I will be doing my first MTB race this Sunday. Any tips or tricks? Are there any unwritten rules of the trail?

I do not plan on winning or placing, mostly just want to finish. I did my first century on the road bike about a month ago and did my first road bike race(88.5 miles) last Sunday. I will be entering the Citizen Clydesdale class and the course will be only one 12 mile lap. I've been back into riding for about 4 months after almost 20 years off bikes.

If you aim to win or place you're probably best to get out of the way of those with loftier aspirations....

Make your way to the back of the bunch at the start and stay there.

Start slow, and taper off from there.

I understand the clydesdales leave last in the citizen class so it is safe to say I'll be in back of my group. I am not sure how quickly the fast guys start after us though. the sections between the single tracks are good passing zones, but the single track is a bit tight, not super technical though. I have clipped trees 3 times this year on these trails, once I got bit hard(bent handlebar and scraped up knee). Is it best to just pull off or maintain my line and wait for the faster guy to overtake? I'm doing this mainly for fun and to prove to myself I can do it. I don't want to mess up someones race for them.

give way to those faster than you, don't block them.
if you don't intend to win, don't start in the front, but don't start in the back either, start just behind the halfway point in the pack.

other than that, as trite and cliche as it may be, relax and have fun. you may be surprised and do better than you think you will. if you are riding centuries, you are strong enough for 12 miles. the only thing that may hold you back is lack of mtb skills, depending on how techy the course is and how skilled you are (i have zero knowledge of both factors so i can't say). assuming it's like a standard cross country race, it will be little more than a road race and you will do fine.

seriously, relax and have fun. and let us know how it went, i wanna hear what it was like.

give way to those faster than you, don't block them. if someone is on your wheel and they are clearly stronger, pull over and let them by.
if you don't intend to win, don't start in the front, but don't start in the back either, start just behind the halfway point in the pack.

if you get a chance, pre-ride the course and see where you are gonna need to climb, see where techy parts are, in general, prepare.

other than that, as trite and cliche as it may be, relax and have fun. treat it like a big fast group ride, for you, that's all it is. you may be surprised and do better than you think you will. if you are riding centuries, you are strong enough for 12 miles. the only thing that may hold you back is lack of mtb skills, depending on how techy the course is and how skilled you are (i have zero knowledge of both factors so i can't say). assuming it's like a standard cross country race, it will be little more than a road race and you will do fine.

seriously, relax and have fun. and let us know how it went, i wanna hear what it was like.

this is my technique.

I had a buddy that was always kicking my butt in racing, so I had my ears open when he was talking to somebody else about strategery, and that is what he said. I started laughing, but then realized he was being serious. He said that the adreneline you get pumping will have you going faster than you think you are, so don't try to push it. Just settle into a pace that you are comfortable with, race against the course, not the other competitors, and have fun along the way. I started incorporating that theory into my riding, and was amazed with the better results that followed. Instead of getting all wound up, I was relaxing, and having more fun!

This is my "home" course so to speak since it less than an hour drive. I've ridden there 4 times this year about 2 laps each time. I've only been back into biking since I bought my mountain bike earlier this spring. The bike is very budget oriented so I am on inferior equipment. It is a 2011 GT Karokoram 1.0 29er. All of the parts are lower grade like the X5 shifters, Shimano hyd disc brakes, X7 RD, and Alivio FD and crankset, Rock Shox Recon Silver TK fork, Alex rims, etc... I had a pretty tight budget at the time for bicycles, until I loosened the wife up and recently bought a Specialized Roubaix. I would put my skill at beginner at best. I used to ride BMX when I was a 8 to 13, but that was a very long time ago. I'm a big fat pig now with numerous nagging injuries. I am down a few pounds and 6 pants sizes so far. I have been road riding about 300 - 400 miles per month this summer. I am very slow on the road bike. I average about 15 - 16 mph on the centurys. In other words I suck pretty bad at this stuff. My goal is to finish and not die trying. I would also content that my abilities probably still exceed my bravery. I am afraid of trees.

If you can do a century and an 88 mile race, you should have no problem beating a few people. I did my first race a few weeks ago. I am a skinny weakling and normally ride only about 12 miles (about the same as the race). I had ridden a lot that weekend already, including a pre-race lap-and-a-half the day of the race and didn't sleep too well the night before. I finished 14th out of 25 (well 20 actually, 5 were DNF), which was way better than I expected.

I was very familiar with the course, which I think helped a lot. I would suggest getting some practice in if you can.

As for getting in people's way, I was worried about that too, but in my race we got spread out pretty quickly and I didn't have to worry about people in front or behind for most of the race.

Comments for the finish line:

Hey, Its my first race dude, I just learned to ride a bike this summer. I was in a coma for two years!

I'm a CLYDE, you stinking GREY HOUND. Let me strap a couple of 45lb. plates to your back and lets see how you do.

I flatted like three times maynard!

I asked what to do on BF and this is what I get for it!

NAH, its an experiment, listen to what is said above, keep a good attitude and wear yourself out. 12 miles is still 12 stinking miles.

raining right now

I finished. Pretty sloppy and lots of fun. I crashed hard once. I'll definitely feel it tomorrow. I finished dead last in citizen. All of the women passed me.








I finished 10th in my age/weight group.

your goal was to finish, and you did. KICK ASS!! great job, seriously, congratulations. next year, if you do it again, i bet you finish top 3.

my bike control skills and bravery were probably more of a limiting factor than anything else. I did get the ticker going over 170 a few times though. Some sections were just plain sloppy and I had to run the bike up a couple of hills. There was some bad news though...
https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/...nclick_check=1

Wow that's horrible dude.

Congrats on finishing and my thoughts go to the guys family.

pace your self.

Congratulations on finishing! Now you have something to strive for next time.

Thoughts go out to the bikers family.

Congrats on the finish Mr. Knudson! You did it. Your smile says it all.

Appleton eh, I've golfed there a few years back. Great part of the midwest. At least in May it really nice.