Mountain Bike Racing - How is everyone's race season going so far?

Sweet! Tell "the kid" I said congrats!

My race season is going great so far. There have been 3 NECS points races so far and I've done good so far. This is my first season racing with the Sport 18-26 group

race #1 - Glocester Grind - Glocester, RI - May 7
4th place - very tough race for me. A lot of embedded rock gardens that just stopped me in my tracks.

race #2 - Northshore Classic - Toppsfield, Ma - June 11
2nd place - MUD MUD MUD! Topsfield has gotten like 20" of rain this season and we got a race right after one of the biggest rains. I just got my new Giant Anthem and was all excited to try out the FS, but when I got there I realized that the course was a hardtail playground. I still had a great race though. This was the Massachusetts NORBA nationals qualifier I guess.

race #3 - Clifford Park Assault - Biddeford, ME - June 25
1st place - Awesome race for me. The course was the most technical of the series and had a mass Sport Men start. I started probably 45 out of 55 riders and it was just a cluster fest for the first lap. I was stuck having to deal with every rider's weakest attributes. After the first lap things spread out though and I guess I made a lot more passes than I thought.

So far my season is going great. I have some road races in as well but I won't bore you with those ;) As of right now I am leading the Sport Men for points, but there's still a long way to go in the series. I'm hoping to get a promotion to expert pretty soon too.

This season has been a reall bummer for me. the whole year actualy. my bike is just not performing. cursed pice o *****. looking for a new own and hope that next year will be much better. dont wana brag but i couldve had a couple of top 5s if my bike cooperated.


sure, its always the equipment

Well I guess I'll give a quick update. As of right now I am second in our series. There is a pretty good fight going for the top three, I have no idea how it is going to end up. I have had a few good races and a few bad races. Overall I am very happy with my season. The only thing I am missing is that first win in the sport class. I keep coming close, just haven't quite made it yet.

Anyway, so far on the mountain bike I have two seconds, two thirds, three fifths, one ninth, one tenth and a dnf. I guess that this is proof that they aren't all good days. :(

Good job, LowCel! Things are paying off for you.

I thought it was my turn to give an update. We haven't had our regional series this year, so finding races that I can get to has been a bit harder. Fortunately, Silver Mountain, our ski resort/bike park in Idaho has been doing an every-other Sunday grassroots series that has been mixing up DH and Super-D races.

My results have been spotty. Turnout has been small, so everyone gets lumped together without age brackets (i.e. - all Sports togther, all Experts together, etc.) so I'm getting wupped up on by all the young Experts. A week ago Sunday was my first outing with my Syncros chain guide. Practice run #1 had my chain thrown and jamming in the guide three times before the bottom. Auugghh!. Found out the backing plate was flexing; so a chunk of cardboard from a pizza box (wedged behind the plate) and some duct tape and I was ready for another run. That time it worked flawlessly. Made it all the way down without a whimper.

My timed run went down one of my favorite upper-mountain trails and I must have been in my groove some. Focused on pedalling everywhere I could and ended up with second for the day in expert.

There's one more super-D coming up this weekend before the Big Show up in Sun Peaks, B.C. With the blessing of my dear wife, I'm now have my international license and am registered for the UCI Mountain Bike Masters World Championships at the end of the month. I am psyched!

I'll give a full report when the dust settles.

Quick update, I'm currently 4th in the Senior Expert points, after my last 3rd place finish. Provincial champs are in a few days, I'm hoping to bag a second or third, thus giving me 3rd in the points. After that I have an 8 hour endurance race, followed two weeks later with the www.bow80.com which should be amazing! After that I'm DONE... until cross starts! :D

Update: 2nd in Senior Expert at Saskatchewan MTB champs! Had a great race, was very strong on the climbs (of which there were lots), dropping my competitor for the silver, and beating him for the first time ever. Turnout was low in our cat with only 4 competitors, but the usual crew are mostly also rans, never in the top three.

Next up XC8, planning on teaming up with a fast friend and taking the gold in the 2 person category.