This year I am going to race at the sea otter and the firestone race near santa barbara and other races. What do I join? Is usacycling norba or is it separate? What is ambc? The firestone/walker races are ambc.
1st time racing
- Thread starter PatBranch
- Start date
For any NORBA sanctioned race, you will need a license. As a sport or beginner rider, I believe you can still buy a one day NORBA license at the event, or if you plan on doing enough, it may be worth it to buy the annual membership. Sea Otter can be a bit intimidating for your first race because there are SOOOOO many racers.
American Mountain Bike Challenge (AMBC) is just a series of races. They are all qualifiers for the NORBA National Championships in Mammoth this year. I've raced Firestone Walker...it gets VERY hot and dry out there so be prepared!
Good luck!
American Mountain Bike Challenge (AMBC) is just a series of races. They are all qualifiers for the NORBA National Championships in Mammoth this year. I've raced Firestone Walker...it gets VERY hot and dry out there so be prepared!
Good luck!
I live in los olivos, right near the firstone /waker races. In the dh there, is there anything really technical or big? SO do I join 1 place to do those? Is big bear still going to have super d? Also, what is at the sonoma races?
Sorry, I race XC. Someone else should be able to clue you in...Zark or Orven maybe.mtnbrider said:
check out www.racemsc.com theres some cool stuff like forums.
Thanks for the help so far!
DH there last year is fairly tame. I didn't race, but I helped build a bit. I was coming back from an ACL reconstruction and rode the course cleanly. Being confident on double jumps is a must for a good time. I did hear a rumor that there will be no more DH race this year. Not sure if it is true, but there is talk.
I would suggest just signing up for this race and getting a NORBA day license($5, I think).
Sea Otter DH is really smooth. Reminds me more of a long dual course than anything(I know xc courses that are more technical). Great course for a first time racer and it is a very fun event. Loads of people, which is good and bad. You can meet a ton of people and make new friends, but the DH course has VERY long lines. Still, well worth the trip to make it up for the ride.
If you ride the trails in Santa Barbara or San Luis and have some experience on dirt jumps then you'll have no problem at either of these races.
The Ito
I would suggest just signing up for this race and getting a NORBA day license($5, I think).
Sea Otter DH is really smooth. Reminds me more of a long dual course than anything(I know xc courses that are more technical). Great course for a first time racer and it is a very fun event. Loads of people, which is good and bad. You can meet a ton of people and make new friends, but the DH course has VERY long lines. Still, well worth the trip to make it up for the ride.
If you ride the trails in Santa Barbara or San Luis and have some experience on dirt jumps then you'll have no problem at either of these races.
The Ito
I have done 13' double with a 1.5' lip. I can do small dirt jumps, nothing really big. Near my house there is a 10' double with a 2' lip and a 10' oduble with a 3' lip That I can do. I haven't been on many trails In san luis or santa barbara. Can you tell me where some shuttle trails are in SLO or SB. On the Firstone website it only talks about xc. How much is a year norba license. Would I get a number for a year.
The NORBA one-day licenses have gone up to $10.
I just got mine, I believe the year lic. is $60. You get issued a license number for the year.mtnbrider said:
B
bigkonarider
Guest
Dude ,you'll be fine.
Better to go a little slower-"than crash" as Anne Caroline Chuoson say's.
Try to relax & warm up 1'st..That was my biggest problem "not warming up at all"& i felt better right after my 2'nd run. So warm up first !!!
Better to go a little slower-"than crash" as Anne Caroline Chuoson say's.
Try to relax & warm up 1'st..That was my biggest problem "not warming up at all"& i felt better right after my 2'nd run. So warm up first !!!
At my high school in Los Olivos: Dunn School, we have to do three school sports per year. I am a freshman and I hate teamsports like basket ball or soccer. I did golf which was fun: we got lesons at the local golf coarse (we paid for a package). So for the second sport currently I am doiong river Kyaking and climbing. It is really fun. We went to the kern 2 times and are going again in 2 weeks. Last time we did the powerhouse run. I am writing a proposal so I can do my own sport: mtbing. SO IO will have time to ride and race.
SB trails to shuttle(though as of now access to them is pretty shady due to rains).
Gibraltar Road leads to Tunnel, Cold Springs, San Ysidro, and Romero(but this one is a good climb up). Some fairly intense DH trails, Tunnel is probably the hardest and Cld spirngs is a close second. San Ysidro was sexy smooth, but I haven't ridden it in a while and I'm not sure on conditions. Knapps Castle at the top of East Camino Cielo is great fun and easy to get 4-5 runs in a row on. I haven't ridden it in about a year and a half though because of school and I heard it might have been widened by a bulldozer.
There are some great Xc trails as well that are a bit burlier than you would expect. Check out the local bike shops and trail books for more info. And ya, you should be fine in those races.
The Ito
Gibraltar Road leads to Tunnel, Cold Springs, San Ysidro, and Romero(but this one is a good climb up). Some fairly intense DH trails, Tunnel is probably the hardest and Cld spirngs is a close second. San Ysidro was sexy smooth, but I haven't ridden it in a while and I'm not sure on conditions. Knapps Castle at the top of East Camino Cielo is great fun and easy to get 4-5 runs in a row on. I haven't ridden it in about a year and a half though because of school and I heard it might have been widened by a bulldozer.
There are some great Xc trails as well that are a bit burlier than you would expect. Check out the local bike shops and trail books for more info. And ya, you should be fine in those races.
The Ito
They are re opening the highway on the Pass tomorrow (wednesday) at 6pm. They rebult the road: I saw it on the news an hour ago.
My friend who dhs said that cold springs is hard because it is fast and rocky.
For racing
I am trying to save up for a bullit ( you can tell- on my signature) I want to put mavic d321s or mavic ex729s on it. I will get a 6" inch fork.
My friend who dhs said that cold springs is hard because it is fast and rocky.
For racing
I am trying to save up for a bullit ( you can tell- on my signature) I want to put mavic d321s or mavic ex729s on it. I will get a 6" inch fork.
How is the Mammoth dh? I am going there next week, to snowboard. They have so much snow! Will a 150mm fork work for all around dh/fr
Ok everyone in case you missed it on another thread, THE CHAMBERLIN RANCH DH at the FIRESTONE WALKER weekend is happening! For sure.
I need your help in getting the news out, so spread the word.
Hey, mtnbrider, do you or any of your fellow students need to do community work hours for school? We will need a lot of volunteers all weekend long, April 22, 23 & 24.
Also if any of you DH guys know of any poor soles that might be recovering form an injury and can't race, we'll need two to four shuttle truck drivers Friday and Saturday.
Any help any of you can give in any way is apperciated.
Enjoy the ride,
Hecky - The Promoter
Firestone Walker MTB Weekend
I need your help in getting the news out, so spread the word.
Hey, mtnbrider, do you or any of your fellow students need to do community work hours for school? We will need a lot of volunteers all weekend long, April 22, 23 & 24.
Also if any of you DH guys know of any poor soles that might be recovering form an injury and can't race, we'll need two to four shuttle truck drivers Friday and Saturday.
Any help any of you can give in any way is apperciated.
Enjoy the ride,
Hecky - The Promoter
Firestone Walker MTB Weekend
I can help on the 23 and 24.
mtnbrider
in two weeks we will be doing our first "dig" out at the dh course. would you like to help?
let me know,
mh
in two weeks we will be doing our first "dig" out at the dh course. would you like to help?
let me know,
mh
I can help.
Can I bring my bike and ride around. I will get some friends to come to.
Is it sunday or saturday?
it's sunday now.
no bike for now, as per the request of the property owners, maybe closer to the race ...
mh
ps. did you go to fontuky today?
no bike for now, as per the request of the property owners, maybe closer to the race ...
mh
ps. did you go to fontuky today?
whats fontuky ?
Which entrance do I go in and where is it being dug. Is it on figuroa rd.? What time? Should I bring a shovel? Are you using tractors?
OK, mtnbiker, it's off of Foxen Canyon Road, not Fig. Mt.
It's this Sunday, not Saturday, and we meet at 9 AM at the top of the DH. Park on the the side of the road in the turnout.
Just shovels this Sunday no tractor. If you have a flat nose shovel that would be best. All we're doing is starting at the top and working our way down week by week. We have to "brush" a 16 inch wide path from the start ramp to about half way down on Sunday.
Also, this is very important. There can be no riding of the DH course until the week of the race. Last year we had our run of the place and this pissed off the Firestone's who live just below the course. We hadd tom many truck up and down the dirt access road and too many riders out there in the months leading up to the race.
So in order to even have this event, which is 100% on private land, I needed to agree with the property owners terms.
What I'm doing for riders who work at least two days on trail work, is I'm letting them have their own private course "tuning" day the Thursday before the race, that is the 21st of April. This will be their day to have fun and chance to get to know the course.
I hope youcan still help, please bring some freinds, but leave the bikes at home for now.
If you need to reach me cal me at 896-0673.
Thanks,
Mike
It's this Sunday, not Saturday, and we meet at 9 AM at the top of the DH. Park on the the side of the road in the turnout.
Just shovels this Sunday no tractor. If you have a flat nose shovel that would be best. All we're doing is starting at the top and working our way down week by week. We have to "brush" a 16 inch wide path from the start ramp to about half way down on Sunday.
Also, this is very important. There can be no riding of the DH course until the week of the race. Last year we had our run of the place and this pissed off the Firestone's who live just below the course. We hadd tom many truck up and down the dirt access road and too many riders out there in the months leading up to the race.
So in order to even have this event, which is 100% on private land, I needed to agree with the property owners terms.
What I'm doing for riders who work at least two days on trail work, is I'm letting them have their own private course "tuning" day the Thursday before the race, that is the 21st of April. This will be their day to have fun and chance to get to know the course.
I hope youcan still help, please bring some freinds, but leave the bikes at home for now.
If you need to reach me cal me at 896-0673.
Thanks,
Mike
On April 2 and 9 I will come bringing my friend from morro bay who will race too. It was fun building the dh course.
he is too lazy, so he is just going to come on race day. Do we have seperate runs or are we released like 30 s after. He is going to let me use his bike to race and he needs to use that for his runs too.
Patrick, we're up there again today, Sunday the 3rd, then we'll be up there next Saturday the 9th as well.
Mike
Mike
On the 9th I will come. My friend and I are both in the same class: 15-16. We are both using his bike. In the race, are people released 30s after or what because we are both using the same bike.
same bike/same class - where I have raced that wold not work
Could this work at firestone somehow?Umm...try talking to the race starters, see if you can get delayed so the bike can come back up to you or your friend races, but I wouldn't count on it. Consider yourself screwed if one of you wrecks and breaks something.
I guess I will have to use my level betty. It has an '03 dirt jump fork with 130mm and a mavic ex 325 rim in the back. I have wtb 2.24 tires.