When was your first off-road race and what bike did your ride? How did you do?
My first race was on August,1989 in the first Sizzler Mountain Bike Classic at Grant Ranch. This is my first race bike.I still have it.I thought I could be like Johnny T but I DNF'd. I didn't train properly for it but I did better in other races later on. Anyone remember this race shirt above the IBOC Pro if you raced at the Sizzler?
I've been away for awhile but I still find time to ride.
Last edited by Built4Speed; 10-17-2006 at 06:40 AM.
my first one was a tiny little bike shop race in the San Fernando Valley (Los Angeles) in 1986. the race was called the Tour De Tampa Land. i was riding a 1986' Fisher Pro-Caliber that was waaay to big for a little 11 year old. i'm bummed i didn't do the famous Reseda to the Sea race which was also in my area.
i dont have a photos of the 86' Procaliber but i do have a photo of a 87' procaliber that i had for a while. same size and color. pretty much identicle except that mine had deerhead components/friction shifting and the the 87 has M-730 XT/index shifting.
Hey, good thread. My first was in 1991 in Redlands, Ca. I was racing roadie on the collegiate rounds and they had XC and DH as a sort of demo event. No points awarded, just for fun. DH in the morning, XC in the afternoon. Same bike.
And I still have it too....
"My Life is violent, but violence is life" - Ice T
Mammoth Kamikaze weekend 30+ mile point to point race, trials and the Kamikaze all in one fun weekend. That's the weekend I discovered the powerful anit-bonk medicine known as coca-cola. Raced it on my Stumpjumper Comp.
my first race was in council bluffs, iowa, at the "river trails", in november of 1990. i was riding a 1989 trek 850, and i'd only been riding for about 6 months prior to that point. i finished somewhere in the middle of the pack, as i recall.
fifteen years later, attached are some pics from me this past weekend.
When was your first off-road race and what bike did your ride? How did you do?
My first race was on August,1989 in the first Sizzler Mountain Bike Classic at Grant Ranch. This is my first race bike.I still have it.I thought I could be like Johnny T but I DNF'd. I didn't train properly for it but I did better in other races later on. Anyone remember this race shirt above the IBOC Pro if you raced at the Sizzler?
I've been away for awhile but I still find time to ride.
Good thread!
B4S....I think my first race might have been the Quicksilver at Grant Ranch in 1989. I'm sure I was at the same Sizzler Classic that was your first race too.
My 89/90 Stumpjumper was the bike.
I'll have to check, I might still have the race results that were sent in the mail. I finished...but not well. I'm a better racer now than I was back then.
was in 1990 or '91 at the Norris Dam/Watershed outside Knoxville TN. I don't remember the name of the race, might have been Norris MTB Festival or something. Lost the t-shirt years ago. Rode a Trek 930, sold it in '92. Flatted on the first lap and broke the valve stem during the repair. It held air though and I finished the race. I even managed not to be dead last (but not by much). Most painful experience on a bike I can remember and I raced rode bikes after that.
It started up a fairly steep asphalt road, then some rocky downhill(I got a couple flats here) then through some sandy zones...a jeep jamboree was happening...then up some rutted out moto trails and back to the finish line. I think it was a 30 or so mile race..point to point. A FTW stem was first place prize. I think I got second to last or so...I remember seeing a dude on a BMX bike fitted with gears. Some Yeti rider broke his ankle. I found a pair of Oakley Factory Pilots(it paid to be last in those days!!). They saved a turkey drumstick for me at the finish line...I had to walk the last ~2 miles cuz I ran out of tubes...
I was on my 85 Stumpjumper with XC pro...not a single piece of Shi~mano crap on my eighties rigs!
anybody else do this??
Night has fallen.
And there's nothin' we can do about it.
Fall 1983. A small local race in Eugene OR with a cyclocross and mtb class. I rode my 2 month old Univega Alpina Sport. I finished. Other than that all I remember is the head of my seat post stripped out.
mtbtires.com
The trouble with common sense is it is no longer common
I "raced" my Diamond Back Topanga sporting my Bell V1 Pro helmet. I remember everyone crowded into the cafe for the prizegiving to get out of the rain. It was won by Andrew Davies (Scottish MTB champion at the time, and many times since), who rode a Team Stumpjumper in white and grey, the one that was shown in the catalogue with Browning transmission but never came with it in real life.
Next one after that was the Carlsberg UK Mountain Bike Championships in Aviemore. It was won by Mike Kloser when he was riding for MS Racing. I remember he had these weird tyres that we hadn't seen before. It turns out they were Ground Control Extremes.
When was your first off-road race and what bike did your ride? How did you do?
My first race was on August,1989 in the first Sizzler Mountain Bike Classic at Grant Ranch. This is my first race bike.I still have it.I thought I could be like Johnny T but I DNF'd. I didn't train properly for it but I did better in other races later on. Anyone remember this race shirt above the IBOC Pro if you raced at the Sizzler?
I've been away for awhile but I still find time to ride.
I Had an IBOC just like that. Same aqua green funky paint and black rigid fork.
My first xc race was in late 1991 at Blue Marsh, near Reading PA. The "Holidaze" race, just before Christmas. I remember I finished the beginner race. I got a cool Christmas tree ball ornament with the "holidaze" race logo on it, and some other cool shwag.
Held in McKay, ID. 19 mile loop with 9 miles of climbing. I think there was a field of like 200 or so racers. I was riding a '89 Jamis Dakota and finished somewhere in the middle of the pack if I remember correctly.
My first race was in May of 1994 at Ski Rountop in Lewsiberry, PA. I raced Junior beginner and finished 4th. I had a Yokoda Quicksilver with a Rock Shox Quadra fork and a mix of LX300/LX500 components, even biopace chainrings.
MTBR newbie here! Mine was in the Spring of 86, at a small bike race at White Pass, outside of Seattle. Back then, there was just one race, no classes, no categories. And organizers prayed there would be a respectable turnout. I rode that race on my very first MTB, a Bridgestone MB-2. One of those forest green and fire engine red ones, with painted-to-match bullmoose bars, Joe Murray style. I sold that bike after college but recently found another. Not particularly special or collectible, but I think I don't need to explain to you fellow forum members about how sentimentality can drive action.
Fall 1983. A small local race in Eugene OR with a cyclocross and mtb class. I rode my 2 month old Univega Alpina Sport. I finished. Other than that all I remember is the head of my seat post stripped out.
I just picked up a beautiful condition mid to late 80s Univega Alpina Uno for a song. I'll post pics soon.
Anyway, I got my first MTB in about 85 or 86, but I didn't actually do a race till 97 lol. It was a 10 mile time trial at Yankee Springs in Michigan. I rode a 91 Giant ATX 760 with a Girvin Profork or was it Proforx? Either way I still have nightmares about that fork. I don't wanna hear it Dee8 lol.
I think it was on a Serotta T-Max, and I remember throwing up. Took me about a year to figure out that eating a banana 15 minutes before the start AND NOT warming up is a bad strategy. The race was a brutal xc, and I DNF'd from dehydration and cramping. Who would have thunk.
1994 Idaho City Excellent Adventure, in Idaho City, ID. I believe I got 9th in beginner, pretty lame. My bike was a fully rigid Research Dynamics (RD) Coyote. Full DX gruppo rapid fire DX, toe clips and lycra shorts that were too big, oh yeah! Next day I got 3rd on a circuit race (similar to a short track race today), knew then I was hooked.
for some reason I can clearly remember my first road race, which preceded my first mtb race by a few years, but I can't pinpoint that first mtb race. Maybe next time I visit the folks I can find something in mom's scrapbook.
I think it was early 80's, 83?, Devils Thumb Ranch, near Winter Park Colorado, but it may just stand out in my memory because it snowed or because it was the first time the boys from the butte came to our area for a race.
I do remember doing the norba nat at Eldora, was that 84? It snowed for that one also.
Haven't raced in a while, I like doing stuff like this better...
1989 Cow Mountain Classic.Clear Lake Ca.
I blew on the first climb and never recoverd.I was on a rasberry red 87-88? Monster Fat.Super sweet bike.It was stolen from my garage on New Years Eve 89-90 while I was at a Dead show in Oakland.That was a buzzkill.
I`m still slow.
Jeff
summer of 85. pontypool park south wales, right on the edge of the brecon beacons.
Looking back was a fairly short lap, but masses of climbing (which was good for me). On the start line felt massively outgunned. specialized team stumpjumpers abound while I'm on a raleigh ozark (reynolds 531) in a 22in frame size (I was 11!) soon realised I was only the person in the race without toe clips.. which was my misfortune on the imbedded step downhill. arm pump like I've never known & feet bouncing off the pedals on the big impacts.
losing time on every downhill. gaining it back on the climbs. last lap suffering (1 waterbottle wasnt enough!).
finished exhausted, but with a massive buzz. then realised Id lost out on the specialized socks for 10th place.. I came 11th! I was hooked tho. riding at a level I didnt know existed till that day! 1 year later I was on a team stumpjumper & riding race intensity on the way to the shops hahaha.
B4S....I think my first race might have been the Quicksilver at Grant Ranch in 1989. I'm sure I was at the same Sizzler Classic that was your first race too.
My 89/90 Stumpjumper was the bike.
I'll have to check, I might still have the race results that were sent in the mail. I finished...but not well. I'm a better racer now than I was back then.
Hey Rumpfy, there was a white Trimble composite being raffled that day and it was on top of a light colored Volvo,I think.A rider in the Sportsmen class broke his collarbone when he kissed a large boulder on the way down. We had a large group gather at the barn,drinking beer and watching the Pro/Expert class fly by.I took a lot of photos that day but I lost them and my 1st number plate since. I managed only one lap that day.Now I can do the 3 lap course in the time I did one lap. I'd like to do one more race.
Mount Spokane, Norba Nationals, 1994(?), Raleigh M800, Nike Caldera High Top Footwear. Back then, my idea of training was blasting out 60 minutes of riding as hard as possible, so a 10 mile RACE sounded tough, went out at a medium pace and ate a lot of dust! Ended up 15th out of 43, the bracket was beginners 18-34 or so.
Met Tomac and Tinker, watched Julie Furtado change a flat in about 1 minute, saw Hans Rey and the late, great Jake the Snake duel out a bunnyhop competition in downtown Spokane, 43" or 44" won it.
My first race was in September 1988 at Horseshoe Valley in Ontario. Accidentially raced senior, when I was still a junior, finished in the lower half of the pack.
Bike I rode- 1987 Silver and Black 18" Ritchey Force Comp - mostly XT/Deore mix with chainstay mounted U-brake.
My first race was in September 1988 at Horseshoe Valley in Ontario. Accidentially raced senior, when I was still a junior, finished in the lower half of the pack.
Bike I rode- 1987 Silver and Black 18" Ritchey Force Comp - mostly XT/Deore mix with chainstay mounted U-brake.
This recollection ages me somewhat.
Must have been '88 or '89, it was the first "hoo haah" held in Va courtesy of Mikes Bikes in Waynesboro. I managed to place 3rd in my category.
The Hoo Haah has gone on to become a big annual event, I retired after that race, man those Va trails are/were steep.
Because of development, a lot of the trils I rode in the Charlottesville area are now either off limits, or have become paved over ;-(
Wanted: Phil Wood front hub, one orphan WTB shifter mount.
Hmm. fist race for me was in 1988. The local construction Mgmt dept at the university in town put on an annual race called MudMadness that was held on/near campus. I was racing as a fresh young 15 year old. Finished mid pack and had a blast. I was riding a 1988 Bauer Chequamegon with full Deore 6 speed indexed parts. The wheels are still alive on my parents tandem!.
1988 or 89 Redlands California. It was super fun, I had a fresh Nishiki Colorado with a U-brake and all. Had oddles of fun but boy was I beat. I did some racing here and there, and was passed by Tinker Juarez out in Palm Springs like I was standing still. That same race, some guy biffed hands first into cactus, without gloves.
Finally gave up on the racing scene in 1994 or so when I was in college. Now just ride for the hell of it.
My first race was The Mountain and Beach 6 hour team Enduro at the bottom south east side Simon Fraser University in 1990 on my 1990 Rocky Mountain Blizzard with Syncros Forks. Me and my buddy won agianst all the older guys and we were only 15!
I still have the wife beater with the race info on it(back when entry fee got you the race and the shirt)
First and only race was at Keystone, Colorado, the very first year they had trails on the mountain. I think it was '94 or '95. I had been riding for 8 or 9 years and decided to give this racing thing a try. Got my butt handed to me on the climb, but passed 20+ riders on the descent. Rolled my rear tire off the rim in a turn and promptly lost all of those 20+ places, and more, while replacing the tube. Ended up finishing, but decided that I'm just not that competitive.
The bike I rode that day (1993 Paramount Team) was my main bike until last summer, and I still ride it about 30 - 40% of the time.
1991 Noahs Ark Cotswolds Classic was my first race, riding my 1991 GT Karakoram.
The course was a muddy track around a muddy paintball site. It had rained for days (at least that's how I remeber it) - it was carnage. Not sure many people finshed, don't think I did. At least my almost non-existent and thoroughly mediocre racing career has been uphill ever since
That'd be ummmm, same year I got my driver's license.... 1991, Camp Fortune Ski Hill, Old Chelsea, Quebec. Boots and Boards (long since closed store around here) race series. Don't have a pic of the bike but it was a fully rigid, 35 pound 22" size, 1990 Norco Bigfoot with a straight-blade fork, biopace 28/38/48 rings, 13-30 7sp cassette, and Exage 300LX parts. Lovely purple splatter paint on it, and I had a kickstand off the left dropout...cut down on people passing me. I still have some prizes from those races (mostly waterbottles).
I don't post to generate business for myself or make like I'm better than sliced bread
my first race was in council bluffs, iowa, at the "river trails", in november of 1990. i was riding a 1989 trek 850, and i'd only been riding for about 6 months prior to that point. i finished somewhere in the middle of the pack, as i recall.
fifteen years later, attached are some pics from me this past weekend.
cheers,
mg
My first race was in Lincoln NE. around 1991 and it was sponsored by a great local shop called ' Blues Bike and Fitness' , the course was held on a BMX track and then around a grassy field and back thru the jumps again, hell they even set up road road ties in the middle of the trail to create ' obstacles' . I got second place just behind one of the coolest guys i've ever come across and felt lucky to know...Shawn Burchett. Shawn was about as talented on a bike as they come, and most of the time i'd ride behind him just so i could witness his abilities. The bike was a 1990 Scott Unitrack w/ unishock suspension fork.
My first race was the Missouri state mountain bike championship in 1993. I still remember it very clearly. I went with my friend Jason, who raced expert, and talked me into it. He smoked pot like a chimney. He smoked the whole way there. I didn't partake. We had a hard time getting to columbia because the river (missouri) was up over the bridge. We had to detour through jeff city. This was during that 100 year flood. We crashed at his grandparents place in Columbia and drove down to Viburnum for the TT the next day. J smoked J's the whole way there. He smoked before the race. We did the TT and I got 6th, I think the field was rather small but I was pleased. That night there was free beer and live music. I partook. Slept in a 2 man tent with 2 total strangers and their girlfriend. It was warm, at least. Got up the next day and took a few asprin and a ton of water. Raced and it was tough! There was this one long hill I remember riding up it thinking oh my god I can't do it. I got off to walk and got passed by some experts who remarked that this hill was rideable. I bombed the other side and rode my heart out to 23rd place. Now I never drink the night before a race.
1987 Mudpuppy Classic in Edmonton, AB on a 3rd hand handbuilt Moulden Mutant that looked something like an old Brodie or Off-Road Toad. It was raining and cold as all get out. The trail was slick and one rider broke his neck on a whoopdedoo. I finished top 1/4 and was happy with the result.
haha good dredge to good thread...
1992, on my 1989 Diamonback Apex (that I still have)...wasnt really an XC race, more of a critirium, type thingy... part of the state champs series, back then 1 month was an XC next was UH, DH and short crit XC. Got 10th in the uphill, 5th in the downhill and ...no idea on the crit, I don't think I was last, but who knows, at one point hit a patch of mud at speed ended up upsideown in some brambles laughing my head off.
From then, racing, I may have been total crap at it, but was hooked.
I don't remember which race I did first. My first cross country race was probably the first Rock Hopper For Lungs in 1982. The photo in my avatar is me at the starting line of Repack.
24 Hours of Great Glen circa 1999 on my 1995 GT Zaskar LE. I enjoyed the mild concussion I sustained in the middle of the night when my front tire went instantly flat.
1988 at Hulda Crooks Park in Redlands. I raced XC and DH on a yellow 88 Schwinn High Sierra from Riverside Redlands Schwinn (RRS BMX fame)I was 17 at the time and still in high school.
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Originally Posted by Built4Speed
hahaha.
I've never raced this guy before..nope/never
