I'm not disputing the financials behind the race by any means, and I applaud your efforts to bring more kids into the sport. It's just been a long, long time since I've raced DH or any "officially" sanctioned event - is it normal to charge A/B/C-class racers the same entry fee when they don't get as much time out on the course? It doesn't strike me as a way to reach out to new adult racers.
Sure seems fun, though. I know I'd be shelling out the $35 and racing it on my .243 if I weren't already committed to this: http://bicyclebee.blogspot.com
Best of luck with the event, and thanks for stepping in on behalf of Krebs!
Thanks for the clarifications OSN. Yes, it's pretty typical to charge the same entry fee to all classes of adult racers, regardless of event length. For instance, at an XC or road race the Elite/Cat 1 will race longer than the entry categories but it's still the same entry fee for all. DH is a little bit different since the lower classes get to spend longer on the course for the same entry fee! Somehow though I'm not sure if that's really considered a bonus. I think we'd all prefer to rip the DH as quickly as possible, of course.
We're pretty dedicated on trying to reduce or completely eliminate the entry fees for kids though. For next year we'll look at what we can do about the entry fees for new racers wanting to give it a try, since this is part of our mandate too. It's always tough to be fair to everyone in a balanced way though.
The Bicycle Bee weekend sounds wicked - have a blast. Anyhow, have to hit the sack now since it's early rise and shine tomorrow to tape off the course and get everything set up for the 9am first start.
