I like both series... I wish NICA, MASS and H2H promoters would collectively come up with a schedule that would compliment each series rather than steal racers away from each other. This includes contigency dates - easier said than done and I can only imagine what a pain in the ass figuring all that out would be.
On my way home from last weekend’s NICA race, I was thinking how Team Town Cycle / Ringwood race would’ve had more kid racers show up which would help them and that series. Instead, 450+ kids and some of their racer parents couldn’t go due to NICA commitments. It was strange to see Dillon and his Mom helping / coaching with the NICA race while their own race was happening.
There are differences between the two race formats...
MASS XC races are longer with more climbs per laps. For Cat 1, 20 miles averages over three laps with 3 major climbs per lap - for race venues with climbing... usually the field average finish time is roughly 2 hours.
H2H are shorter between 1:30 a 1:45.
Both series venues include great variety and are unique so I can’t say anyone is better than the other. My personal preferance is all I can speak to... Ramseys is my all time favorite, followed by French Creek, Mooch... I loved Chainstrecher until it moved to the NY state series... I could still race it regardless of series....
I do prefer MASS categories over H2H’s new category format... Having raced CAT 1 19-39 in my late 30s, I was looking forward to turning 40 and racing with peers and getting away from racing kids young enough to be my son. There is a significant fitness difference between a 20 year old Cat 1 racer and a 35 year old - for so many reasons...
When I look at my race schedule, I have all H2H, MASS and NICA listed... NICA will take precedence because my son is racing. Right now NICA overlaps with Ringwood, Mooch and Bear Creek. All of which are awesome venues. So I will miss those. As far as other conflicts between the two series, the week of the race, I’ll look at it and decide which one I want to race more... for this weekend, if I had to choose between Mooch and Fair Hill, I’d choose Mooch. i races Fair Hill last spring and loved it and I missed Mooch last year so I’d go there this year cause Mooch / MTBNJ kick ass and it would be a good time.
Sorry for typos... written with an iphone with a severely shattered screen.