|   SoCal XC racers - have you seen this? | GP
Dec 30, 2002 5:30 PM | | Some interesting info for XC racers. Take a look over on the http://www.teambigbear.com website. First, the 2003 schedule is out: the Cal State is a 9 race series this year, best 6 of 9 finishes for points (three of the races are out of the area - the Sea Otter in Monterey, and
i two
races this year at Tahoe - too bad I probably can't make it to any of them).
The other big news is the addition of a new class -
i Super Sport.
From the website:
>In a effort to create a more competitive environment, Team Big Bear once again will lead the way with the creation of six new categories which will be called "Super Sport". It will consist of top level Sport Riders and Experts looking to find a competitive environment.
>Who qualifies for Super Sport?
If you won your sport Category in the following Age Groups in either the Calif. State Series or the Snow Summit Amatuer Cup Series, you must move up...
The age groups are the standard NORBA age breakdowns from 19 thru 49. In a nutshell, any Expert that finishes out of the top ten will have the
i option
of competing in Super Sport, and any Sport who won a race will
i be required
to race the new class.
IMO, this looks like a great idea, to me as first year Sport racer who watched one of the same three guys win EVERY race in the series this past year. Interesting to me, to see how local race organizers have to compensate for NORBA's apparent refusal to follow their own rules for mandatory cat-ups...
Any opinions?
GP |
| re: SoCal XC racers - have you seen this? | KMan
Dec 31, 2002 8:05 AM | | Racing in a Series races is different that just racing individual races. I raced Sport Vet last year in a 10 race series and placed top 3 in all but 2 races. Should I have moved up to expert in the middle of my series......no and I dont think anyone else would have expected me to. I worked really hard last year to try and win my series, there is no way I was moving up in the middle of a series. I don't think people should belittle racers who win a a lot of races in a series. H3ll 2 years ago in the series one guy won all but 2 races in my age group (he then moved up to expert). Last year the guy who won my age group won all but 2-3 races (he should be moving up as well). Now if any stay in sport for another year, then yea, there sandbagging. In fact my personal opinion on series racing is the top 2 need to move up, 3rd place really should move up as well. 4th place on can stay in their class for all I care. 4th place series winners can easily not have a top 5 finish and place well overall.
KMan |
| re: SoCal XC racers - have you seen this? | seriesracer
Dec 31, 2002 1:18 PM | | I'm a good series racer because i always race and always finish- that counts for a lot in a series. Got 2nd in my state Expert 40+ although I seldom podiumed. Of course it helped that the fields were small too! |
| Agreed... | GP
Dec 31, 2002 2:40 PM | | ...about not moving up in the middle of a series. I can understand that, since you'd basically lose all your series points.
NORBA and organizers could fix this problem, though: Number one, for NORBA -
b enforce your rules!
Jeezus, look on Bikeresults.com for an example - you can find any number of racers who've been sitting in beginner class for several years, racking up top five finishes race after race - why are they still in beginner? Hell, a guy I know did it - he raced beginner for
i four years,
had many top five finishes, with several wins. He finally catted up this year after winning the NCS race at Snow Summit - I guess he finally got too high-profile to stay in B's after that, considering he was interviewed in the San Diego newspaper.
Another guy, a "beginner" (who has been racing since '99), won
i every
single race he entered last year. Every one, and by huge margins each time. This guy would be competitive in
i Expert,
yet he was allowed to stay a Beginner, in his
i fourth year
of racing. If you were a brand-new racer, would you enjoy paying $30 and a two-hour drive to race a guy easily blowing the field away by ten minutes, time after time?
And yet people wonder why racing's popularity is dying.
Another thing NORBA could do is revise it's points system to where catting-up mid-series isn't such a penalty. Make points carry over to the new class with a conversion factor or something - hell, create a points
i incentive
for riders who would be competitive in the next higher class to move up, say a 20-point cat-up bonus, something like that.
Apart from that, local racing promoters can do things like TBB is doing, create mini-classes within the main NORBA classes.
It's obvious that it's not just me that perceives a problem here. Otherwise, major promoters like Team Big Bear wouldn't be jumping through hoops to try to have fun, competitive racing. Let NORBA keep their heads buried in the sand. They're already irrelevant to everyone but Pro racers anyway. Hell, I'm considering not renewing my license when it expires this year, and just doing a one-day at each race.
Sorry for the rant. |
| I know that sandbagger | Motivated
Jan 6, 2003 9:33 AM | | The "beginner", Jon Tanklage. At Sagebrush his time was faster than the winner in Sport class. Then he won all 4 of the AmCup races at Big Bear, despite the fact only 3 races count. At the start line of the 3rd race I asked him to race sport in the 4th race because he would have wrapped up the series and could evaluate his performance in the upper class. He did not listen to reason.
Also, I agree about TBB races - they are not enjoyable. Amenities (geez - at least provide some shade) and viewing for family, etc. are non-existant. I doubt I will be making the hike up there to do the same boring, dry, fireroad course. |
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