I got a flyer at the DDCX for a CX race @ Lysterfield at the end of the month, it says MTBA license is required. For DDCX a CA (road) license is required. I guess I’m lucky (or unlucky) enough to have both for road and mountain racing, but I think it kind of sucks for those who may just want to pursue CX racing for a while. One day or three licenses add up, so having an annual isn’t a bad thing, but for some folks, having a road and an MTB license might not make sense. So where does CX racing truly lie? As a road or mountain event?
Drop bars → Road 
CA requires commissaries, has better insurance coverage, more transparency due to race report submission requirements. I’d rather race a CA sanctioned event, but combining the licences would make life so much easier.
Disk brakes ----> MTB.
700C and </= 32mm —> Road.
Dirt —> MTB
Lycra and not baggy shorts —> Road
Oh, and:
I wear lycra and lycra shorts on my mtb blakey.
People smiling and generally having good time= MTB.
Is the MTBA UCI sanctioned? (apologies for the foolish question?) how do the MTB Nats work? do you need a CA licence to race MTB world cup events or is your MTBA licence valid?
I know that in Europe/US cross falls directly under the countries main cycling federation (which is also the one that runs road races, but might also run MTB - i’d need to check).
i agree its annoying and in SA there is a MTB club that is Cycling SA affiliated so apparently their membership gives them access to both races (someone jump in and correct me here).
at least its not the same as in the Us where 2 of the main cycling states (Oregon and Colorado) have their own cycling associations (ORBA and ACA) that isnt recognised by the CA-equivalent (USAC) and thus any races there arent counted towards your national points (which are used for start orders in bigger races like nationals).
For my mind its more of a road-based event (MTB appears not to apply equipment limitations like CX has, or not as stringent - again i could be wrong) and the courses come more from a road mindset rather than a MTB one.
Slinky was telling me my MTB cockpit setup is not uci legal, so I’d presume mtba has uci shit involved.
Yep MTB worlds are UCI run. As is BMX, Road, Cross, Artistic Cycling…
In Australia MTBA is the peak body, which is affiliated directly with CA (and hence the UCI). However the licenses are set up differently, with different insurance (not sure if this is a negotiated cost thing or a required thing - may have something to do with exposure and risk…)
In SA one of the major MTB clubs has just affiliated with MTBA, and Hence CA. They didn’t affiliate directly with Cycling SA.
That means however that if you have an MTBA license you can 'upgrade to a CA race license (to ride cross, road, track, crits).
You can go the other way too, eg have a CA license and ‘upgrade’ to a MTBA license (for only about $50 extra a year).
They are still different licenses, but due to the same insurer, and overarching body therefore are recognised by each other (hence the ‘upgrades’)
As fast as I can tell CX is generally run by the ‘roadie’ people world-wide, probably because it’s a roadie thing to do off-season. (just here in oz where everything is backwards, CX is peak road season…!)
we do our series through brunswick cycling club. brunswick cycling club is affiliated with CA. end of story.
i mean, you guys can go on talking if you like…
Brendan has spoken… /thread 
OK… to recap, depending on the venue, one will require a ROAD or MOUNTAIN license…
ftfy…