Wee-Chi-Tah

We have revamped the Mountain Bike race to allow more riders and thus more Triple Threat athletes! By starting the Mountain Bike event at 10 AM we can expand each Category to 225 riders – Mountain Bike and Triple Threat combined.

What is new with the Mountain Bike event?

New start and finish location – just across the Wichita River at the Bridwell Ag Barn.
Hard Cap of 225 riders in each Category – Mountain Bike only and Triple Threat Mountain Bike combined.
New timing company for all of Hotter’N Hell weekend! YEA!
New start times for all Category’s
Cat 1 and 2 get to race 2 laps! First lap counts for your Triple Threat time (if in the TT)
No water crossing for mountain bikers – super sad face..
You will be able to pre pay for your $10.00 one day USA Cycling license.
Start list emailed out by Wednesday of race week.
New “first timers” start
Kids event

Explanation

New start and finish location – just across the Wichita River at the Bridwell Ag Barn.

The new start is just across the pedestrian bridge at the Bridwell Ag Barn, that’s right; you get to start in the barn! We did this to facilitate multiple laps by the Cat 1 and 2 groups and so we did have to worry about bike on person collisions on the sidewalk or pedestrian bridge. Note – Mountain Bikers will not have a river crossing this year, I know most of you loved that part, sorry.

New timing company for all of Hotter’N Hell weekend! YEA!

Our new company, Cadence Sports promises to have results posted quickly and correctly! They will even post a Leader Board for the Triple Threat!

New start times for all Category’s –

Cat 2 will start at 10 AM and will race 2 laps. The first lap will count for your Triple Threat time.

Cat 1 will start at 1 PM and will race 2 laps. The first lap will count for your Triple Threat time.

Cat 3 will start at 4 PM and will race 1 lap.

Juniors will start as soon as the line is clear of “normal” Cat 3’s.

Cat 3 “first timers” will start as soon as the start line is clear of Juniors about 4:15 to 4:30

Each Category has a HARD cap of 225.

Hard Cap of 225 riders in each Category – Mountain Bike only and Triple Threat Mountain Bike combined.

A combination of all riders in each Cat shall not be more than 225 riders. Exception – Cat 3 “normal” will be 225 riders and Cat 3 “first timers” will be 225. Note – “first timers” is not a real USAC Cat; we want you to have a good experience so we’ll start you after all the “normal” Cat 3’s

Kid event will start as soon as the start line is clear. We’re still working on this.

Everyone in the Mountain Bike event must have either a one day or a yearly USAC license.

Start list emailed out by Wednesday of race week.

Please make sure your email is correct when you sign up! We hope to start groups as to category and age group so you will know just who your competition is. That said; we may have to combine very small age groups or split very large ones.

In an effort to stream line packet pickup you can now prepay for your one day USA Cycling license. You will still need to sign the permit in person. A friend cannot pick up your mountain bike packet.
New “first timers” start – not a “real” USAC Cat but you must have at least a one day USAC license.

A “first timer” is someone that has not ridden a mountain bike much or maybe someone that is only in the mountain bike race so they can complete the Triple Threat. Please do not enter the “first timer” category if you are a good mountain biker. This is for the beginning beginners. To encourage this category to have only real beginning beginners we will not give out age group award for this category. Everyone that finishes the mountain bike race will receive a finisher’s award!

Kids event

We want to encourage young people to get out and ride so we will offer a very short – less than 3 miles – mountain bike event. We are working on making this a free event and we even hope to have some helmets on hand to give out to kids that don’t have one. Everyone will receive a participation award.

Question –

What Category should I enter in the Mountain Bike race?

Well, that depends!

If you are a Category (Cat) 1 you know it. You race a lot and win a lot. You have a yearly USA Cycling mountain bike license.
Cat 2 – You have two different ways to ride in the Cat 2 group.
- You have earned you Cat 2 classification by working your way up from Cat 3 and you have a yearly USA Cycling license
- OR you ride a lot, specifically on the Wee-Chi-Tah Trail and you know you can ride faster than most Cat 3’s. You buy a one day license but you race only once or so a year. Your results while you hold a one day do not count towards ‘Catting up”
Cat 3 – Yearly license, you are a beginning rider, you are working on becoming a Cat 2 by placing well in your age group in several races a year or you can choose to start as a Cat 2, if you’re good enough! But be careful, once you start as a Cat 2, it’s hard to go down to a Cat 3.
Cat 3 – One Day. You race only once or twice a year and don’t care about accumulating “points” and ‘Catting up’. You have fun when you ride but don’t go all that fast. You will stop at the rest stop and maybe a few times along the trail to take a break.

Cat 3 “first timers” – Not a real USAC category, you will buy a one day license but you really don’t ride often or well. You are in the mountain bike race just to complete the Triple Threat or it’s your very first race and the thought of riding on the trail scares you to death. You don’t care about age group awards; you just want to live through the event. The thought of getting a finisher medal for a mountain bike race is totally cool. To encourage this category to have only real beginning beginners we will not give out age group award for this category. But, no worries you will get the same finishers award as all the others!

From the USAC Rule Book – concerning Categories – (Non Mountain Bike info deleted)

https://s3.amazonaws.com/USACWeb/forms/rules/2013-USAC-Rulebook-Chapter1.pdf

1D. Rider Categories

1D1. Riders are assigned to one of the following categories with smaller numbers representing increasing rider proficiency and ability:

(b) Mountain Bike: 3, 2, 1 and Pro. A MTB rider with a Pro category must hold an international license. (We do not offer a Pro Class)

1D2.

(a) Rider categories are assigned by USA Cycling based on a rider's experience and performance. Riders are assigned to the lowest ability category until a higher category has been earned.

(b) For MTB, a rider may choose to be a category 2 or 3 without having to earn points. Once such a choice is made, the rider may not drop back to a lower category without first requesting and receiving a downgrade.

(a) Youth riders are riders with a racing age of less than 10.

(b) Juniors are riders with a racing age between 10 and 18.

Other important information.

DO NOT FORGET – New start times and location for the Mountain Bike! Hard cap of 225 on each Cat. The Mountain Bike event WILL CLOSE when the combined number in each group for a particular Cat reaches 225 OR on August 19, 2013.

When and Where is Packet and Chip pick up now?

Thursday Aug 22 - 4 to 8 PM in our standard place, the hall in between the ride number pickup and the road race number pickup. Mountain Bikers, Triple Threat and Trail Runners.
Friday Aug 23 – 9 AM to the start of the last Category. Mountain Bike packet and chip pickup ONLY will be across the Wichita River near the Start/Finish of the Mountain Bike Race which is at the Bridwell Ag Barn.
Friday Aug 23 – 1 to 10 PM in our standard place for the RUN ONLY!

WHAT? I don’t understand!!

Mountain Bikers, Triple Threat and Trail Runners can pick up packets and timing chips on Thursday Aug 22 from 4 to 8 PM. In the hall in between the ride number pickup and the road race number pickup If you are in town, PLEASE get your packet and chip on Thursday!
Friday Aug 23 - 9 AM to 4 PM If you are a Mountain Biker or Triple Threat athlete, walk across the Pedestrian bridge to the Bridwell Ag Barn
Friday Aug 23 - 1 to 10 PM If you are a TRAIL RUNNER ONLY you can get your packet and chip in the MPEC Center in the hall in between the ride number pickup and the road race number pickup.
DO NOT FORGET; THE MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE HAS NEW START TIMES AND START LOCATION! DO NOT MISS YOUR HEAT!

I want to sign up on site, can I do that?

For the 10 K or Half Marathon trail run, yes. For the Mountain Bike, no.

Why can’t I sign up for the Mountain Bike on site?

So we can email out a start list to all mountain bikers during race week. Most, if not all of the Categories will fill and close well before race week anyway.

Can I pre pay for my one day USA Cycling Mountain Bike license?

Yes! Please do! You will be able to choose that on the BikeReg page and on the paper entry.

How do I sign up for the Triple Threat?

To sign up for the two dirt events, the Mountain Bike and the Half Marathon Trail Run, go to https://www.bikereg.com/Net/18684 don’t forget to buy the USAC one day license on line too (if you don’t have a yearly), it will save time at packet pickup! Then go to https://www.bikereg.com/Net/17943 and sign up for the 100 mile ENDURANCE ride, NOT the race! Remember, Tandems are NOT allowed in the Triple, you can ride a tri bike, mountain bike, single speed, unicycle or high wheeler; heck, we don’t even care if you ride a loveseat mounted on bikes! You just may not ride in the RACE and you may not ride a Tandem.