Why are there lead motos during XC races?

A conversation with a lead moto driver at the MTB World Cup

Nearly every bike race has a lead motorcycle in front of the riders. This is more obvious in road racing, where motos and race vehicles are visible on TV. However, viewers watching MTB World Cup racers may not know that there are lead motos riding off-camera, just ahead of the pack of racers. 

I caught up with Ian Maynard, one of the moto drivers at the Lake Placid World Cup, just after the elite men’s XCO race. Read on to learn why they are out there and what it’s like riding a trials bike on an XCO course. 

What's your name and where are you from? 

Ian Maynard. I'm from Cortland, New York. 

What’s your job here today? 

We're here to cue the cameras. We're leading out ahead of both the XCM and the XCO races, and making sure that we're far enough ahead that we're not in camera shot but close enough to cue the cameras.

I didn’t realize it’s for the cameras 

It's a little bit for the cameras, a little bit for the marshalls. Just making sure everybody realizes that the riders are coming and they gotta get out of course, or get their cameras in focus.

You forget that there are lead motos, because you never see them on TV unless you're here

That's the number one goal. You talk to all the folks from Warner Bros., it's to make sure you're not in the camera shot. We got to be clear in these certain sections and keep a certain gap. 

Is it a fun job? 

It's fun. It's been an awful lot of work. We started back on Friday, doing our training for it, just making sure we understood where the course was going, and all those things. We led out the U23 XCO Saturday. Today we cleared the XCM course, starting at 5:45 this morning, headlights on our bikes and out in the dark and sunrise out on the trail.

Did you have any sketchy moments out there? 

In the dark was a little sketchy. We found every chuckhole, every pothole, every little bump and divot in the course. My hands are pretty well bruised up from that. We weren't able to avoid anything. 

The XCO course is very spicy. Those guys are coming down that hill so fast. We need to keep a small gap in front of them on the hills. That's no problem. When we start coming back down the hill, they turn on the afterburners. It's really hard to keep those trials bikes ahead of them. 

How tired are you right now? 

I'm okay. My legs are tired, my back’s tired, my hands are whipped.

Do you ride moto mostly in New York? 

Yeah, mostly in New York. I’ve trimmed back a bit from moto trials. I’m doing an awful lot more enduro mountain biking. My son and I started doing some local races recently. 

Do you watch the MTB World Cups? 

Mostly downhill. I pay attention to the XC stuff as far as standings and catch the replays, stuff like that. I try to pay attention to downhill stuff a little bit more. 

Any favorite riders? 

I’ve got a soft spot for Nino Schurter. He’s about my age. 

I heard there might be downhill here next year 

I heard the same rumors. I wouldn't be against it. I'd love to see Whiteface open up again.

Oh, is it not open for bikes? 

It hasn’t been open for six, seven years. There’s some really good stuff up there. They used to run some of the regional or national downhills and would run seven minutes on the course, so they’ve got some long courses and steep stuff. 

Thanks for the Interview, Ian! 

Note: Downhill at Lake Placid is on the schedule for 2025 but a venue has not been announced. 

Check out my previous coverage from the Lake Placid World Cup below.