Details (and a schedule) have materialized for the 2009 US Cup, the successor to the now defunct Norba / NMBS series:"California-based mountain bike race promoters have finalized plans for the 2008 U.S. Cup, a 13-race series set to become the premier cross-country racing series on American soil ... The U.S. Cup is comprised of previously established cross-country races, and is split into two six-race sub series, called the Kenda Cup East and Kenda Cup West ... All 12 races will operate under the wing of the U.S. Cup series, which will hold a series championship on September 26 at the Interbike trade show in Las Vegas.Full story available at VeloNews | New American MTB Series for 2009.
Kenda Cup West
March 11, Bonelli Park XC Race. San Dimas, CA
March 28-29, Fontana National. Fontana, CA
April 5, Sage Brush Safari. San Diego, CA
April 15, Sea Otter Classic. Monterey, CA
April 25-26, Santa Ynez Valley Classic. Los Olivos, CA
June 6-7, Santa Barbara Bike Festival. Santa Barbara, CA
Kenda Cup East
May 3, SERC No. 5. Ducktown, TN
May 31, Bump and G.rind. Birmingham, AL
June 6, Massanutten Hoo-Ha. Massanutten, VA
June 21, Cowbell Challenge. Davidson, NC
August 8-9, Snow Shootout. Mount Snow, VT
August 15-16, Windham Cup. Windham, NY
August 26, U.S. Cup Unification Race. Las Vegas, NV"
While there aren't really any races in NorCal (other than the Sea Otter), the Las Vegas "Unification Race" sounds intriguing.
3 comments:
This is sad to see them call it the U.S. Cup, when really it is the same venues that Team Big Bear has used for it's So Cal championship series. Since all of Sho Air Team riders are from So Cal, and Sho Air is the main sponsor, I guess they are a shoe in to win it all. Sweet!!!! What ever happened to real mountain bike venues like Park City, Durango, Northstar, Snowmass, this series is all about saving money, so why not call it the So Cal cup, instead of the U.S. Cup? There is nothing prestigious about racing on urban bmx dirt tracks at sea level. I have been racing the entire norba national series for the last 6 years and am very disappointed to see it come to this.
I am a little split on my thinking here. Part of me says, "well, the socal guys got something together so they should be able to run it how they like." After all, the US Cycling series is basically the Mountain States Cup this year. And they did have a East Coast series with a semi-neutral site of Las Vegas for the championship.
I guess at the end of the day, we (NorCal) either need to field our own championship or just suffer what the national (SoCal or Colorado) people decide.
These races make it easier to qualify for nationals, because they are closer to home, but the venues are nothing special. We need to get a race back at skyline park in Napa to make it fair. Also these dates must be messed up because some of them are like Wednesdays and stuff.
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