Section difficulty...how should we set them?

[sting32]

....one of the strange things I have noticed re section make-up/obstacle difficulty is the "visual impact aspect". What i mean is that I often see folks look for that "perfect rock" that really looks cool when cleaned and they will bypass more natural terrain issues that dont appear as impressive (but are often just as difficult/require just as much skill) -- creek sections with multiple 1' ledges in succession are just as challenging as that lone 4' step. Also, these natural obstacles often tend to be easier on bikes (and bones)! We have an older Gentleman in our club that can set up sections with "traction issues in the midst of difficult turns" that are a blast to ride...but i hear folks gripe about them (scoring a 3) and ask were they can go jap zap.

I scored at a National event and actually had guys punch out of my section beacse it was a wet/muddy/boggy mess...muttering they werent going to ger their bikes dirty. Oh well....I'm just an old fart.

"nationals" have to be not withstanding in this discussion, unlike a club event (mostly) because the draw/intent of a national or regional is the better riders from all the classes, travel more or less to go to compare abilities, hoping to "win". Plus there are the handfulls that have money & will travel just to have fun and be there... When i was not great in whichever class i participated in, throughout the years, I used such events as "learning opportunites" and sure wouldnt complian about difficulty at the time. I punched out on 2 sections at Oklahoma's nationals on 2010, mostly because hopes of the 15+ dabs to save a 3, would make section after it at risk of a 5 due to exhaustion... sometimes a loss of 2 points(scoring total difference of 3 vs 5) can be gained or save a loss of 5 points later, in a section I had a chance to get through.

Any club that has killer novice sections has some other problem, most likely "sandbagger central syndrome". if people are in novice long enough that you have to challenge them with high amature sections, is messed up. Novice is about turns, balance, grades, off camber turns (slight), and logs or rocks no bigger than a regular railroad tie, and as previously mentioned rocky creeks or gulleys that are mild of course. However it is NOT totally unusuall to see harder (not more dangerous) sections by September, because maybe there are 2 or 3 guys in that class battling it out.

Something else you have to tell the riders at every meet is (we do) YOU DO NOT HAVE TO ATTEMPT SECTIONS THAT LOOK TOO DIFFICULT!... there is no honor lost to punch out on a section, when you start trails. i have actually started a couple guys prematurely one summer, and one had more trouble on the loop than I could have imagined. a couple sections were on the hard side.

I had to judge so didnt know he'd had that much trouble just riding from section to section, let alone the section. I finally caught up on the action and the rider and re explained that he should not attempt those sections that looked evil. He said it wasnt evil, but it was harder than he though, and fell down long before the "problem" he thought was at. still it was nothing like falling off a MX bike at 40+ mph not negotiating a whoop or a turn...

Edited January 21, 2011 by Sting32