Here at Mountain Bike Action we are especially close to Johnny O'Mara. The friendship dates as far back as the '70s when we raced against Johnny O at Indian Dunes. We watched as Johnny went on to become the top local pro. Then he went ballistic, winning the Mid Ohio 125 Grand Prix aboard a radical all white factory Mugen. The win had special meaning because at that time Americans, especially nuevo factory riders, weren't supposed to beat the World Champion. It was special to us because we knew the person who won.
AS THE WORLD TURNS
John was a real motocrosser. He trained as hard as Bob Hannah which was twice as hard as anyone else. It showed too. Honda saw it and immediately snatched John up. In classic O'Show style the Indian Dunes local went on to win the Supercross, 125 National and numerous Motocross des Nations Championships.
When his motocross career ended John didn't just kick back, spend his millions and waste away. He trained even harder and got back into one of his lifelong passions--cycling. For the past ten years Johnny has been a mainstay on the SoCal NORBA XC circuit.
He now has a lovely wife and daughter and races as a 40-44 Expert against a bunch of other family men. When it was announced early last year that NORBA would hold a one day National Championship, Johnny marked the date on his calender and trained towards it.
ANTICIPATION LEADS TO DISAPPOINTMENT
In our mind--and experience too--Johnny is one of the faster Experts around. We just couldn't wait to see how he did at Mammoth. It was just like the first time he showed up aboard a CR250 at a Saturday Saddleback Motocross. Like then we now wanted to see how he would do against the best competition in his class.
That's why we were especially disappointed to see that Johnny finished second at Mammoth. Scott Fifield beat John by exactly 01:02.00. This Fifield guy must be really good so we wanted to learn more about him. We found out that he's 40 years old, hails from Reno, NV and currently rides for Team Easty. He raced in 2000 as a 35-39 sport, raced as an Expert and placed 10th at the 2000 NCS finals, and then downgraded to a sport again at the start of 2001. Then he upgraded back up to expert and raced very successfully as a 35-39 expert through 2001, 2002 and half of 2003, winning three Nationals as well as finishing in the top five at numerous other NCS, Sea Otter and World Cup events.
With results like this it was little surprise to see Scott upgrade to semipro for the final two NCS events last year, placing in the top 15 in both. Fifield finished off 2003 by winning the semipro class at the Northstar at Tahoe Cal State Championships event. Then he downgraded back down to expert at the start of 2004, this time winning the Nova Desert Classic in the 40-44 class. After that he upgraded again and raced the semipro cross-country and short track classes at the Sonoma and Big Bear NMBS events, placing as high as sixth. Then he downgraded again in both class AND age group to finish second in the Expert 19-29 class at the Sky Tavern MTB Race in Reno. Next, he placed seventh as a semipro in the 2004 Northstar at Tahoe XC. Then he downgraded once again to beat Johnny at Mammoth.
SO WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL
Since Scott is 40 he's in the same age group as 43-year-old Johnny, what's the big deal? It's that in numerous places the NORBA rulebook says that you can't jump up and down class at will: First of all on page 11 it explains that a rider must finish in the top five at three NCS events just to become eligible for an upgrade to the semipro class. Then a special request for the upgrade needs to be made to NORBA. This means that you are specially recognized by NORBA as a semipro and are listed as a semipro on your NORBA license. Then on page 9--"Once a rider is classified, he or she will not be permitted to downgrade to a less difficult category. The upgrading of categories will be noted on the racing license by NORBA." On page 11 it says, "A rider who feels he/she has advanced too quickly may ask for reclassification by submitting a written request to NORBA identifying his/her results and reasoning." The point being is that it shouldn't be that easy for anyone to continuously jump up and down classification.
Finally, under the posted U.S. National MTB Championship FAQ: "Question--Can Junior and Master riders who are categorized as semipro or pro, 'race down' to their respective Expert categories in order to win the Junior Expert and Master Expert National Champion titles? Answer--No, Junior and Master Semi-pro and Pro riders will not be allowed to 'race down' to the Expert categories in order to win a title. Riders are to compete in the category in which they are categorized, qualified and licensed."
SO WHAT'S THIS ALL REALLY ABOUT?
We're not trying to dis Scott Fifield because he is obviously a very talented 40 year old. But so is Ned Overend a talented 49 year old. Instead of placing seventh in the elite class, why shouldn't Ned race 45-49 Expert to win a "National Championship". He didn't because you train up to the category that you have proven successful in. Johnny has trained to race the master expert class and that's what class his license says he should be in. For a one day championship to be successful we all need to police ourselves a little better and race in the class we should be in and the one NORBA has classified us in.
The Mammoth Expert 40-44 XC result is currently under appeal. But from what the NORBA rulebook tells us every rider finishing 2nd through 22nd should move up a spot. That would make the top five:
1. Johnny O'Mara...1:54:26.74...Canyon Custom Cycles
2. Den Satake...1:56:25.29...Team Tam
3. Chris De Frates...1:57:01.40...Dean Grass
4. Cully Todd...1:57:47.84...Cannondale
5. Jon Gould...1:57:48.48...IMT-BOC-WO
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