Yes, we do race! You don’t have to race but we strongly encourage you to try because in doing something you will learn something about yourself. There’s a camaraderie that develops between racers in the shared effort of racing and you’ll make new friends.
Anyone can race. There’s no trying out, there’s no sitting on the bench like many other sports. It doesn’t matter where you finish; it’s where you set your goals. At this age kids come in with different backgrounds and are growing at different speeds so don’t judge from your first race. A simple goal is to finish ahead of the person who finished in front of you the last race; in other words, there are mini races within races.
Race days are fun days. It’s not about winning, it’s all about the atmosphere and making friends from other teams. Here’s a short little video
Races are where you get to ride new trails, different terrain, cool single track, and you can go as fast as you want without worrying about running into hikers around the corner or a MidPen Ranger pointing a radar gun at you!
Courses are designed to be inclusive. That means they can be safely ridden by new riders with little mountain biking
experience. There are no big obstacles to navigate. There will be climbs and descents, nothing too steep, there will corners where skills will make seconds of difference, but no drops. As you train and practice, you’ll be able to measure how you improve.
We only do cross country mountain bike races. Some of our team riders may also compete in enduro racing, but they do so outside of the team, and we love to hear how they did.
But don’t you have to be fit to race cross country? Isn’t downhill easier? Well yes, but top downhill and enduro riders also have to be very fit to be at the top of their discipline. Through the cross-country racing and the training, we do as a team, you’ll learn the work ethic and sorts of efforts it takes to get better at any of the cycling disciplines, and just life in general. As an aside, one of our graduated rides is a pro Enduro rider. He came 3rd at state championships one year.
Race Schedule
Smores by the campfire
Sun setting over the campsite
The standard racing season is 5 races. Races start in mid to late February and then proceed roughly every other weekend until mid-May.
NorCal’s 2024 race schedule
Locations of first 3 races are provisional. These are the likely locations, but the order is likely change as planning is still ongoing. Middle school is also referred to Junior Devo (short for development).
| RACE # | VENUE | Date | Allowed Riders |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fort Ord, Monterey | 02/24/2024 | Middle & High School |
| 2 | Exchequer Mountain Bike Park | 03/16/2024 | Middle & High School |
| 3 | Fort Ord, Monterey | 04/13/2024 | Middle & High School |
| Regional Semi-Finals | Six Sigma, Lower Lake | 05/11/2024 | Middle & High School |
| Championship Race | Six Sigma, Lower Lake | 05/18/2024 | High School only |
Before the start of the season, we will do a couple of CCCX races at Ford Ord in the Monterey area. These are great low-key races for your first race, to see where you stand, and for early season training.
Sometimes we Camp out
Depending on the venue and how far away, we may go up the night before and camp out.
Race Day
Races are always a ton of fun, and they are a bit of a production to be sure. Here is additional information from the Black Mountain Composite Team to help you understand how it all works.
Racer classifications explained
What a typical race weekend looks like
The chef getting ready to feed the hoards