 We’ve had a few questions about the S2/U16/14 race timing, so here’s a quick explanation—which applies to all adult races (aside from the total race duration).
The format is 45 minutes + 1 lap. In practice, this means the race leader—regardless of category—gets the bell on the lap closest to the 45-minute mark. Because of things like course length, rider speed, and weather, it’s never going to land exactly on 45 minutes. What that means in reality is that only the leader will ride something very close to 45 minutes + 1 lap. Everyone else finishes based on their position relative to the leader—so if you’re nearly a lap down when the winner finishes, your total race time will naturally be longer. We’ve explored a range of alternatives to tighten this up—fixed lap counts, stopping riders exactly on time, staggered starts, even running separate races—but each option either adds a lot of complexity or doesn’t really solve the issue. We also looked at stopping U14 riders earlier, but trying to identify and finish just that group mid-race would be extremely difficult to manage in practice. So, here’s what we’re sticking with: We’ll continue with the same system, but with a bit of flexibility. The bell can be rung within a 10-minute window—up to 5 minutes either side of the 45-minute mark. This is essentially what we’ve been doing already. If it’s a close call, we’ll typically let the race run a little longer when conditions are good and things are on schedule, and keep it slightly shorter if not. In the recent race, the leader came through at around 39 minutes. That meant we let the race run for another lap before ringing the bell, which resulted in a longer race overall—especially for riders finishing almost a lap behind the winner. Hopefully that clears things up. We’re always open to improving things where it genuinely benefits the racing, so if you’ve got ideas, we’re happy to hear them.
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Entries have now closed for round 1 Race information, start times, dates, venues and locations are all on the website. You will recieve a rider information pack, either Thursday or friday night. I have also attached the rider information pack for those who can't wait! 
I would like to welcome a new sponsor to the MTB east League. https://performancecoaching.me Jason will be there at most of the races, so pop along and have a chat if you want to take your racing to the next level.  |
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