How can I start cross-country mountain biking?
By Mike on November 23, 2009, 12:50 pmI’m 16 years old and I looove mountain biking. I do track, so I have a lot of endurance and I have good muscles from gymnastics, which will help me a lot with my biking. I bike a lot but I just do it for fun– I’d really like to compete in a race, but I’ve never done a biking race before. How can I start? Where can I find a local race? How do I figure out what ability level I should enter in? I know track helps a lot with training for biking, but what else can I do? We also weight train a lot–which is good because I don’t do gymnastics anymore. Any answers are greatly appreciated 
:)
Go to a local shop and inquire or research state MTB clubs. There is also IMBA or NORBA the govening bodies of MTB racing. Look them up on the web.
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Go to a local shop and inquire or research state MTB clubs. There is also IMBA or NORBA the govening bodies of MTB racing. Look them up on the web.
References :
NORBA is the old association for mountain bike racing. USA Cycling is the new national association: http://www.usacycling.org
In some states there is a state association that runs the racing in that state and a one day or annual license from them is necessary. Oregon has the OBRA (All bicycle racing.) and Colorado has ACA (Mostly road and cross racing, not much mountain bike racing.) and you should search the internet or ask at your local shop to see what association controls mountain bike racing in the state/states you will be racing.
You can search the website for your local races, clubs and teams. You do not have to be on a team and do not need a yearlong license to race as you can purchase a one day license at races, but being on a team will give you a large source of people that can help you and a yearlong license will save you money if you race a lot. Race schedules should come out in January, but you can plan on seeing the same races as 2009 and look at that schedule to get an idea of what is to come. There are 4 categories for adults, Pro, 1, 2, and 3. Cat 3 is for beginners, Cat 2 is for developing races, Cat 3 is for expert racers and all of these are broken up into age groups. Juniors are made up of racers 1-18 years of age. You would be in the 15-18 age group. These are sometimes broken up into categories, example: nationals, but most of the time it is just the age group.
Your first race should be a less technical race so you can get a feel of the sport and not get discouraged. The more you race and ride the technical skills will come. Just remember that I have seen pros get off their bikes and run by an obstacle.
I stated that Cat 3 is for beginners and Cat 3 is for experts. Cat 1 is for experts.