Has XC MTB racing died ????

[danpiero]

I went along to Newnham Park on the 26th sep to see the NPS final race to see what the racing was like now . I hadn't been to a race since about 1997 . I couldn't believe how much it has changed from BITD . For one the racing was all done on the Sat not the sunday , is that the norm now ?
Also the amount of people racing was very low . In the Junior's there were barely 20 racing !! i remember there used to be more than 100 at national level , and the lack of spectators was down , at the pipeline which was the main viewing point there was about 10 people watching !! a far cry from when it would have been 6 deep with a good few hundred people there cheering and with cow bells !!also what used to be one of the best XC courses in the country had been cut in length from what used to be about a 7 mile loop to around 3 miles and no where near as challenging . Overall it felt like nothing more than a small local race and not what should have been a premier event . Overall it was a bit disapointing and i haven't even mentioned the BIKES yet !!! One positive thing was to see someone from BITD , Oli Beckingsale still winning and at the top !! My conclusion to all this is that now more people seem to be into the free riding and DH rather than XC .

 

[FluffyChicken]

I'm not sure but an opinion might be.

Modern bikes can handle the typical XC race no problem with little difficulties like we had BitD, though I'm referring to early 90's, no idea what they where like in the latter end of the 90's. So there where spills, breakages, laughs, crashes as the breaks didn't stop in time and general pats on the back for just getting around.

Now the bike will get around and the aim is really to be the fastest, of course riding better helps you be faster but the course would be a lot easier to ride than it will on your early rigid/front sus bike.
So why watch, we always watch for the fun parts not to see who is the fittest

Hence people are trying to do thing that are more difficult on the modern style bikes and we get the crashes and excitement back.
Not that we didn't try this on our old bikes as I know we did, just now it is the more fun to watch and keep on going and less the you're getting airlifted to hospital.

 

[mechagouki]

Here in Ontario Canada XC endurance racing seems to be very popular at the moment - especially the 1 day relays that allow for teams of 2,3,4,5,6 or more people, I've attended a few of these races and there is always a large crowd of spectators and a fun light hearted atmosphere. I think people still like to race XC, it's just that the big money follows the current trends - slopestyle, downhill and dirt jumping - there is a TREK sponsored weekly race series here, but it's a pretty small scene with no big non-bike related sponsors.

 

[MJN]

I don't think XC racing will ever really die,earlier national series rounds at Clipstone and Dalby were,apparantly,well attended. When I'm racing(on the road) I know that by September I'm usually burnt out after a long season(starts early March) and am thinking about end of season and trying to get out of doing too many more races so that could maybe explain the lack of racers? Lack of spectators is easy to explain,even though I love racing watching it is boring!

 

[rosstheboss]

Boring boring boring!!! I used to be able to tell you all about who had won what at national level now I can only think of Oli Beckingsale and Liam Killeen as names I would recognise. The media has promoted the more exciting to watch disciplines like DH and DJ for example, certainly to the detriment of xc. Also the groms don't want to know about plodding around in pain in lycra for two hours, they want to be doing triple no footed backflip 360s with they arses hanging out of their jeans then smoking a fat one.....

Also perhaps people just don't have the time anymore....?

 

[feetabix]

....i raced in the four rounds of the midlands xc series this year for the first time in 12 odd years.......all rounds were full and gazzillions of spectators........hounest!!!......i did crap by the way,consistently in the last five in sports class,it was a crushing pace and so much harder than i remember but i finished each one.......

 

[MJN]

Boring boring boring!!! I used to be able to tell you all about who had won what at national level now I can only think of Oli Beckingsale and Liam Killeen as names I would recognise. The media has promoted the more exciting to watch disciplines like DH and DJ for example, certainly to the detriment of xc. Also the groms don't want to know about plodding around in pain in lycra for two hours, they want to be doing triple no footed backflip 360s with they arses hanging out of their jeans then smoking a fat one.....

Also perhaps people just don't have the time anymore....?

Don't you think DH/4x racing is also boring to watch? It just seems very repetitive and slow compared with other similar sports like BMX or DH skiing.The dirt jumping thing seems a little silly aswell when they just seem to be copying what BMXers have been doing for years.
Most youths stay clear of XC racing cos it takes fitness and commitment to be any good,when I started road racing I was told not to expect any results for at least 3years while I 'learned to suffer' how many youngsters would be willing to do that nowadays,if something hurts most give up,there are exceptions of course,there's a 16yr old in our club who can kick my ass and has recently got his first senior national medal on the track aswell as a junior national TT medal but he has no interest in MTBs,all the stars now are on the road aswell as all the money!

 

[FluffyChicken]

The 'cycling' event I find the most fun to watch is 'Rat Race'

 

[REKIBorter]

As said above enduros are really taking off instead of shorter X number of lap races. 2hr, 4hr and even 6 hr races are becoming the norm. Very well supported even at a local level. There are more 12hr / 24 hr races then ever. The future is bright, the future is enduro.

 

[dirtjumper_dmr]

Most youths stay clear of XC racing cos it takes fitness and commitment to be any good,when I started road racing I was told not to expect any results for at least 3years while I 'learned to suffer' how many youngsters would be willing to do that nowadays

I know that it's not really what this thread is about, but Downhill and 4x racing takes a hell of alot of fitness, and commitment too

As for learning to suffer, it look me a good 3 years of suffering (hitting the deck mainly, broken ribs etc) before I could clear a set of jumps

I think what I am trying to say is that, although Downhill/4x and to a certain degree Dirt come across as more 'relaxed' than XC, doesn't really mean the guys/girls who race/ride are any less committed It's just a different vibe.

I watched some XC racing on the TV a while ago and was amazed at how un-technical the course was and also that none of the riders seemed to have much flair on or off the bike.