[DH Diva]

Many of you may have already heard this, and I don't know how many people on this board it applies to but, USA Cycling has made a change regarding pro's having to qualify for the championships in Mammoth. Apparently they decided that pro's don't need to qualify to compete. I stumbled upon this info on the web page looking for something else. The link on the main page has the old guidelines and the link on the Mountain page has some new info (but both the correct and incorrect info is up on their web page). I called to double check that I was understanding the new information correctly and it was confirmed that Pro's don't need to qualify, but any other class that had to previously, still has to. The rep said they were having some problems advertising this change to the masses. It really only impacts independent riders, as factory riders have team managers that are supposed to find those things out. Regardless, I figured I would pass this info along in case other people had not heard. Here are the links to the information pages at USA Cycling in case any one is interested.

This link, which has been up for a couple months now says everyone needs to qualify:
http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=649

This new link, which is only in the MTB section, is revised and says pro's don't need to qualify to go:
http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=890

 

[TYM]

They would have a much better turnout for amateurs if they did away with this qualifying BS.

Guess I'll spend my $65 on something else.

 

[Velocity Girl]

Cool...thanks for the info!

 

[AZRacerX]

Hmm... wonder if that also applies to Semi-Pro

 

[go-ride.com]

Originally posted by TYM
They would have a much better turnout for amateurs if they did away with this qualifying BS.

Guess I'll spend my $65 on something else.

IMO I like the idea of qualifying for a 1 day National Championship. Let’s face it there is a huge time difference between the top 10 Experts at a National and the middle of the pack. To make matters worse they usually stagger riders by only 20 secs. This means to get a top 5 finish in the Expert class, at a National, you will usually pass 3 riders. As you probably know at least one of those riders will think they are racing you and do just about anything they can to keep you from passing. That makes it pretty tough for the fastest riders to get a true time.

When I raced Expert this was my biggest frustration. You never knew what was around the corner. A downed rider or bike, some one jumping back on the course without looking uphill first, or a rider deliberately not allowing you to pass. I understand that most amateurs want to race Expert to race the better courses, and that’s cool in most situations, but that’s why the qualifying for the 1 day Championship is a good idea. At least you know that the couple of riders starting before you have proven to be fast in their particular class, and hopefully, will be seasoned enough to be courteous if they are having a poor run and getting passed.

 

[bizutch]

........will be seasoned enough to be courteous if they are having a poor run and getting passed. [/B]

what about when me and a teammate did so bad at Snowshoe 3 years ago that we left 20 seconds apart and then passed each other twice on our run...including a fall together in the Wild Zone followed by a courteous stare down by both of us trying to see which lemming was most eager to continue the march????


On a side note, at Snowshoe last year, I passed FIVE guys....oddly enough I passed the first 3 before I was a third of the way down the course....and there were something like 5-6 more guys "standing" trailside that may have been racing but had given up or DNF'ed.

 

[Transcend]

Originally posted by bizutch
what about when me and a teammate did so bad at Snowshoe 3 years ago that we left 20 seconds apart and then passed each other twice on our run...including a fall together in the Wild Zone followed by a courteous stare down by both of us trying to see which lemming was most eager to continue the march????


On a side note, at Snowshoe last year, I passed FIVE guys....oddly enough I passed the first 3 before I was a third of the way down the course....and there were something like 5-6 more guys "standing" trailside that may have been racing but had given up or DNF'ed.

gotta love snowshoe.

 

[bizutch]

Originally posted by Transcend
gotta love snowshoe.

I think me & you love Snowshoe more than any other 2 riders. By the way, sent you an email of our jerseys. Thanks again for the guidance!

 

[Transcend]

Originally posted by bizutch
I think me & you love Snowshoe more than any other 2 riders. By the way, sent you an email of our jerseys. Thanks again for the guidance!

I love any course where i can crash my brains out and then weagle takes me out drinking to dull the pain!

no worries about the jersey help.

 

[Spunger]

I use to race BMX tons, to the national level and I tell you what, if they let every person ride in the class what fun would that be?

I think qualifying adds to the sport. The last person could get a shot at making it in the top 10 which would be a first given his qualifying time was good. I think you'll end up with just the fastest people each time winning unless a bobble or tight course doesn't allow a mistake. If you can't qualify for a race you shouldn't be racing in a expert/semi pro level.

It's kind of like the debate in Mountian X, how all the Ex-BMX pro's take over the sport. It's like a bigger, faster BMX track. No wonder the top people are BMX guys, it's just second nature for them. They need to change it up but that's a whole nother story.

I just think at an semi-pro/pro level qualifying is what is needed. What's the point of being sponsored or racing that level if you can't qualify? All the other classes it'd be good for, to just let whoever race so people can have fun and enjoy the sport. If you're a pro you're racing to feed yourself, it isn't all for fun.

 

[Yeti DHer]

I've heard so many things.. What does it take to qualify for Sport? Top 10? Top 5? Podium? Anyone know?

 

[DH Diva]

"I think qualifying adds to the sport. The last person could get a shot at making it in the top 10 which would be a first given his qualifying time was good. "

I just wanted to clarify that I am talking about qualifying to compete in the event itself, not pre-final qualifying runs. Just didn't want people misunderstanding me.

Yeti DHer-I think all the info on the USA Cycling page regarding amateur qualifying is correct, or at least there is only one version of it.

Here's a link:

http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=648

 

[DHanamal]

With the old rule, if you were a pro you had to get a top 5 at a NCS to qualify for the National Championships. The problem with that is that the Nationals are dominated by foreigners. Eric Carter, Kirt Voreis, Colin Bailey, and Rich Houseman are the only American pros that you will almost always see on the podium in downhill. How dull of a race would that be with just 4 pros at the National Championships? Now I know that pros can also go to local events and qualify through state championships. But if a pro wants to race all of the NCS and World Cups, that leaves little time for them to hit local races.

Yes, this is making it easier for pros to qualify because they're aren't many American pros at nationals. But, if you are a pro, you're generally pretty good, you had to qualify to become one anyways. The gap between pros is much smaller than in amateurs, so there isn't going to be a problem with pros running into each other.