The 2002 NORBA schedule has just been released with some noticeable changes. Mammoth has been left off due to the difficulty of working with and re-routing the race around the 20-million dollars of building done by Mammoth Mountain?s parent company, Intrawest. The Deer Valley race in Utah was eliminated because they could only schedule a race on UCI conflicting dates. The continued construction for the 2002 Olympics limited the times they could work with.
Two new race venues in East Troy, Wisconsin and Durango, Colorado have been added this season. The Wisconsin location boasts an unimpressive 388 feet of vertical rise. The downhill is estimated to have a finish time of around one-minute. NORBA race director, Eric Moore, promises to do everything in his power to make the short course interesting and entertaining for both riders and spectators. Wisconsin locals boast of an excellent cross-country riding area and the racesite is only an hour from Chicago and close to several major mid-west cities. This should be a great venue for the large number of cross-country racers in the center of the country. Durango is one of the most bicycle friendly cities in the country and offers some of the best non-race riding around. The Colorado venue should be similar to the courses used for last year?s World Cup.
Dual slalom may see some major changes this season. NORBA is considering using the popular and television friendly Mountaincross format to replace the Pro slalom class. There would be a completely separate course designed and set up for the Pro riders. Four people would be racing shoulder to shoulder at the same time. Amateur riders would still race a conventional format NORBA slalom with two separate lanes. The format is going to be voted on in about three weeks by the NORBA board. Mountain Bike Action heavily favors the Pro-only course. It?s time to step up both the course difficulty and possibility of television exposure.
There is also talk about adding sixth venue if a viable sponsor comes on board with the National Series. Although NORBA wouldn?t confirm the possible racesite, industry rumors indicate that it would be in Northern Idaho. Could it be Schweitzer Mountain Ski Area?
May 9-12: Snow Summit Mountain Resort (Big Bear Lake, California.)
June 13-16: Alpine Valley Resort (E. Troy, Wisconsin.)
June 20-23: Snowshoe Mountain (West Virginia)
August 1-4: Durango, Colorado
August 15-18: Mount Snow (W. Dover, Vermont.)
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