Info on High School MTB State Championship

[Corey Evans]

 

State Championships Information Welcome to the 2012 California State High School Mountain Biking Championships! This weekend will see the largest gathering of cross-league California high school mountain bikers (550!) in history as well as the last time the State Champs will be in SoCal until 2015. The venue is the Dirt Club near Los Olivos. A venue rich in mountain biking history which has hosted national series races for nearly 15 years. By far one of the best venues to spectate at as racers can be seen riding back and forth across the hills like ants on a mound of sugar. In order to help you have the best time possible at the race we wanted to give you a heads up on some important points that may be slightly different than what you typically experience at a SoCal or NorCal race: • There is no on-site registration. Registration is now closed and plates have been assigned. Race ready (paid and waivers) plates are being pre-sorted and will be given to coaches. Non-race-ready riders and independent riders should collect their plates from Registration. Registration will be open Sunday at 8:00 am and may be open Saturday afternoon. • Race plates are unique to State Championships. You do not need to bring your SoCal/NorCal plates. You will get a new plate. • Those who won final Leader Jerseys in NorCal and SoCal SHALL bring and race in those jerseys. • The top 10 overall riders in each League will be called up by alternating League (SoCal, NorCal, SoCal, NorCal). 20 total riders in each category. Please pay attention to and respect staging staff! • We have virtually unlimited primitive camping on site. We are asking for $20 per night for an RV and $10 per night for a car. This is payable in cash or check when you enter the venue. Camping will be available Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. There is no potable water or electricity on site but there are supermarkets and restaurants in nearby Buelton and Solvang. • No open fires at the campsites. We will have one communal fire pit in Charlotte's Meadow. BBQs or camp stoves are OK with a fire extinguish and/or water and shovel present. • We are planning on screening a movie outdoors in Charlotte's Meadow on Saturday night. Please bring a camp chair and join us! • There are two pump tracks at the Dirt Club. Many have seen the small track. There is now a larger track as well. The small track will be open for use. I will evaluate the big track and determine if it will be open or closed. In either case --- pump tracks are great training tools. However, if they become JUMP tracks we WILL close them. Please help us spread the word. • California Grizzly Bear jerseys will be awarded to the winner of each field and that winner is the State Champion. • Team awards will be given three deep in each division. • In the case of high heat we reserve the right to add an additional feed zone as well as to shorten races. The 'current' forecast is calling for a very warm weekend. Make sure you hydrate steadily all weekend and use shade and sunscreen. Don't come to the start line thirsty! We want the safest experience possible. • Be sure to use the best passing etiquette possible. Don't ride up on a rear wheel and start yelling. Begin calling out your pass as you approach. If you are in a long line of faster riders passing a slower rider, try to call out the number of riders needing to pass. Riders being passed, please be courteous and predictable! Don't swerve out of the way then back into the racing line. Move over smoothly when safe and hold your line until passing riders have passed. We understand there will be many riders and traffic. That is a fact of racing. However, we can still be courteous to each other. • We will have official 2012 State Championship letter jacket patches and t-shirts available at the SoCal Merchandise tent beginning Saturday at 1:00 pm (cash or check only). • The TikiTaco truck will be on hand Saturday lunch and Sunday breakfast and lunch. Slushies will be available at the truck if it's hot! • The race flyer and google course map are available on the Race pages of both the NorCal and SoCal websites. Please familiarize yourselves and print out and bring a flyer.