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Best club to start racing?
Hi All
I'm keen to get into club racing this year so I wanted to get some input on what would be the best club/series/location to go with. My rather meagre research has come up with:
HMBA at Awaba http://hmba.asn.au/
CCOMTB at Ourimbah http://www.ccomtb.com.au/
WSMTB at Yellomundee http://www.wsmtb.com/v2/
I'm not keen on travelling much further than this on a regular basis, are there others I'm not aware of?
Of these clubs/locations what's the verdict from those of you who have done them? Are there any that stand out for a relative newby looking to have some casual competition. I see a few NoBMoBers are running the CCOMTB series next year, I assume that's a vote of confidence for them
Also reading the sites it seems D graders are often doing just one lap of around 10k for their race. Is that the case and you have to earn your stripes before you're allowed to do the longer distances? I'm not sure I'm in love with that idea
thanks in advance
danny
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Funnily enough I have some of the same ones as well, in particular about where you start from a Grade point of view.
CCMTB at Ourimbah is my choice as it's only an hour for me by car and they seem to have a decent setup there from what I can work out. I rocked up for the 6 Hour there and everyone was very friendly and helpfull and that was my first race ever so yeah.
Hi guys, Firstly I am a member of WSMTB and have raced at both WSMTB and CCOMTB. Both clubs put on a great race on two different sorts of track. WSMTB tends to race on a 5-7km track that can change quite a bit. CCOMTB course is 10km as you stated. They to do throw in different tracks.
In terms of the grading, sign up to the grade you want to race in, self seeding so to speak. IF you race D grade and win with a lap time as fast as the fast guys in C grade the club will generally ask you to move up a grade. same applies for the other grades.
The best thing about club racing is it is cheap, $15 each race (if you have a licence) plus if you join the local club you are racing at you also help out supporting trail building advocacy etc that the clubs and MTBA do behind the scenes.
club racing is COOL
HMBA runs A-E grades and it is pretty much self grading, but you will be prompted to move up if you are obviously in too low a grade.
In terms of racing, we run different length laps as well depending on the grade (from 6-11km's at the moment, but this changes as the network grows). We generally have between 80-100 riders at a club round, but it is all very relaxed.
Non HMBA members are most welcome to come along, but you won't accrue points to the series.
At the end of the day though, all three of these clubs put on great events and you won't be disappointed with which ever one you end up attending.
central coast or Western Sydney is good!
Mix them both up and watch your fitness soar!!!!!!!!!!
The only way to get fit for races is,,,,,,,,,RACE! its not rocket science!
it'll feel uncomfortable and hard at first but as you get fitter you'll bloody love it!
i raced ourimbah last year but i'm gonna do the Western Sydney rounds next year i think with maybe a few trips to Ourimbah just for good measure!
you'll meet some really nice guys and gals if you turn up on a regular basis!
ENJOY!
I'm glad to hear grading can be flexible and you can change through the year. I wanted to avoid the situation I had when I first started racing motorbikes where I spent the first year in D grade (annual regrading only) and it just wasn't that much fun bringing home a trophy every race but without having earned it.
It may just come down to which of the three tracks I prefer then. Having never riden any of them it's a bit hard to say. I'm spending Thursday up at Ourimbah so will see then, Awaba also got some raves recently so it may be between those two
HMBA and CCOMTB try where we can to avoid clashing our club rounds, so you may be able to swap them up a bit. Unless your chasing points, then you probably won't want to be doing that.
and race race race.
Yeah good to hear re grading, thats answered my question so yeah looking forward to getting involved.
WSMTB gets my vote but there is no reason you cant join one club and also race a few rounds elswhere.
The best thing about club racing is its fun you dont have to train for months to justify that big entry fee, travel and expense to get to a big name event you just turn up on the day sign on then ride / race and smile.
I joined HMBA just before the Fat Tyre Festival and my plan is to race up there. Depending on how much time I have I might do a round or two at Ourimbah.
Whatever you decide, I would recommend joining a club. This can be done via the MTBA website, and you nominate the club you want to join while completing the application. This will cost you for the MTBA licence (which gives you insurance coverage) plus the club membership fee which varies between clubs. Once you have joined, you will get a 12 month MTBA licence (12 months from the day you join) which you can then use at any of the clubs and you won't have to get a day licence (which has now gone up to $20 each time you need one!). Typically, you won't get points if you are not a member of the club, but you can still race there.
At HMBA, we race once per month from Jan to Nov (11 races). This year, we are expecting to include a bit of travelling to other venues possibly including Paterson, Dungog and Singleton as well as our home track at Awaba. (Nothing like a bit of variety!) If we do go to these other venues, we will most likely make them 3 hour races to make the travelling worth while. More on this will be posted on the website through the year.
Hi Dan,
As the other posts have said, club racing is a great way to stay fit, improve, and meet other riders. The choice of club will depend a bit on proximity - but many riders attend a few different clubs depending on their race dates etc. It only takes me 55 minutes out to Yellomundee from Lindfield, and the same time to Ourimbah!
Our 2011 race dates have just been posted on NoBMob, and will soon be on www.wsmtb.com
The Division you race in depends on where you feel comfortable - and it's no problem to shift up/down. Have a look at the results of some of our recent races to see what sort of race lenght (time/distance) the various Divisions are doing. The recent Club Championship race was a bit shorter as it was a hot, humid morning - and part of the northern area could not be used after all the rain.
Hope to see you on the track!
Ray Rice
XC VP, WSMTB
[email protected]
I notice the discussion has revolved around Western Sydney, the Hunter and Central Coast but no local clubs. A quick Google search showed MWMTB but the site appeared old. Any ideas if this club still exists and if so what racing they do?
They used to race at oxford falls before national parks changed the boundaries. With no home track there isn't much racing (or at least none that I am aware of).
Last year I decided to do the whole year at one club and went for Ourimbah because its my favorite track. I never knew weekend racing could be much fun, and had a ball every time (although getting hammered by Gazza was hard to swallow sometimes). I totally agree that it's the best way to get fit, and get the skills up. If an old timer like me can win b grade (consistency not speed I might add) then anyone has a good chance of going well into the bargain. I'll be trying hard to do as many as I can next year as well, probably still with CCOMTB, it's just great up there.
Dylan, how do you know you won as the results up there say you are 5th?
because he has 'my' bloody trophy to prove it!!!!!
Nah, well done mate!
The results online don't include the last race. I've been told by two people I won. Would be a cruel trick if it wasn't true now
You know what that means Dylan, time to step up to A grade then aye.....
Happily I have a really good reason why that wont happen Gav
No matter which club you join (and its really good to join, and cheaper in the long run) - I hope you ALL come out to Yellomundee RP on 15 Jan for the first of our Summer Series 4 Hour races. It's a twilight race from 6pm to 10pm - so you get some laps in to know the track well before turning those lights on. Enter as a team or as an individual. See www.wsmtb.com
Remember, from my place at Lindfield it's only 55 minutes to Yellomundee. Use the M2, M7, Richmond Rd/Blacktown Rd, The Driftway, then onto Springwood Rd. Easy!
We did try to get one of the Summer Series at the Mt Annan Botanic Gardens - but they said they already had two events booked in 2011. Maybe in 2012. By that stage, we may even get the old Fairfield track available as well.