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Joining a club
I am looking at join a MTB club, I am located in dee why.
Questions i have are, which club do you belong to and why?
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because they run the local CX series and short track MTB races.
I'm in Sydney and a member of HMBA. I joined there as I like that track.
I'm in North Curl Curl and joined WSMTB. Great club, really well organised, and frequent, races with lots of grade options.
The xc races are primarily at Yellomundee which volunteers work hard to maintain. This is my first year being a member and I've been very impressed.
If you are interested they have an xc race this Sunday 2/6. A calendar entry shows this. If you want to 'try before you buy' day race licenses are available.
I joined CCOMTB which has Ourimbah as their local track but unfortunately their organisational skills are pretty rough. When I sign up again for a club I will most likely do it with WSMTB. I avoided Manly Warringah as they don't host any MTB racing (must be a bit hard without a home track) so I wanted to support those clubs that do
I haven't felt a need to do club racing, so when I joined IMBA/MTBA and had to join a club, I joined SNORC mainly because of their trail advocacy work. I also joined TrailCare for the same reason.
I have been looking at the WSMTB, i would like to do some club racing possibly later in the year, unfortunately at the moment i am working every saturday and sunday until the start of September, so that rules that out!
I have never been out to yellomundee but would love to go out there sometime. My partner lives in East Ryde, so that will make the journey much shorter too
Hi Scott,
It's best to feel "comfortable" with a club before you join. Try a few events around Sydney and see how it feels.
There are a few things that may help:
- MTBA has a Permit Rebate Scheme: If you are not an MTBA club member, you need to buy a Day Licence for $20 each race. If you then decide to join a club and have previously bought three Day Licences, then there is a reduction of $30 from the first annual fee. (keep the white paper copies pls!)
- an MTBA membership can be used at any MTBA affiliated club (or event) to race. So many riders may join WSMTB but then also race at CCOMTB or MWMTB.
- at WSMTB we also encourage MTBA/WSMTB membership with a differential race fee structure, ie $15 for MTBA members, and $20 for non-MTBA riders. This helps the $ equation to promote membership.
Location: I live at Lindfield and race with WSMTB. It takes 55 minutes to get to Yellomundee via M2, M7, Richmond/Blacktown Rds, The Driftway, then Springwood Rd. It takes 60 minutes to get to Ourimbah. So not much difference. Unfortunately, while Sydney is ringed with wonderful Parks, these are the closest race locations.
As mentioned in the posts above, the next XC event at WSMTB is this Sunday 2 June, then on 7 July. Please come and join us sometime. Join our FB group if you want to link up with other riders for a "tour" of Yellomundee RP.
Ray Rice
XC VP WSMTB
[email protected]
I'm with discodan. I was with mwmtb - but no "real" mtb races cause they don't have a track - not their fault but that is why I joined up to wsmtb this year. Been to the last 2 rounds and I will be back this Sunday - weather permitting. Really well run events, a nice bunch of people and Yellowmundee is a really fun track.
If your not doing club racing you're missing out. WSMTB is a hoot, and so hassle free. Turn up, register, race and be home by midday. Enduro's are great but there is a lot to be said for a frantic 60-90 minutes racing.
If you want to race it really doesn't matter which club you join. You can use your licence to race anywhere.
I joined HMBA as I really like the area and especially the people who run it.
I was a member of MWMTB but canned that as I never felt they were able to do much for XC or DH.
You can use your licence and race at any club but you can only contest the club championship of the club you are a member of.
Being a member of a local club helps that club lobby for trails to be built/ opened etc.
It will give a club more muscle when talking to councils and NPWS.
Grant and Al are correct on the club racing comment - it's a great, low hassle way to get an intro to racing overall. The WSMTB races typically have about 100 riders on a 6 km loop. The Divisions are Men's A to D (ie 5 laps down to 2 laps), Women's A to D (4 laps down to 1 lap), and U15s (2 laps).
Each Div starts about a minute apart - with A grade first, so the best riders have a clean run. We promote an atmosphere of friendly competition. No barging in overtaking etc. In our last race, 3 of the A grade riders stopped to help an injured rider - which totally blew their prospects of a top 3 position in that race. But that's what you do.
You choose your Division based on your experience, fitness, and how long you wish to race for. The A graders are doing laps in 17-20 minutes, while at the back of D grade, my laps are 27-29 minutes. (but I am twice their age!). So overall race times are from about 45 minutes to 80 minutes.
thanks for all the opinions guys.
You have all pretty much confirmed what i was thinking, but i won't have any weekends free until September, but if one comes up i will be sure to go and try a club race out and see what it is all about.