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RMEC Snakebike Grand Junction

By StreetDoctor,
in Rocky Mountains

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Donny18

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First race ever or first race in awhile?  If it's been a few years, I would race C Vet then.

I would suggest trying to find some helmet cam footage of previous years event's on youtube.  I did that for one of their events down by Pueblo.  You might find (as I did) that it might not be what you think.

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StreetDoctor

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6 minutes ago, ReaptheHeat said:

I recommend, as Donny says to enter C if this is your first race.  

Why do you say that? It’s my first enduro dirt bike race but I race competitively in expert or pro downhill and enduro MTB. usually about a dozen races a year. I won the overall amateur series last year. I used to do about a dozen track days a year on a sport bike in advanced/open also so no stranger to motors or speed. You don’t think I’d be sandbagging in Vet C? 

Watching video Vet C class looks mostly old, fat, and slow? ??

it also looks like C class is shorter/easier than A/B which is kind of a bummer. Is vet B really that fast? Maybe I’ll reconsider C... I just don’t want to sandbag.

 

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Donny18

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@StreetDoctor I can't begin to tell you how much I applaud you for not wanting to sandbag.  I could write an essay on how it kills people just starting out in competition and all known sandbaggers should be made a mockery of.  I hate the "Trophy Warriors".  I wonder how they sleep at night.

However, not knowing your dirt bike skill level, what terrain you ride best in, or anything about the race you are entering, I still would suggest C.  Given what you say about your mountain bike races, I have no doubt that stamina is not an issue, however, it can be vastly different.  I suggest that you give it one race as a gauge and see how you do.  If you absolutely kill it, then definitely move up to B.  However, you never know, you might be surprised.  No one will be mad at one race.  believe me, the guys that are struggling and working hard at getting faster will remember your name, so they'll know if you truly "sandbag".

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StreetDoctor

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5 minutes ago, Donny18 said:

@StreetDoctor I can't begin to tell you how much I applaud you for not wanting to sandbag.  I could write an essay on how it kills people just starting out in competition and all known sandbaggers should be made a mockery of.  I hate the "Trophy Warriors".  I wonder how they sleep at night.

However, not knowing your dirt bike skill level, what terrain you ride best in, or anything about the race you are entering, I still would suggest C.  Given what you say about your mountain bike races, I have no doubt that stamina is not an issue, however, it can be vastly different.  I suggest that you give it one race as a gauge and see how you do.  If you absolutely kill it, then definitely move up to B.  However, you never know, you might be surprised.  No one will be mad at one race.  believe me, the guys that are struggling and working hard at getting faster will remember your name, so they'll know if you truly "sandbag".

I appreciate the advice and I think I'll take it, especially since I'll be out there solo this time. I'll be out there a few days before the event and maybe I can get a feel for some other competitors. I completely understand the disdain for sand baggers, it happens in mountain biking also and I don't want to be that guy. The people who only sign up for races they can win.... I've lost a couple friends to that attitude. It's about as lame as it gets. 

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Donny18

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1 minute ago, StreetDoctor said:

I appreciate the advice and I think I'll take it, especially since I'll be out there solo this time. I'll be out there a few days before the event and maybe I can get a feel for some other competitors. I completely understand the disdain for sand baggers, it happens in mountain biking also and I don't want to be that guy. The people who only sign up for races they can win.... I've lost a couple friends to that attitude. It's about as lame as it gets. 

Agree with you there.  I've lost some friends over that too.  They'd rather have a trophy on the wall that was easily won so they can brag about it next to their "Al BundY" football scrapbook.

I'll give you an example (and I sucked as a racer).  I used to race in the ECEA.  That series spawned the likes of some pretty good riders like Mike Lafferty, Wally Palmer, Jason Lawrence, and Jared Stoner.  The competition there is pretty tough.  I did well in C, I trophied a couple times and then made the jump (earlier than my scorecard indicated) to B the following year.  I absolutely got my doors blown off!  It was so bad, I almost quit.  I got in way over my head.  I should've done the first race and said "nope, I suck, back to C". ?  I laugh about it now, but I was pretty salty back then.

I guess what I'm saying is you won't know until you compete.

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zzsean

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Race B for sure.

I came over to dirt bikes from Downhill as well and lots of the skills transfer completely. However the real reason to race B rather than C is that you always tend to get more riding and better trail segments if there is a choice for the organizer. I raced C for my first race and was disappointed that the B class had a much long race day.

Not sure what the difference between the C and B courses would be for the snakebite but I always tell my buddies who have never raced to race B as their starting point.

 

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Officer Mike

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Race B. Just raced RMEC this past weekend for the first time w that club. Was very impressed. Well organized etc. better than CORCS if you ask me. Not sure about snakebite but the last one we started each test solo. So even if you’re slow for B you’re gonna be solo. If someone comes up on you fast, let them around and carry on. No big deal. 

Last week was my first “enduro” and I actually really liked that reliability/ restart format. Even tho I ended up going farther and longer than a normal hare scramble, the breaks between tests were refreshing. 

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StreetDoctor

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On 10/11/2019 at 10:03 PM, ReaptheHeat said:

Let us know how it goes.

Fun event! Definitely learned a lot. Namely to pull my levers in to help with arm pump. Can't say I've ever ridden all out for 35 minutes before. About 15 minutes in my arms were screaming, mostly because my levers were too far out. I ended up in last in Vet B by a little more than a minute. My total time was 1:03:59. Would have been 3rd in Vet C so I'm not sure where I belong... The first two tests were real fast, definitely out of my comfort zone. I normally ride tight woods where if you hit 30mph you're flying. I got passed by a couple guys like I was going backwards and I was pinned in 3rd. Through the dust cloud... impressive! When I got passed I couldn't see my front wheel for a solid 15-20 seconds. My confidence in the desert on a course I have never ridden was definitely not there! The A/B stage was definitely the most fun, so I'm glad I rode Vet B. Looking forward to more racing.  

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