Welcome to the Team Rage Harpoon Mountain Bike Team

Want to try racing for the first time? Then we're the club for you. You won't find any uptight experts-only crowd here, just a bunch of people who love the sport. Sure we've got expert racers, but we've got just as many first-time and beginner racers as well. That's what makes our partnership with Harpoon unique.

In most bike clubs, you've got to show up, put up with the attitude, prove yourself and, until you're an expert rider, you've got no hope of getting race fees reimbursed. Team Rage - Harpoon stands for three basic things: Easy Access to the Sport of Mountain Biking, Athleticism (defined as sucking wind voluntarily) and Sportsmanship, and Respect of the Environment (we love our trails, heck, we love any trail, and would be happy to show you a few of our favorites.) So, come on out and race with us -- we've got the best post-race drink going -- New England brewed Harpoon.

For more info contact teaminfo@rageMTB.com

What we are all about

1. First off, we're horribly disorganized ;). That's rule #1. It's by design. If you want to know why, go to the Rage website and see an explanation of Rage. We're also volunteers, so you get what you pay for ;-)

2. We DON'T exist to be a team of serious racers. We DO exist to introduce the sport of mountain bike racing to ANYONE (That means first-timers, fast, slow, etc.) who wants to try it and to have FUN. This is what's attractive about being a part of this team and what's very attractive to sponsors (they want to see alot of jerseys out there advertising their products (ever notice that the spectator crowds for the Novice/Sport classes at most EFTA/NORBA races are 3x the size of the pro class crowds?). As long as you wear a jersey and get a slot, Harpoon agrees to pay for the entry (in fact, they've tripled their support since year one, so there's a lot more spots than when we started out). Does this sometimes attract people who are only in it for the reimbursement? Yeah, but we feel like the benefit outweighs that downside. Oh yeah, post-race tends to be a blast. The people on this team and in this club are some of the funniest, best looking people anywhere ;).

3. Well behind goal #2 is goal #3 -- provide a structured team to develop New England racers. This was Dougs idea and it's a great one. We hold a handful of slots for these people. We raised separate sponsorship for this, it's not a ton of money, so space (and support was pretty limited). There's not a ton of development in mountain bike racing, so we've taken it upon ourselves to create an opportunity for racers in this area at least. Last year, we took on two semi-pros and they won most of what they entered and became pros. Nate R. joined as a junior a couple of years ago, advanced to expert last year and will likely be a semi-pro by the end of the year. His little brother is right behind him. If you're interested in that, race well, place high and if the sponsorships continue and you'd like to give it a shot, grab me at a race sometime. What's the upshot of all this? You won't see slots filled first by the "best, most serious" riders in each class. You'll see a full spectrum of talent in each race. You won't see membership fees. You won't see tryouts. Hopefully, you'll have some fun. You might even meet a few Canadians ;)

How it Works

Read here for information about how Team Rage race signup and reimbursement works.

Team Spirit

Unsure whether Team Rage has team spirit? Ask these questions..

• Why would we sign up so quickly for races?
• Why would they ride together all the time?
• Why would there be little personal rivalries that are broadcast to the entire club?
• Why would they hang out in freezing wet cold weather all afternoon, hours after their own races are done, to cheer on their fellow racers?
• Why would they go to dinner together to celebrate a dreary, shitty day after having hung out with the same muddy tired sweaty stinky people for 12 bloody hours?

That's team spirit and friendship, and that's what makes up Team Rage.