Offering a richer prize pot next season, USA Cycling announced the 2008 Mountain Bike National Calendars on December 19, 2007. Between the three racing calendars — Cross-country, Gravity and Ultra Endurance — more than $150,000 is available.

The National Calendar concept was introduced in 2007 to provide mountain-bike athletes across the country with consistent national-level racing in their chosen discipline.

The 2008 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Cross-Country Calendar welcomes eight new events and features four UCI-sanctioned races and the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships. The calendar begins in early spring with the 20th Annual Keyesville Classic in Lake Isabella, California on March 15-16 and concludes seven months later with the Piney Hills Fall Classic in Ruston, Louisiana on 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, Colorado, the Massanutten Hoo-Ha in McGayhesville, Virginia, the East Coast round of the National Mountain Bike Series in Windham, New York, the Full Tilt in Telluride, Colorado the Ladies Loppet in Callaway, Minnesota, the Tamarack NMBS in Idaho and the Fall Classic in Breckenridge, Colorado

Races that offer international ranking points as part of the UCI Calendar include the Fontana National in California and the Deer Valley National in Park City, Utah – both UCI Category-1 events. Category-2 UCI races in 2008 include the NOVA NMBS in Fountain Hills, Arizona and the Santa Ynez NMBS in Los Olivos, California. Also recognized as a Category-1 event on the 2008 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Cross Country Calendar is next year’s USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships at Mount Snow Resort in West Dover, Vermont. The national championships also provide athletes with the opportunity to accumulate international ranking points.

Ten races are featured on the 2008 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Gravity Calendar – four of which are also on the UCI Calendar. Four of the ten races are also new to the National Calendar.

The National Gravity Calendar also opens with the Keyesville Classic in March before concluding with the Whiteface Third Annual 5k Downhill in Wilmington, New York. on August 31. New events include the Keyesville Classic as well as the Sol Survivor in Sol Vista, Colorado, the Third Annual Capital Cup at Wisp in McHenry, Maryland and the Sol Squared, also in Sol Vista, Colorado.

Three events – the Chile Challenge, the Blast the Mass and the Keystone Classic – are part of the UCI Calendar, while the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships also offer UCI points to competitors.

After featuring six events last season, the 2008 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Ultra-Endurance Calendar will include eight races. Added to the calendar next season are two national championship events – the USA Cycling Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships in Breckenridge, Colorado on July 4 and the USA Cycling 24-Hour Mountain Bike National Championships in Wausau, Wisconsin, Aug. 2-3. The last event on the Calendar – the Shannon Ridge Showdown in Clear Lake Oaks, California, Oct. 18-19 – is also new. Once again the Calendar begins with the Mas o Menos 100k in Terlingua, Texas, Feb. 14-16.

“The 42 events on next season’s National Calendars represent the best off-road races in the United States in terms of organization, prize lists and prestige,” explained Kelli Lusk, USA Cycling’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 sizeable 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, mountain-cross, super-D and dual slalom events. Ultra-endurance Calendar races will feature marathons, 100-kilometer, and 12- and 24-hour competitions.

MARCH
15-16 - 20th Annual Keyesville Classic, Lake Isabella, California (XC, ST)
30 - Chickasaw Trace Classic, Columbia, Tennessee (XC, ST)
30 - Fontana NMBS, Fontana, California (XC, ST) (C1)

APRIL
6 - NOVA NMBS, Fountain Hills, Arizona (XC, ST) (C2)
12-13 - Mountain States Cup #1, Fruita, Colorado (XC, ST)
27 - Greenbriar Challenge, Frederic, Maryland (XC)

MAY
3-4 - Idyllwild Spring Challenge, Idyllwild, California (XC, TT)
18 - Stump Jump 2008, Spartanburg, South Carolina (XC)
8 - Santa Ynez Valley NMBS, Los Olivios, California (XC, ST) (C2)
23-26 - Mountain States Cup #3/Chile Challenge, Angel Fire, New Mexico (XC)

JUNE
1 - 14th Annual Bump & Grind, Birmingham, Alabama (XC)
1 - Massanutten Hoo Ha, McGaheysville, Virginia (XC)
14-15 - Subaru Cup, Mt Morris, Wisconsin (XC, Stage)
22 - Dawg Dayz MTB Classic, North Little Rock, Arkansas (XC, ST)
23 - Deer Valley NMBS, Park City Utah (XC, ST) (C1)
11-13 - Mountain States Cup #6 / Blast the Mass, Snowmass, Colorado (XC)

JULY
12 - NMBS at Windham Mountain, Windham, New York (XC)
17-20 - USAC MTB National Championships, West Dover, Vermont (XC, ST) (C1)

AUGUST
1-3 - Mountain States Cup #8, Telluride, Colorado, (XC, HC)
30-31 - NMBS Finals, Tamarack, Idaho (XC, ST)

SEPTEMBER
6-7 - The Fall Classic, Breckenridge, Colorado (XC, ST)

OCTOBER
25-26 - Piney Hills Classic, Ruston, Louisiana (XC)

MARCH
15-20th - Annual Keyesville Classic, Lake Isabella, California (DH)

MAY
30 - Mountain States Cup / Angel Fire, Angel Fire, New Mexico (DH, MX, DS) (C2)

JUNE
6-8 - Mountain States Cup #4, Sol Vista, Colorado (DS, MX)
20-22 - 3rd Annual Capital Cup at WISP, McHenry, Maryland (DH, DS)

JULY
12-13 - Mountain States Cup Blast the Mass, Snowmass, Colorado (DH, MX, DS) (C1)
17-20 - US National Championships, West Dover, Vermont (DS, DH) (C1)

AUGUST
1-3 - Mountain States Cup / Full Tilt, Telluride, Colorado (DH, DS)
15-17 - Mountain States Cup / Keystone, Keystone, Colorado (DH, DS) (C2)
29-31 - Mountain States Cup Gravity Finals, Sol Vista, Colorado (DH, DS)
31 - Whiteface 3rd Annual Downhill 5k, Wilmington, New York (DH)

FEBRUARY
14-15 - Mas o Menos 100km, Terlingua, Texas (marathon)

MAY
2-3- Dirt Sweat & Gears, Fayetteville, Tennessee (12 hr)

JUNE
21 - Cowbell Challenge, Charlotte, North Carolina (12 hr)

JULY
4 - USNational Marathon Championships, Breckenridge, Colorado (marathon)
26 - Galena Grinder, Ketchum, Idaho (marathon)

AUGUST
2-3- US 24 Hour National Championships, Wausau, Wisconsin (24 hr)

SEPTEMBER
20-21 - Payson Stampede, Payson, Arizona (24 hr)

OCTOBER
18-19 - Shannon Ridge Showdown, Clear Lake Oak, California (16 hr)