Why is H2H hurting when MASS is doing well?

Chris(NJ)

Chris(NJ)

Well-Known Member
jeffstick said:
Ahh the good old days of kicking off the racing season at the Spring Cleaning those were the high number days for the H2H Series. The series consisted of 8 races that ran into the first or second weekend of October. You had a chance to do other things throughout the year and space out your mountain bike racing. No races in August except for the Darkhorse 40 locally and then everyone was looking to get after it again at places like Tymor, Jungle and Ringwood in September and October. Granted, Tymor never attracted huge numbers but that's probably because of the distance to the park, but it was still a great race. Now it's start in March, finish by the first weekend in August which means weekends on the schedule like this coming weekend where you have Allamuchy, Fair Hill and Fat tire Classic in CT along with a NICA race. I know from March til August is the same time frame as May through October but it also gave people more time to get in shape for racing. I don't want to hear the Cross argument for September or October because cross encroached on the MTB race season. There really weren't any cross races until later October or November and cross was something you did as an extension of either your MTB or road season to maintain fitness before winter.
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This reminded me of a complaint I've had for a while. Has absolutely nothing to do (I dont think) w/ why some people choose one series over another or why they don't race any more, but these early season "state championship races". PA has theirs next weekend! And NJ is always early too. Always seemed more like a "off season training championship race" more than anything. Championship races should be at the end of a season. Let rivalries develop all season. Let people get in shape if they want to have that "title". It's like having the playoffs of superbowl during week 2 and then still playing.
This was always one of the dumbest things I saw in mountain biking. K...rant off
 
Matt_

Matt_

I Get Jokes
MissJR said:
uhhhh... Did you marry someone else? Because SERENA KICKS ASS!!!
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Lmao nope, same Serena. She's such a head case before races.... she actually wanted to sign up for cat 2 because she was worried she "didn't belong" with the cat 1 ladies, as if they would shun her for being too new or something.

I then had to explain to her what sandbagging is, that Steph would rip her arms off if she signed up for cat 2 because they're the same group now, and that [insert Lego movie voice] everyone is awesome [end Lego movie voice] and they'll be happy to have another cat 1 woman on the starting line.

So yeah.... back to topic keeping her nerves down is a big part of current race decisions. She gets really nervous when we talk about racing the tougher venues, especially since she has to race cat 1 in H2H because that's what's on her USAC license (she did that for Mayhem)
 
MissJR

MissJR

not in the mood for your shenanigans
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Matt_ said:
Lmao nope, same Serena. She's such a head case before races.... she actually wanted to sign up for cat 2 because she was worried she "didn't belong" with the cat 1 ladies, as if they would shun her for being too new or something.

I then had to explain to her what sandbagging is, that Steph would rip her arms off if she signed up for cat 2 because they're the same group now, and that [insert Lego movie voice] everyone is awesome [end Lego movie voice] and they'll be happy to have another cat 1 woman on the starting line.

So yeah.... back to topic keeping her nerves down is a big part of current race decisions. She gets really nervous when we talk about racing the tougher venues, especially since she has to race cat 1 in H2H because that's what's on her USAC license (she did that for Mayhem)
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First of all... I LOVE THE LEGO MOVIE SONG!!

second... Make sure her calendar is open for wild cat, jungle, Ringwood, etc weekend rides... Because we're going... I think she'll be amazing at these places with her natural strength. (And yes. She's cat 1. Period.)

And back to series...I would love to see the order of the races changed... Coming out of winter and not riding much, having Ringwood and mooch be the first ones is hard. I'd prefer to warm up with a Lewis Morris race for the series.
 
Matt_

Matt_

I Get Jokes
@MissJR We were going to do French Creek but are swaying towards Stewart. Would be great to get there one day before the race, but weekends are booked (unless she goes there instead of doing the NJ Half marathon on the 29th...).

We were also planning on playing hooky May 8th to ride somewhere. Anyone have a cessna to fly us over the traffic so we can get up north on a Tuesday morning??
 
MixMastaMM

MixMastaMM

Team Bulldog Rider
If you know how to build a better mousetrap, please build it and let everyone play. Some on here have stepped up big time and brought new races to the area.

Anyone that wants to understand the complexities behind the the H2H series, reach out to the series coordinator. New ideas are welcome and encouraged.

Did everyone on here fill out the H2H racer survey that was circulated in the winter?
 
MissJR

MissJR

not in the mood for your shenanigans
Team MTBNJ Halter's
MixMastaMM said:
Did everyone on here fill out the H2H racer survey that was circulated in the winter?
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Admittedly no... Because the one I got was geared towards people who don't race and none of the questions were relevant to me as a racer.
 
Stef

Stef

❤ Brownie Biatch ❤
JORBA.ORG
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Matt_ said:
I then had to explain to her what sandbagging is, that Steph would rip her arms off if she signed up for cat 2 because they're the same group now, and that [insert Lego movie voice] everyone is awesome [end Lego movie voice] and they'll be happy to have another cat 1 woman on the starting line.
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ME??? I would never....man do i have a bad rep?!?!
 
ryderX

ryderX

Well-Known Member
MissJR said:
Admittedly no... Because the one I got was geared towards people who don't race and none of the questions were relevant to me as a racer.
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you missed a good opportunity to write in your concerns questions in the -add your thoughts and suggestion section-
 
Ian F

Ian F

Well-Known Member
Well... at the risk of looking like an idiot, when I received the H2H email about "Racing the Mooch" or something, my first thought was "WTF is Mooch?" and it was only when I opened this thread I realized it meant Allamuchy State Park.

So... my first comment would be when sending out emails to past event attendees (I have done a couple of Stewart races) to promote a race, avoid local nick-names for the venue assuming everyone knows what you're referring to. Or maybe it was mentioned and I just didn't get that far into the email to see it. Regardless, while my reasons for not racing have nothing to do with that right now, it definitely didn't help.

I do agree the crappy weather over the last few months has not been conducive to wanting to race.

Oh... if I can ask another stupid question... what does "H2H" stand for? :confused:
 
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Patrick

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
Ian F said:
Oh... if I can ask another stupid question... what does "H2H" stand for? :confused:
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hudson to highlands
http://www.h2hrace.com/
https://www.facebook.com/h2hrace/

1524060685337.png

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interesting point you make there.
 
MissJR

MissJR

not in the mood for your shenanigans
Team MTBNJ Halter's
ryderX said:
you missed a good opportunity to write in your concerns questions in the -add your thoughts and suggestion section-
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from what i remember, the first of the survey questions were all about quitting racing... and since i didn't quit racing, i didn't go any further.
 
de00304

de00304

Well-Known Member
jimvreeland said:
There's just 3 series competing against each other for a dwindling race crowd. People who used to race no longer do for whatever reason and there's no new folks coming in. I'd imagine once the NICA kids come of age they'll be looking to bump into Mass or H2H and numbers will go up.
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I am one of the "dwindlers" - back in 2010-2012 timeframe I was heavy into it, raced all of the H2H series (including Tymor), as well as several MASS (Stoopid, W101, Michaux, Rattling, etc), Bearscat, Cathedral, DH40, SSAP, Leadville, 24H of Moab, plus some CX, etc.

After coming in 2nd for the H2H series in Cat2, I moved up to Cat1 because those were the rules. However, the reality is I wasn't that fast (my laps times were always way slower than Cat1 times), and while I usually came in top 5 or so in Cat2, I was certainly not dominating and only won 1 race in all those years. What allowed me to achieve the second place overall finish was consistency and "attendance", along with pay dirt, that gave me the accumulated points required to be competitive in the series.

Once I hit Cat1, I went immediately to DFL in pretty much all the races. I still did them all, but the joy was gone and it was now a slog. Not a lot of fun coming in 30+ minutes after the field, or starting my last lap and seeing most of the field had already finished. Add having to buy a season's license, along with the day being totally shot due to late Cat1 start times and the extra laps pushing most races out over 20 miles, and I decided this was no longer fun and I dialed it way back. I also had a kid in 2013, with all the time constraints that comes along with that.

I still race now and then, but strictly for fun when the time allows. I am a lot slower now and a lot more cautious about getting hurt, and I am OK with that. I probably won't return to doing the whole series anytime soon, but if I did, I would be signing up in Cat2. FWIW, I think lap times, rather than series placement, should drive the decision to upgrade or not.
 
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