US CUP - Mountain Bike Racing Alive and Well in the USA!

The most exciting thing to happen to MTB racing in a long long while! Thank you Sho Air and Scott Tedro!

Article from Velonews:

New American MTB Series for 2009


By Fred Dreier
Posted Dec. 6, 2008

With the demise of the NMBS, the nation's best off-road pros will be lining up at the U.S. Cup races in 2009.
Photo: Fred Dreier



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 being sponsored by the Los Angeles-based shipping company Sho-Air, and will offer competition for both professional and amateur riders.
The news answers questions about the future of American off-road racing which were raised when the National Mountain Bike Series (NMBS) — North America’s premier off-road series since 2004 — closed shop at the end of 2008.
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.
The Kenda Cup East includes the SERC No. 5 race in Ducktown, Tennessee, Alabama’s Bump and Grind, Virginia’s Massanutten Hoo-Ha, North Carolina’s Cowbell Challenge, the Snow Shootout at Mount Snow, Vermont and the Windham Cup in Windham, New York.
The Kenda Cup West includes all California races: the Bonelli Park cross-country race, Fontana National, Sage Brush Safari, Sea Otter Classic, Santa Ynez Valley Classic and Santa Barbara Bike Festival.
Both the East and West Cups will award series championships to professional and amateur riders, as well as a yet unannounced amount of cash and prizes.
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.
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Organizers, who wished to remain anonymous, said further information on the series would be available within the coming month. A released mission statement said the U.S. Cup’s goal is to help its races “showcase our finest riders while fostering the development of new talent in a way that makes economic sense for organizers and participants alike.”
More information can be found at the U.S. Cup’s website, www.mtb-uscup.com
2008 U.S. Cup
- 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

 

I'm stoked someone kept a National MTB Series going. Awesome. :clap:

 

sage brush is back! Nice!

 

Kenda Cup West should have been named Kenda Cup SoCal

Glad it's still going but it would've been nice to see some other destinations (Tahoe, Oregon, Utah!)

Cool that Sagebrush will be back! Racing returns to SD county!!:bang:

 

It looks like a great start. I think they ultimately need a Southwest, Northwest, Mountain states Midwest and East regions with the "unification" race moving between regions on a yearly basis.

Now the real question is will they try to cater to the amatuer racer by moving the pro/semi-pro events to wed-thur-fri leaving sat and sun open for the ametuers?

drc

 

Many, though not all of the pros have other jobs besides racing. It's tough to find a schedule that provides a good balance.

 

Not sure they are going to do that, but they will do a number of other things to make the races more interesting. Some ideas on what they are doing with the US Cup in the following article on Mountain Bike Action. Riding with the Pros, shorter courses with more laps to appeal to broader range of spectators, etc, UCI certification, etc... should make it very interesting.

http://www.mbaction.com/ME2/dirmod....0&tier=3&nid=9850774FCB1A4816A58C7E340830EB09
With new ideas coming from the folks at Shoair and experienced folks like Tom Spiegel from Team Big Bear at it, its bound to be a great series. Plus there is the So Cal State Series too. 2009 will be a good racing year!

 

No kidding - If I lived anywhere else in the "west" I'd be offended by this calendar.

 

That's cool. Will there be anything for DH riders?:?:

 

Maybe Kenda Cup Cali, but SoCal? Where in Cali do you live that Monterey, Los Olivos (N of Santa Barbara) and Santa Barbara are considered south?

 

Not sure there is an official series, but many of the events listed are not just XC, but include Super D, DH, etc...

 

Chill. Basic geography. Monterey is roughly the mid-point of the state north-south. See for yourself:



Regardless, there is a whole lot of the west, and many excellent races that are not represented. Works out well for those of us in SoCal, not so much if you live elsewhere in the west.

 

What are these then?

https://www.usacycling.org/forms/mtb/09_MBNCschedule_XC2.pdf

C.K.

 

That's what I was wondering as well. If you compare the calendar you put up to the US Cup one, you'll notice some of the dates have changed, though the locations have not. Ex: Fountain Hills got scrubbed and Fontana is now on that date. Bonelli got added, etc...

Might be the same series, but with some changes. :?:

 

SHO-Air is freakin awsome thats all I got to say...

http://www.mbaction.com/ME2/dirmod....0&tier=3&nid=9850774FCB1A4816A58C7E340830EB09

 

what is this sage brush you speak of?

xc in san diego? :-k

 

And why are there "United States Cup" events listed on that calendar that are not on the mtb-uscup.com calendar?

It'd be awfully nice if the race organizers could get their stuff together wrt scheduling. Its pretty amazing that with less than 3 months until the start of the national series, there is this much confusion about dates and venues.

 

Let's get the bitching out of the way first. 4 of the six races over a 5 week period? Nobody can be at their racing best for 5 weeks. If you get sick or injured during this time your series is toast. Also, I was really looking forward to seeing shorter laps that use the best parts of each course multiple times, but Bonelli, Santa Ynes, and Sea Otter have 9, 11, and 19 mile mostly uninspiring courses. Just some suggestions for next year.

That being said, thanks to Scott and Tom for picking up the ball and running with it. Of course I be at all these races.

 

Outside of the Sea Otter XC course the rest of the venues do not seem to be at a National level caliber. :?: This seems to be more like the Cal State and or Am Cup Series that Team Big Bear used to put on back in the day. It sounds great for amateurs but I wonder how the pros will react?

Disclaimer: I am not complaining, bitching or whining!!!! I am simply making an observation and asking a legitimate question. I really would like to know what the Pros have to say. And yes, props to the promoters for keeping XC racing alive in Socal. If only we had someone that could pick up the mantle for DS, 4x and DH. :-k

 

Sheesh! The NMBS goes belly-up, Sho-Air steps in and saves the thing and the best we can do is whine about how the races are too close together or the courses aren't "National Caliber".

Frankly, I'm glad we even have a national series to complain about.

Give it time and maybe volunteer some constuctive input to the race organizers or your time if you're motivated to make it a great series.

Nothin' but love for ya. \\/