GRAVITY SERIES CATEGORIES

General Gravity (DH, MX, DS) Series Rules

An annual NORBA license is NOT mandatory to race beginner, or sport, however, in order to receive an overall award in the Mountain States Cup Championship Series, you MUST purchase an ANNUAL NORBA license. Information on purchasing a license may be found at http://www.usacycling.org/

Cash and prize awards will NOT BE MAILED; you must be present on the podium at the awards ceremony to receive them.

Series points will be tabulated from beginner through pro in Gravity (downhill, 4X & Dual Slalom).  Racers will earn points for their best 8 of 10 races. Racers will receive points through 50th place.

In case of a tie in the season standings, the overall winner will be decided by the finishing place in the season finale. If the racers tie in the season finale (due to both missing the event), the tie will be broken by racers placing in the race previous to the season finale. If the racers tie in the race previous to the season finale, the next previous race will be used, and so on.

The Mountain States Cup will follow the NORBA competition guide.

The 2006 Mountain States Cup Gravity Series will feature five traditional downhill events, three 4X events and two dual slalom events.  For all 4X events all riders will qualify and race. Bracket assignment will take place based on a seeding run time, i.e.; fastest against slowest. The highest seed in each round will determine lane assignment. The top two in each heat will advance. Due to time constraints not all riders will qualify for dual slalom events. Qualifying numbers will be based on the number of registered riders in each class. Four riders must be present in a category for 4X & dual slalom or it may be combined with another category.

Dual Slalom Qualifying

Each rider will take one run on each course. The times will be combined and the overall time will be used to rank qualifiers. The number of qualifying riders is pased on the number of riders entered in each class:  

• 4-6 registered riders = 4 qualify
• 7-12 registered riders = 8 qualify
• 13-24 registered riders = 16 qualify
• 25-48 registered riders = 32 qualify
• 49+ registered riders = 64 qualify  

Gravity Teams (Junior, Open)

• Junior teams may be composed of men and women in any junior category but may not have non-junior riders.
• Open teams can be made up of both men and women and any skill or age category (excluding beginner).
• Teams must have a captain with a valid email address. Captains will be in charge of submitting the names of racers on their team. A link to the teams captains email address will be posted in the teams section of the MSC web site. In addition, the captain can submit a website address to be added to the teamsí roster page.
• Team member names, NORBA # and discipline (for all members) must be submitted via email or in writing at race day registration. Teams whose rosters are received after race #1 in Angel Fire will only receive points for the remaining races.
• Teams will be made up of only XC racers or gravity racers. If you want to have a team for both, please submit two rosters.
• Teams must be limited to a maximum number of 35 athletes
• Once a rider is submitted for a team, they cannot change to another team. If a rider is submitted for a team mid-season, only the races after the submission will count toward the team standings. A rider cannot be dropped from the team once they are added.
• A rider may be a member of one XC team and one DH team.
• Riders may upgrade during the course of the season. The team points will include points earned for all classes under which the team member raced.
• The overall team standings will be determined by taking the best 10 of 10 Mountain States Cup events for the XC and Gravity Championships.  There will be no drops for the Team Championship.
• The points standings will be calculated by taking the best five results per team for a given race. Teams will be awarded a maximum of 1000 points per race (5 first place finishes).

A word on sportsmanship:

Races like the Chile Challenge exist to provide a level playing field in which riders of like-ability are allowed to compete. At a few races last year there were a handful of riders who consistently looked at ways to circumvent the rules in order to gain a competitive advantage and higher placing in the results. Our take on this can pretty much be summed up as disappointment. People who cheat suck. So with that in mind, weíve come up with a few rules to protect the interests of the riders who still have their integrity intact.

Most of the DH course is marked. In the case of the Super-D, the corners are marked. In each case, the course is obvious to a reasonable person. Riders are expected to ride what is generally agreed upon to be the right course.

• Cutting corners is NOT allowed.
• Deviating from the agreed upon and obvious course in order to gain a competitive advantage is not allowed.
• Descending through a section because ìitís not taped, so it must be legalî is not allowed.

Riders identified as violating any of these rules or engaging in anything that the promoter or official interpret as a breach of these rules or sportsmanship in general will face sanctions ranging from disqualification from the discipline to disqualification from the entire Mountain States Cup Series and an official letter or reprimand submitted to USA Cycling.

The bottom line is, cheating is wrong. All those platitudes your parents told you when you were little? Like “Cheaters never win” and “Winners never cheat”? They were right. A win thatís dishonest isnít a win.