The Mountain Bike Calenders are not to be confused with the true Norba National Series which is put on by Team Big Bear and Blue Wolf Events. The Norba Nationals is the only U.S. series that the manufactures commit to and is the only string of races that consistently draws the big name factory riders. On the flip side, the mountain bike calendars are a hodgepodge mix of races that are linked together in a non-cohesive, year long schedule that no rider seriously considers competing from start to finish. It's a series that is ill-designed by Norba's parent roadie company USA Cycling. So do not confuse it with America's true mountain bike national series, the Norba's.
Here is the 2008 U.S. Calender announcement from America's roadie sanctioning body:
With more than $150,000 on the line to off-road cyclists next season, the 2008 Mountain Bike Calendars were announced today. After introducing the Calendar concept in 2007, the 2008 edition once again recognizes three separate calendars in order to provide mountain bike athletes across the country with consistent national-level racing in their chosen discipline.
The 2008 Mountain Bike Cross-Country Calendar welcomes eight new events and features four UCI-sanctioned races and the U.S. National Championships. The calendar begins in early spring with the 20th Annual Keyesville Classic in Lake Isabella, CA, March 15-16 and concludes seven months later with the Piney Hills Fall Classic in Ruston, LA, October 25-26.
New events on the 24 race Cross-Country Calendar include the Keyesville Classic as well as the Rabbit Valley Rampage in Fruita, CO, the Massanutten Hoo-Ha in McGayhesville, VA, the East Coast National in Windham, NY, the Full Tilt in Telluride, CO, the Ladies Loppet in Callaway, MN, the Tamarack, ID Norba National and the Fall Classic in Breckenridge, CO.
Races that offer international ranking points as part of the UCI Calendar include the Fontana Norba National in California and the Deer Valley Norba in Park City, UT--both UCI Category 1 events. Category 2 UCI races in 2008 include the NOVA Norba National in Fountain Hills, AZ and the Santa Ynez Norba National in Southern California. Also recognized as a Category 1 event on the 2008 U.S. Mountain Bike Cross-Country Calendar is next year's U.S. Mountain Bike National Championships at Mount Snow Resort in West Dover, VT in July. The National Championships also provide athletes with the opportunity to accumulate international ranking points.
Ten races are featured on the 2008 Mountain Bike Gravity Calendar; four of which are also on the UCI Calendar. Four of the ten races are also new to the Calendar. The Gravity Calendar also opens with the Keyesville Classic in March before concluding with the Whiteface Third Annual 5k Downhill in Wilmington, NY on August 31. New events include the Keyesville Classic as well as the Sol Survivor in Sol Vista, CO, the Third Annual Capital Cup at Wisp in McHenry, MD and the Sol Squared, also in Sol Vista, CO.
Three events --the Chile Challenge, the Blast the Mass and the Keystone Classic--are part of the UCI Calendar, while the U.S. Mountain Bike National Championships also offer UCI points to gravity competitors.
After featuring six events last season, the 2008 Mountain Bike Ultra-Endurance Calendar will include eight races. Added to the Calendar next season are two national championship events: the U.S. Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships in Breckenridge, CO on July 4 and the U.S. 24 Hour Mountain Bike National Championships in Wausau, WI, August 2-3. The last event on the Calendar, the Shannon Ridge Showdown in Clear Lake Oaks, CA on October 18-19 is also new. Once again the Calendar begins with the Mas O Menos 100k in Terlingua, TX, Feb. 14-16.
"The 42 events on next season's Calendars represent the best off-road races in the United States in terms of organization, prize lists and prestige," explained Kelli Lusk, the roadie USA Cycling governing body's newly-appointed Mountain Bike Events and Program Director. "With races in 19 states and all regions of the country, we've managed to once again put together a sizable series-long calendar that provides elite athletes with top quality racing across all disciplines of competitive mountain biking."
Once again, athletes will accumulate points over the course of the season as they pursue overall titles in six categories. The Cross-Country Calendar will again feature traditional Olympic-style cross-country races. Gravity Calendar events include downhill, 4-cross, Super-D and dual slalom events. Ultra-Endurance Calendar races will feature marathons, 100-kilometer, and 12 and 24 hour competitions.
In 2007, Georgia Gould (Ketchum, ID/Luna Chix) and Canadian Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) were crowned overall champions of the Cross-Country Calendar. Melissa Buhl (Chandler, AZ/KHS) and Australian Jared Graves (Yet--Fox) took home Gravity Calendar titles. Nat Ross (Golden, CO/Subaru-Gary Fisher) and Rebecca Rusch (Ketchum, ID/Red Bull-Specialized) claimed overall victories in the Ultra-Endurance Calendar.
For the complete 2008 Calendars, hit up the corresponding links:
Mountain Bike Cross-Country Calendar
http://www.usacycling.org/forms/mbnc/MTBNatzCalendar_XC.pdf Mountain Bike Gravity Calendar
http://www.usacycling.org/forms/mbnc/MTBNatzCalendar_Gravity.pdf Mountain Bike Ultra-Endurance Calendar
http://www.usacycling.org/forms/mbnc/MTBNatzCalendar_UltraEndurance.pdf