Rebirth of the Dirt Crits

Dirt Crit is on
Thursday April 21
5:45 rolling out of Pandapas Pond parking lot.

Years ago when mtn bike racing was strong in this area, our team held these informal dirt crits. They are sort of like Short track races, but borrowed the format from a Motocross event. The format is a short lap course where you go for 20 minutes + 2 laps of the course.

I wish it was just 20mins because that is a definite point in time to aim for. But with this +2 laps thing it is OOOOOH man, I gotta do this 2 more times. AAAck.

So wherever you are at 20mins you finish that lap and then go 2 more laps. When you describe it to people they get this funny look on their face. Like how is it fun to go round and round for 20 mins on the same fairly non-technical loop? Don't know how to describe it but it is SOOOO much fun. Pure and utter devastation. It is a really good way to get riders of all abilities together in one place. In a typical XC race you see the experts go off and that is the end of it. And you either have the ability to ride with others your caliber or more often than not you are in no man's land racing the course and your private demons.

With this short loop every one stays together. And even if you are a beginner for a fleeting moment you can try and jump on someone's wheel, and use any body in the distance to give you motivation to catch them. You get practice passing and being passed, and can test out things like your new gel flask holder or how to drink when you are seeing spots..

It allows you to ride over your head a little bit and try new lines on corners and get comfortable enough to push the envelope.

When you read the BLOGs of pro mtb racers they describe the event in road race like terms often: Attacks, breaks, bridging gaps, etc. This is very foreign to me because my mtb racing is more about just surviving than strageny. In this kind of off road criterium there is the possibility of more strategy and tactics due to the format. Like you can mark someone who is your own ability and try and stay with them and then possibly attack when you sense weakness.

But there is really only one way to do these kinds of things. Many ways to describe the same philosophy:

Go to eleven


Peg it

Pin it

Slam it

Throw down


Red line it


On the rivet

Fasten your seatbelts put your tray in the upright position and take note of the barf bag in the seat pocket in front of you.



Pay the ferry man, and get on the pain train traversing all 7 levels of hell and do not pass go until the spots turn purple before your eyes.

I'm already getting nervous about it, and it's just a local thingy. But if you can't go to the races, bring the races to you. It's really cool that there is some excitement about these. There might not be that many people at this first one, but I think when the word gets out more they may get to be pretty regular.

You can race other people, but the truth is that it is about you going toe to toe with yourself and pushing it to the limit. Everyone else around you is there to help you fight the good fight.