Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Beginner or Sport?

To the one or two people reading this blog:

Should I race Beginner or Sport category for Intermountain cup mountain biking this season?

Beginner is usually - maybe always - 1/2 the distance of Sport. For the upcoming Red rock desert rampage it means 7 vs 14 miles. More value for the money, but twice the effort.

Average speeds are quite similar between the classes. For example, the winner of last year's Red rock desert rampage was at 12.5 mph for the beginner class and 12.6 for sport. The slowest riders were 6.x mph for both beginner and sport.

Once I go to Sport I cannot move back down to Beginner.

A few years ago I was told by a really fast mountain bike racer that his move from Beginner to Sport was a HUGE upgrade. He placed well in Beginner, wasn't even close in Sport.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

My opinion is the same as how you did road racing. Do a season in beginner then decide if you even want to continue in MTN bike racing or if you want to play with the bigger boys.

First is Last and Last is First said...

Go for more... LIKE you did... You work at a higher level and progress faster.... and plus you meet someone who inspires you... Plus you get to ride in the truck with goofball and consider Infinite Power! and hash out what LOVE is...