Beginners, Intermediates: The Best Mountain Bike Race Experience Gets Better
We’re making some changes for the betterment of the OTH Race Experience for Beginners, Intermediates: The Best Mountain Bike Race Experience Gets Better beginning at the second half of the Over the Hump MTB Race Series July 18, 2017.
Mountain bike racing is invigorating…it lights up conversations, and allows us to set goals, and get faster as we race more.
Put “Race” in front of anything and our Adult Inner 12 Year Old takes over. Box Cars, The Tortoise and the Hare, Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (You get the picture).
The new OTH changes create room for the new, uninitiated, interested and race-timid explorers. Because no one wants to jump into a “fixed” race, or box with Mike Tyson in the first round.
THE CHALLENGE: everyone wants to win.
THE TRUTH: not everyone can every time.
The Best Mountain Bike Race Experience balance: here’s how that plays out at Over the Hump. Every single registered racer wants to race, and be competitive…that’s where the fun is. Our Goal at OTH is to MAKE MORE FUN FOR EVERYONE! We do that by attempting the impossible challenge of keeping the competition fair and balanced throughout the classes, along with appropriate course design, etc.
EVERY SINGLE RACER IS RACING HARD: Beginner racers, you are working hard, and quite possibly still faster than the “weekend warrior” on the trails. It’s beginner racing, and that means it still can be fast.
WHAT ARE THE SECOND HALF OF SEASON CHANGES?
The OTH Goal is to give new Beginners, Intermediates: The Best Mountain Bike Race Experience
Racers who have focused their goals, bike choices and performance on getting faster: Congrats on reaching for the next level. We applaud your efforts and look forward to seeing you continue to have an elevated race experience, as you achieve the Next Level Racing you are chasing.
THE BIGGEST CHANGE: NO PODIUM FOR MEN’S BEGINNER GOING FORWARD
Weekly and Series points will be counted and shown on the website to show your race growth and success, and give you fuel for the water cooler banter on Wednesdays. But the big change is at the end of the season, for the Men’s Beginner Classes. Men’s podiums start Intermediate.
Beginner Men: If you’ve been training to “podium”, for yourself and your sponsors, you’ll want to be racing Intermediate and Beyond.
BEGINNER & INTERMEDIATE MOVE UP GUIDELINES
All Men’s Beginner Classes Move Up Guidelines:
- Series Points Leaders: Top 30% move up to Intermediate (Mandatory)
- Individual Race Finish Move up Guidelines: If you’re finished any one race in the top 15% or if you’ve finished 2 or more races in the top 25%.
- Who doesn’t need to move: some guys are fighting to make the top 30% and are wanting to continue to race Beginner. Hey, Beginner is probably the right class for you.
All Intermediate Classes Move Up Guidelines:
- All Series top 5 Series Places Move up to Sport
- Any individual who If you’re finished any one race in the top 15% or if you’ve finished 2 or more races in the top 20%
- Who doesn’t need to move? Some guys are fighting to make the top 30% and want to continue to race Intermediate and fight their way to the Podium. Kudos for your determination and go for it…you’re in the right class.
We have never met a racer who wasn’t happy about their choice to move up. Trust us, the extra distance and competition as you move up the classes has made racers like Brandon Brown, Kimmi Runner, and Eric Williams, and Michelle Vangilder accel and grow into racers who have made their mark on the MTB Race scene in California and beyond.
As you gear up for the second half of the 2017 Over the Hump MTB Race Series, take a look at the current standings and gear up for the fun.
The Best Mountain Bike Race Experience Begins Back at Irvine Lake on Tuesday July 18.
Bring out some new friends to the Beginner Class, these changes have made room for the new, interested and race timid to dip their toe in the racing water and have the time of their lives.
3 Comments
Great change to your move up requirements for these classes. The top finishers in the beginning of class were getting fast.
BTW. After finishing 3rd in the second half of last years beginner series I’m am one of those that is very happy I made the decision to move up to sport. At the time of my decision I was not sure if I bit more then I could chew. I find myself pushing myself harder then I new I could. I’m just into the top 30% but my satisfaction of that far outweighed my one beginner win.
If the “OTH Goal is to give new Beginners, Intermediates: The Best Mountain Bike Race Experience”, why are podiums for beginners being taken out. Since this change, the number of beginner racers has dropped dramatically taking the best part, the competition, out of the race. Beginners train as hard as any other class. Yet we may not be ready for the next level. Some of us are honest, and are racing in the appropriate category. For those “sandbagging”, not much is gained by winning a beginners race when your peers know that you are stronger than the competition. Over the hump has pride themselves with the acceptance of all levels, please don’t become like other racers around the country.
Alexander, that’s a great point and one we’ve honestly struggled with over this summer…it’s not a forever decision, it was however one decision we thought might enhance the beginner’s experience. It’s been a well-intentioned true experiment in creating an awesome race experience all the way around…the end result is not intended to exclude beginners, but to protect them from the hyper competitive racers, while giving them a true beginners a place to learn, train, grow, and then excel as they move up. By leaving the Series points in place, it’s still a place where competition is maintained; the question has been an internal one: “should be podium beginners”
Quite frankly, it’s a sad point in our history, that we have not had enough self policing by true beginners and honest participation in appropriate classes by racers who should never register for Beginner. That makes the job of managing racers abilities one that’s beyond difficult to have all parties be happy with the end result. That said, I believe the general consensus from our ridership (and we’ll test this with a post season survey) is that there’s interest in returning to a beginner podium in the future.
We’re thrilled you would give us your opinion, and understand that it was not perfect for everyone…the good news is unlike other national race organizations, we move quickly both for the good and bad, and have the opportunity to redress things like this from season to season.
Have a great week, Matt