Keppoch DH weekend June 26h, 27th

you need different categories for different skill levels.......obviously. Beginners don't want to race against elite riders. A and B categories is likely sufficient, but if we get a good turnout of new racers there might be enough to run a C category. Making racing appealing to new riders/racers is what we need. Making it less intimidating by having a beginner category is not going in the wrong direction.

Hey Jeff. Are saying if the turnout is good for Keppoch-1 there might be a Keppoch-2????

There was three of us racing class C at Keppoch, two on hardtails, and me on a freeride bike. Hardtail riders especially don't have much of a chance in class B, so its good for them to have their own. I was considering racing class B, but I'm on a freeride bike, but there is still lots of guys with full on DH bikes in class B, and I'm just gonna get my ass kicked.

wicked. Going to try and keep that weekend open.

Hardly true at all. I have a full on DH bike and have for past 2 seasons. Last year I got owned at races by people on HT's or doubles who had times that were not great but decent in elite. Just come out and ride your bike you will be fine.

Your not thats for sure ^^!

Judging by those results i suggest we have a class for "most consistant"...hehe.

Me brandon miner i believe zach and all of us plan on moving to A this season

Nope, its left entirely up to peer pressure and guilt tripping from the masses.

A 3 or 4 race series ensures that "constantly" isn't an issue. Problem solved!

new trail = Race trail???????

just got back from keppoch, got a pile of work done today. New trail is looking good, don't think it will be the race trail though probably use it for the second race we have, its too fresh now. Another good note the shuttle road got dozed top to bottom. Lookin like its going to be a good weekend!

i think were using old school the original first trail

Yes it does

I, at long long last, have my bike back and in one piece and am keen to ride this weekend. Anyone going up from Hfx that has room for one more?

I've never been there before, are most people camping on-site or are there other campgrounds/motels within spitting distance?

What's the damage on a one-day race license for Sunday?

Psyched!

So this has changed since the poster?

"CCA affiliated club membership or race licence required.
One day race license available to racers only."

I have a BNS General Membership through CS so I assumed this satisfied the first part of the above, and as I was racing on Sunday then I thought I could get a one day race license (although the second sentence is somewhat strange). Have I got this wrong?

(somewhat less psyched)

I agree that one category is ideal and a great way to go. However, the only way a one category system works is if there is no recognition and rewarding of anyone in that category. Once you start giving out medals/prizes/race series points to top finishers then people start wanting to separate themselves out. Some weaker/less experienced riders don't want to race stronger riders, some women don't want to race men, some older riders don't want to race younger riders, etc., etc. if there is going to be recognition at the end of the day and at the end of the season. The recognition starts a process of marginalization. People begin to see the competition in terms of what is fair and what isn't. If there are rewards then for sure someone is going to feel like they shouldn't have to compete against someone else. The prime example is the sex difference issue. If you start paying the top three racers in a one category system, then women automatically feel marginalized because most often they are not able to make it into the top three (unless it's an ultra endurance event). They then begin to feel they should be separated out of this one category. If there were no rewards, then it's easy for the women to just go down the list of finishes in the one category system and see how they did against the men, the boys, the other women, the older guys, the person with one leg, etc. etc. No feelings of unfairness or marginalization.

Ideally it would be great to just look at the one final list at the end of the day and see how you did against the others (saves time in actually having to look back and forth at two or three or four categories and comparing the times). I love that BNS has started to see that this is a good way to go...really it's just getting back to grass roots ideology which for us old timers brings us back to a time when we were out there just having fun. Then we screwed it up by rewarding top finishers and then us females got all in a snit and wanted equal recognition. Then the older racers wanted their own recognition and along came the veterans (now masters) categories. So now in order to go back to the one category system (or 2 category system - which is necessary for BNS to receive funding as they will now always have to have a gender/sex equity policy which means that females can not be made to race with males) BNS would have to set a policy whereby no medals/prizes/point series are allowed. All prizes would have to be random draw prizes.

So for this particular sector of the sport of mtn biking (i.e. DH) mark my words: if you add a category, be prepared to add more and more categories. As noted above by Jeff (I believe), you can't please everybody and the more you try to please by adding categories, the more others will become more demanding of recognition and wanting their own category.

Thanks Jeff. I'm set for Sat for sure then. One additional question for clarification.

Can I buy the one day race fee at the hill (in addition to the shuttle etc fee) or do I have to procure this directly from BNS beforehand?

Many thanks.

Thanks for the clarification Jeff. I'm now re-psyched!

If anyone going from around Halifax has space and wants to share gas then let me know. Alternatively if someone else without wheels would like to go and is interested in sharing a rental then drop me a pm or call 404 6238. Graeme.