Mock race and Flagstaff race info

[OVMTB]

I've checked the calendar 3 times to make sure because I can hardly believe it- We're starting week 7 of our season already, have our Mock race in 6 days and our first ACA race of the season in 2 weeks!  

Our team has put in the miles.  Each one of them has braved the heat and pushed themselves in practice to get better.  Every single one of them has stronger legs and lungs than 6 weeks ago and the collective amount of sweat shed of the last 6 weeks could probably start the Santa Cruz river flowing again. Not sure if that's cool or just gross, but it's a testament for sure!

Who took a beating right alongside our riders for every single mile?  That's right, your bike. It's been a loyal and trusty steed.  Now is a good time to give it some attention and give it a tune up or thorough pre race check out, whether at home or having a shop take a care of it for you. Chains, chain rings, derailleur bearings, shifter cable and brake pads all wear out. Race weekend is not when you want to find out that those parts have no more to give.  

Stepping off my soapbox and moving on to the info you've been patiently waiting for... there is a lot here so get comfy.

The mock race:

At 24 hour Town at Willow Springs, Google shows it as: 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo at E Willow Spring Dr, Arizona 85232.   Please keep in mind that it is a deceptively long drive to 24hr town- Google says 37 minutes from the Rancho Vistoso Oro Valley Bicycle location.  We'll get things started at 7am.   The kids will be split into their race categories, (Grade level, then JV2, JV1, Varsity).  We'll send the varsity kids off first, then JV1, JV2, Freshmen, 8th, 7th, and then the 6th graders.

Lap counts:

Boys Varsity, 5 laps

JV1, 4 laps

JV2 and freshman, 3 laps

8th grade 2 laps

7th and 6th grade 1 lap

Girls Varsity, 4 laps

JV1, 4 laps

JV2 and freshman, 2 laps

8th grade 2 laps

7th and 6th grade 1 lap

Our starting order will look something like:

Varsity boys, Jv1 boys

Varsity girls, Jv1 girls

Jv2 boys, Freshmen boys

JV2 girls, Freshmen girls

8th grade boys

8th grade girls

7th grade boys

7th grade girls

6th grade boys 

6th grade girls

After the riders are finished we'll have a pancake breakfast, gearswap and plenty of time to hang out, mingle with other families and tell MTBFish stories!

Info for the Flagstaff race, for the folks that like to plan ahead:

We are in the "South Conference" so our race in Flagstaff will be on Sunday, Sept 7th.  We'll be camping in the carnival overflow lot at Fort Tuthill.  I'll be arriving Friday afternoon/evening to try and mark off a camp area for us and are welcome to arrive as early as you like.  Iif you're in an RV, Friday afternoon/evening or Saturday morning is a good idea. Generally we have folks there Friday and all day Saturday just soaking up the Flagstaff weather and MTB atmosphere.  We would like all of our riders to arrive by the VERY latest at 3pm on Saturday at the campsite, ready to ride in an OVMTB t-shirt or Flow jersey, but not your Race jersey. This gives us time to get your race number plate put on, gather everyone up and head out on for the pre-ride around 4pm. The pre-ride is mandatory!  After the pre-ride we'll do the team dinner around 5:30-6pm, but this varies depending on how the pre-ride goes.  The team dinner is held at the campsite. Make sure you bring a chair, as we like to have everyone in the same general area together as opposed to grabbing a plate and returning to their own RV/Tent.  After dinner we do a quick meeting with the riders then everyone is free to go about their evening- most of us end up just hanging around the campsite relaxing and enjoying the company.  Finally, please understand that we do try and hold enough camp space for everyone, but it is difficult and sometimes it gets crowded or a little disorganized. 

Please feel free to come to me and ask questions about any of the above at practice this week or next.  I know it's a lot to take in!

Thanks,

Ryan

--

Ryan McCoskey

OVMTB Head Coach

www.ovmtb.org

[OVMTB]

Ahhh, Sorry y'all!  Even after checking the calendar 3 times, I was still wrong.  Race weekend is actually more like 3 weeks away!

Thanks,

Ryan