News
BigDaveSports’ T-Shirt Design Contest
Apr 13th
I think it’s time to have some fun and see what kind of creative minds cyclists have. We are going to have our first T-Shirt Design Contest.
In (amateur) bike racing, we often forget that you have to build your fitness to be competitive and think that just buying the latest and greatest, lightest and most aerodynamic equipment will make us when races. It might help, but it still comes down to the riders fitness and abilities. Many coaches will even tell you that you are better off losing weight off your mid-section than losing weight off your bike. More >
BigDave Speaks on Chip Timing
Mar 22nd
This past weekend, we had the 1st race of the 2012 Ohio Spring Race Series at Deer Creek. The season was starting off HUGE with over 300 riders starting the race. Yes, you read that correctly, 300 riders participating in a road race and racing for t-shirts and socks to the top 3 finishers. Three of the five fields were sold out with the other two having very respectable turnouts. Out of curiosity, I did a little math. If we would have sold out all five fields, we would have had 400 riders racing. Here’s a term we never talk about in bike racing, “Race Capacity”. With 300 riders, this race was at 75% capacity. Most race promoters would be happy with their race being at 40-50% capacity.
Winter MTB XC Series #3 NEWS
Mar 3rd
As much as we were hoping a ninja cold front would come through and freeze the trail for us and leave us with sub-freezing temperatures for Sunday’s rescheduled Series Finale Race, it doesn’t look like that is going to happen. Thus, we are saddened to announce that Winter MTB XC Series race (re)scheduled for Sunday, March 4, 2012 is being cancelled with no reschedule date.
HOWEVER, we will be gathering at 9am to present series prizes and thank our sponsors and supporters of the race series. Please be sure to come out and party with us!
NEW Crit Clinic Designed for Women and Juniors
Feb 28th
BigDaveSports and Coach OB are teaming up to bring you a crit clinic designed from “bridging the gap” between recreational riding and racing.
MTB Upgrading Through USA Cycling
Feb 16th
It has been over 5 years since a mountain bike race in Ohio was sanctioned through USA Cycling. As I work to reverse this trend and bring USAC-MTB races back to Ohio, I will work to educate riders on some of the differences they may encounter.
The biggest issue that people are encountering is with licenses and categories. Riders do have the freed om to self-categorize themselves between Cat 2 (Sport) and Cat 3 (Novice). Cat 2 and Cat 3 also do not require an annual license to compete. They can compete on a one-day license which will be available from the race promoter/registration. There is no set charge for a one-day license, and these funds go to the promoter as they see fit. Cat 1 (Expert) riders are required to have a USA Cycling race license that list their MTB XC category as a Cat 1. This is where most “experienced” mountain bikers are having issues. They may have been racing the Cat 1 races in the non-USAC sanctioned races but now have to race the Cat 2 races and earn their upgrade with USA Cycling.
Thus, we get to the question of how do you upgrade? It is actually pretty easy, and I will break it down for you and be glad to answer any question you may have. First, here is how the 2012 USA Cycling rulebook reads for MTB upgrades: More >
Winter MTB Races ARE ON!!!!!!
Feb 8th
I just saw the weather forecast for this weekend, and the Winter MTB XC Series races ARE ON!!!! We have a cold front coming through tonight which will bring us a little snow and chill us down to the mid teens by Saturday morning. It will only warm up into the mid 20s on Saturday and then back down in the teens for Sunday morning. These are ideal conditions for keeping the trails frozen throughout the racing.
Don’t forget that you can still register online for the entire series on BikeReg.com and save money! Online registration closes Friday at noon!
USA Cycling Regional C Official’s Clinic
Feb 3rd
For those interested in becoming a USA Cycling Race official, our friends in the IN/KY Association are putting one together near Lexington. Below are the details…
USA Cycling Regional C Official’s Clinic
Saturday March 3, 2012
11:00a to 3:00p
100 United Drive, Suite 4-C, Versailles Kentucky 40383
Instructor(s): Mike Hanley, Melissa Shuey
This is an entry level certification clinic for those who wish to become a USA Cycling (USAC) Road, Mountain, Track or Cyclocross race official. Anyone 14 or older may become a race official, and although helpful, previous cycling or racing experience is not
required. The clinic is designed to prepare new officials for their first day on the job. The class takes about 4 hours to complete including an open book test. Participants will receive a 2012 USA Cycling rule book and info packet.
Female Racers Needed
Feb 3rd
BigDaveSports is teaming with girl bike love to do a story on women’s racing in the Ohio/Kentucky/Indiana region, specifically the Greater Cincinnati area. We are looking for one or two women to talk about the past, present and future of women’s racing in this area as well as how to improve it. These women should be planning to race several road races and crits through the Spring and Summer INCLUDING the new Women’s & Juniors 12k race that has just been added to this year’s Ault Park Series presented by Queen City Wheels. In the 25+ year history of the Ault Park Series, the women always had to race against the men. After years of requests, the club is going to give it a chance this year.
Some of the topics you can expect to give your opinion on:
- Categories
- Prize money
- Race distances
- Perception of and from promoters
- Participation from women
- How to get more women involved
- How to grow women’s racing
If you would be interested in participating in this endeavor, please contact BigDave (bigbikerdave@gmail.com) or Sarai Snyder (sarai@girlbikelove.com).
Winter MTB XC Series Race #1 RESCHEDULED… AGAIN!
Feb 3rd
Really? Again? Did somebody forget to order us a winter? The forecast for this Sunday’s RESCHEDULED Winter MTB XC Series race is a high of 50 degrees. We are actually closer to having dry trails than frozen trails, but neither is expected for this weekend. Therefore, we are going to attempt another rescheduling of the first race of this series to Saturday, February 11, 2012 to make a double header weekend of it. For those trying to keep track, here is the current list of dates for the series:
- Saturday, February 11, 2012
- Sunday, February 12, 2012
- Sunday, February 26, 2012
The long term forecast for next weekend does look a little better than this weekend but still may not be cold enough. Maybe the trail will dry up enough to race. Hopefully, we can get these races in before the Spring “thaw”.
We have extended online series registration to Friday, February 3, 2012 at noon.
Winter MTB XC Series Race #1 RESCHEDULED
Jan 27th
Due to the non-wintery winter weather we have been having, we have decided to reschedule the first installment of the Winter MTB XC Series from this Sunday, January 29th to next Sunday, February 5th. We have had excessive amounts of rain with temperatures at or above freezing leaving the trails in less than adequate condition to prevent any damage to the trails. The Cincinnati Off Road Alliance spends many volunteer hours building and maintaining these trails, and it is up to us to follow their guidelines and request for trail use as to not cause long term damage or permanent damage to the trails.
We scheduled these races in late January and February in anticipation of sub-freezing temperatures which would mean the trails would be frozen. This is also why we have the start times for these races set at 8:00 am so that we could be done racing before the trails had any chance of thawing. We did not expect to have such a mild winter and hope that things change soon.
We do hope to get all three races of the series in and have extended online series registration to Friday, February 3, 2012 at noon.
