Unfortunatly for you, the beginner runs are also the same ones the sport and expert class use. They do add some bailout lines but for the most part the drops and jumps are the same. Now there are some with less drops and if I can find my vid from BigBear I will post it.
You have a tough situation there. Some how you need to convey to your mum how safe it is with out her realizing how much more dangerous it is to DH on your local trails with no first aid at hand.
How old are you?
You need to strongly impress on her how much mtb'ing means to you and how badly you want to race. You do need to do it in a way that does not piss her off though. Sit down with her and ask for specific reasons why she will not let you race. I know her first respons will be something like, "Because I do not want you to get hurt." To that you ask, "Get hurt how?" If she comes back with, "Because it is dangerous." then ask her what makes it so dangerous and tell her that when you race you will be wearing full armor, a helmet, the course is a closed course, there is first aid at the race and there are people and course workers all along the course lookin out for your well being. One point that my wife feels is very important, the riders go down the course one at a time.
Let her understand that there is risk in everything, especially active sports, but the rewards are well worth the risk.
The next sentence is not ment to put your mum down and you should realize I do not know her so keep that in mind when reading it.
If your mom is an overweight, lazy couch potato who never played sports then you definitly will have a hard time getting her to let you race.
Try not to mention that it is more dangerous when you ride your local trails because then she may not want you to ride at all.
You could take her to a race and show her what it is all about and HOPEFULLY no one gets seriously injured that day. Imagine what she would think if she was at BigBear when we had one gal die, one rider get paralized and another brake his color bone and fracture a couple vertebre (he is still riding by the way). All this was on the same day.
Here is another thought, see if she will let you race Super-D. There are no big jumps and drops and a little bit of climbing.
DBD
Last edited by dirtbikedude; 03-16-06 at 08:08 AM.