racing, but asside from finding videos of downhill races, I'm not turning up much dirt on the dirt... :D
Can anyone point me towards any articles or sites that contain basic information about what different types of races their are, how classes work, how to find races, and what you'll need to know before entering this side of the hobby?
Thanks!
~Ben
"beginners - supposed to be newbies only but since there are so many sandbaggers in sport, lots of people stay in beginner so it's impossible for a newbie to win unless they are terrifically fit.
sport - I've raced against professional road bike riders and cat 1/2 road riders in this category at some mountain bike races.
expert - Can't imagine how hard this is if the P12 road guys are slumming in sport.
it is not quite that bad. Some Cat 1/2 roadies can't ride a mtb to save their life. I'm a 4 (should be able to move up to 3 by next year) and have podiumed at Sea Otter in Sport. Some of the guys that I ride with and are pretty even in ability do very well in Expert. You really cannot equate road categories to the mtb, especially if the course is technical
When races are happening?
http://www.ncnca.org/mtb/
http://www.rons-web.com/bikes/racelist.asp
What are the races?
http://www.bcf.uk.com/disciplines/mtb/mtb_intro_to_sport.html
beginners - supposed to be newbies only but since there are so many sandbaggers in sport, lots of people stay in beginner so it's impossible for a newbie to win unless they are terrifically fit.
sport - I've raced against professional road bike riders and cat 1/2 road riders in this category at some mountain bike races.
expert - Can't imagine how hard this is if the P12 road guys are slumming in sport.