First and full most, Mud Sweat and Gears has been designed to be fun for all, and by no means should riders worry themselves with the below information, as it will all be managed on the day by the Race Director and British Cycling. But for those who will be taking their racing seriously, a comprehensive guide has been developed below:
Start
To start each race the officials will call all ‘challenges’, ‘warriors’ or ‘racers’ to the start area. They will then call up each category at a time – gridding (from round 2 onwards) the top 16 series contenders at the front. From there the category will then start the race on mass.
If there are fewer than 5 individuals in any category they may be combined with the alternate male/female category.
Given the fun theme to the grommets race there will be no gridding and both male/female categories will start together on mass.
Laps
Riders will race for a predetermined number of laps (notified on the day) with the winners being those who complete their designated laps in the quickest time. When the first rider has completed all the predetermined laps for their category, all riders of that category will be asked to finish at the end of their current lap.
Series Placings
Series points will be awarded to the top 50 riders in each category for each race. The top three in each category at each event will be awarded shop vouchers. The top three in each category for the Series will receive Mud Sweat and Gears: Eastern Region MTB League trophies. Final series rankings will be based on a rider’s best 4 events.
British Cycling Rankings
As far as our races are concerned we have kept our categories simple. However, we understand that some of you are interested in British Cycling ranking points for your specific BC category and we want to help you get these. All entrants holding a racing licence placing in the top 15 (Regional A level) of their respective BC categories in the Racer race will therefore gain BC ranking points (we send off the results to BC and they do the rest).
For round 4 – Codham Park we have managed to get Regional Championship status thus meaning that ranking points will go down to 40th place and first place will receive 60 points (double that of the other rounds).
A racing licence is not compulsory but is necessary to gain British Cycling ranking points. To see the benefits of becoming a British Cycling member including the option of purchasing a racing licence go to www.britishcycling.org.uk/membership.
