As El Niņo continues to wreak havoc upon various mountain zones, we thought this an opportune moment to preview another exciting season of downhill, dual and cross-country mountain bike racing in the U.S. and around the world.

In contrast to the myriad of governing bodies and tours in a sport like snowboarding, mountain bike racing is relatively easy to follow; there's a NORBA (National Off-Road Bicycle Association) tour to determine the U.S. champ, and the UCI World Cup (WC) tour to determine the best riders in the world. Check out the '98-'99 season schedule.

The Mountain Zone will again be reporting on both tours this season, often with full multi-media cybercasts. Most of your favorite racers and teams compete in both tours which heavily overlap. So, rather than confuse everyone with two previews, we present this catch-all peek at the upcoming season.

The world cup holds two 8-round circuits that globetrot from March to September; downhill (with accompanying dual races) and cross country (XC). Although the races used to be held on the same weekend in the same place, they're now split up to provide the best possible courses for these two vastly different disciplines. So, the XC tour kicks off in the lush rolling hills of Napa, California while the downhill (DH) tour begins on a steep mountain in Stellenbosch, South Africa, with XC terminating in Bromont, Quebec, Canada and DH in Japan. Two weeks after that the winner-take-all World Championships will be held in Canada's Mont Ste. Anne.

The NORBA (Check out last year's coverage) national series is confined to the United States and serves as training ground for the WC (Check out last year's coverage) and to pick our national champ and team, both of which represent us in the World Championships. The venues feature both DH and XC, fewer international racers and allow amateur competitors. For the first time in memory, no event will feature both WC and NORBA racing - a damn shame.

Right! Off we go then. Let's see what's in store for our intrepid racers, mechanics, managers and journalists as we pack our bags and head for the hills.

DOWNHILL: The Tour
The good news for WC downhilling this season is the addition of two more events, giving both the XC and DH riders eight events to contest. 1998 will see some awesome racing, not only because so many good riders are back, but also because so many good venues are on the tour. Teams begin in South Africa, where the course has been improved over last year's pedal-fest. A month later they go to the steep and hellish Nevegal, Italy before a quick jaunt to Les Gets, France.

After three weeks respite (unless they're doing the NORBA races in the Midwest), the racers hit the U.S. for Squaw Valley, CA.'s bobsled run in the snow and Snoqualmie, Washington's steep new course near Seattle. Then for NORBA contenders it's off to more snow in Mammoth, CA. for the legendary Kamikaze, the Deer Valley, Utah dirt and the return of Breckenridge, CO. before the WC picks up in Spain for stop six in Sierra Nevada. After the following week's race in Kaprun, Austria, some head for Mt. Snow's NORBA finals while others wait for the finals in Japan. All in all, a longer season with plenty of room for surprises and upsets.

The Buzz
Speaking of upset, two significant riders are out of contention. Word is Volvo-Cannondale's Myles Rockwell broke both his legs and GT's Steve Peat busted his hip. Their presence will be missed, as Corrado Herin tries to repeat his awesome season, Mike King tries to return to form and Nicolas Vouilloz concentrates on remaining injury-free to continue a stellar career. The battle between Missy Giove and Anne-Caroline Chausson should be epic as well this season as the remaining women set their sights on these two warriors.

Rider Roulette
While new signings are still underway, here's what we've pieced together at press time. Specialized has signed a partner-in-crime for the 'Palm in Kurt Voreis while Tara Llanes replaces Mikki Douglass in the DH. Dave Cullihan joins Schwinn full-time, Eric Carter joins GT and Tomac has left a Giant hole in Carson by starting his own team with Doug Bradbury (see the news archive). Giant, for their part, have taken that money and hired a whole squad which includes Toby "Hollywood" Henderson, Mammoth winner Jeremy Purdy and a host of Euros including Marcus Klausmann and Bas de Bever. Also give Giant style points for hiring the beautiful and friendly Nicole Grant. Speaking of lovely, April Lawyer joins the Fisher downhill squad on their buff new rig, Nolvenn Le Caer begins a full season for GT, Marla Streb hightails it to Yeti and Sunn- Nike plots their world domination. Finally, any rumors of Leigh Donovan or Brian Lopes bailing on Mongoose were, well, rumors. They (plus newcomer Ira Vick) will be happily piloting actual Mongoose-built orange-colored DH prototypes this season.

CROSS COUNTRY: The Tour
Cross country riders will have their hands and legs full (of lactic acid) this season, even though they'll have two less races to deal with. While some will warm up their quads in preseason events like the Tour of Hawaii, Cactus Cup and Sea Otter, the points race doesn't begin until the WC kickoff in Napa, CA.

After this sure-fire spectacle, racers take a few weeks off to get over to Silves, Portugal and the spring XC Euro events which include Hungary, Germany and England. Next up the NORBA riders come back stateside for the new-ish Seven Springs and Red Wing races in the heartland. Then it's off to Canmore, Canada for more WC action followed by Conyers, Georgia and some Hot'lanta humidity. Next, go west to Mammoth, Deer Valley and Breckenridge before taking time off for a trip back East to Mt. Snow's NORBA finals and Bromont's WC finals. A week of speaking French in Quebec leads up to the Worlds in Mont Ste. Anne in mid-September. Whew! - I'm bonked just thinking about it...

The Buzz
Lots of excitement this year on both sides of the gender gap as Paola Pezzo shifts focus to the Worlds, opening opportunities for the WC series. Look for Alison Sydor, Caroline Alexander and Gunn-Rita Dahle's return to prominence, Margarita Fullana's rise and no doubt some surprises from as-yet-unidentified new women on the circuit - tempered somewhat by the sad news that Juli Furtado officially retired from the sport in the off-season (see the news archive). We'll miss ya.

The men will have a battle royale on their hands as boy-wonders Cadel Evans and Miguel Martinez go at it, tailed closely by world champ Hubert Pallhuber and a host of other speedy guys like the maturing Michael Rasmussen and Kirk Molday and still-hungry Thomas Frischknecht and Rune Hoydahl.

Rider Roulette
Let's jump right in. Kona riders Dave Wiens and Lesley Tomlinson have moved over to the blonde and beautiful Polo Sport Team which says goodbye to Mark Howe while Marin's Kirk Molday is now a Trek-star. Trek also welcomes Junior World Champ Cecilia Potts for developmental racing. Diamonback still has its champ Hubert Pallhuber plus Beth Coats (finally!) and their own junior female in Katrin Bruell, but lost Cadel Evans to Volvo-Cannondale where he joins newcomers Andreas Hestler, Russian studette Alla Epifanova and a new blue look. Specialized snagged the white hot Margarita Fullana and Filip Meirhaeghe, while GT signed roadie-honch Raul Alcala. Finally, welcome to the new team on the block, Team Catera - sponsored by Cadillac and CNN Sports for Women. Golden Brainard will lead the charge to bring respect to manager Charles Aaron's otherwise shaky team.

So there you have it, everything but the whipped cream, which will have to wait until Mont Ste. Anne's disco party (we hope). The season's a long one, so set a bookmark and check in every Monday to see what's what. We'll have all the dirt worth dishing, all the quotes that were spoke and - if we're lucky - full results from the advanced timer's computers. Digital photos, RealAudio course previews and smarmy writing complete the package, so belly on up, sit on down and jack in...

—Ari Cheren, reporting for The Mountain Zone