Bike Races Level 1 -50

Bike Races in GTAO are neatly divided into Ranked Sets, with the following having been added to the game (so far):

Ranked Bike Race Distribution

The Bikes that are available for the choosing for most of the races include the following:

For the bicycle races the following bikes are available to you:

Racing Solo

Sometimes you are going to find that the other players on your server do not want to race the race you have picked -- if that happens you can still race it solo -- perhaps to try for a better record time? You don't get as much RP/XP as you do with other players racing, and you get no money or Job Points (JP).

On the other hand you do get the opportunity to learn the course and that will help a lot when you do find players willing to race.

A Sign of Things to Come

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 8

Players: 1 to 8

Area: Vinewood Hills

Distance: 3.11 Miles.

From the stars to the gutter -- a motorbike point-to-point corkscrewing down the from the famous sign in Vinewood to the gates of Boilingbroke Penitentiary in the Grand Sonora Desert.

Hints and Tips: While this is not one of the longest routes for racing it is on the north side of medium, and it features a mixture of surfaces that makes picking a Sanchez (either the Livery version if you own it or the bog standard Sanchez) an obvious choice.

About at the midway point of the race there is a section of terraced hills in which you get some big air -- not a jump that will be very comfortable (or easy) on a crotch-rocket. Just saying. There are two sections of paved road that will present traffic in both directions, so some care needs to be taken there.

Against the Grain

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 40

Players: 1-4

Area: Mount Chilliad

Distance: 0.82 Mile

Challenging figure of eight track through the seaside farms, fields, and other immigrant labor exploitation spots outside Paleto Bay in Northern Southern San Andreas. Lap race on dirt bikes.

Hints and Tips: This is a very short race and an easy one to get confused on as to the route -- which stays on the dirt farm road even if it looks like it should go out onto the highway along the back edge of the course (it never does).

When you get to the turn in from where the track runs along the highway you are best served by slowing down and taking that easy because that turn has some obstructions (posts) and it is wicked easy to end up knocked off of your bike by them or otherwise wrecked - so slowing down and making the turn carefully is preferable don't you know?

Once you get the hang of that one tricky turn the rest is pretty straight-forward.

Foot-power or is it leg power? Either way it is a challenging bicycle race through downtown Los Santos!

American Cycle

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 1

Players: 1 to 4

Area: San Andreas

Distance: 0.81 Mile.

From a towering symbol of Federal control, the FIB Headquarters, to evidence of 'great' individual freedom, Ammu-Nation. Bicycle point-to-point through Downtown LS with some jumps.

Hints and Tips: This race starting point is on the upper deck in the entrance area of the FIB Building, so you want to take the ramp up and park in the sidewalk or in the street and hoof it the short distance to the flagging point.

As noted in the description this is a Bicycle Race, and NOT a motorbike race. Sweet right? Hopefully you obtained a reasonable skill on bikes when you did the Triathlons in the single player mode, but if not, well, learning as you go always works!

As you begin the race remember to keep an eye on your stamina so you don't run it into the red.

The first jump is some serious air, but all of the jumps after that are modest in comparison. Bear in mind that immediately following the first jump you do a vicious U-turn to the left into the opening. After that the route is pretty clean and easily followed.

Art to Art

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 1

Players: 1 to 8

Area: Pacific Bluffs

Distance: 2.70 Miles.

Point-to-point motorbike race through North-Western Los Santos, starting above the city at the Kortz Center, and finishing in the heart of old downtwon, Legion Square.

Hints and Tips: This is a street race so picking a street class or cafe racer is the obvious choice. While you will face light traffic in both directions, this is really a race against yourself in that the racer who makes the least mistakes is the one who will likely win, assuming that the entire field is running on similar rides.

About midway through the race you come to a point where you go through the open atrium in the center of a building, hitting a small ramp on the near side. You get air here if you are moving at anything like a respectable speed -- which can be bad because on the other side of that air you need to change direction (turn left) and you land in the street...

It seems like about a 50/50 chance that you will get snagged by traffic coming out of that air, so you have to decide whether you want to be conservative and slow down to get just a little air (and thus more control over the bike, and the ability to gracefully change direction for that sharp left turn you need to make), and thus avoid tossing the dice as to whether a burb box plows you down in the street.

Barnstorming

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 15

Players: 1-4

Area: Grapeseed

Distance: 0.97 Mile.

When not cooking crank or sleeping with their sister, the O'Neill brothers set up obstacle courses... apparently. Point-to-point for bicycles through their ranch in Grapeseed farmland. Jumps...

Hints and Tips: The trick to winning this one is to avoid the obstructions that can get in your way and keep a very close eye on your stamina. Burst over the jumps by pumping but on the straight and level just ride.

Bike Race: Cream of the Crop

Cream of the Crop

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 1

Players: 1 to 8:

Area: Grapeseed

Distance: 2.07 Miles

Lap race around the farms, fields, moonshine stills, and meth labs of rural Blaine County. Flat motorbike track circling Grapeseed with road and off-road sections.

Hints and Tips: Due to a few tricky turns and the way that the route runs, this is a race you will greatly benefit from running solo a few times before trying to compete with other players in it. Being familiar with the route will really -- really -- help you.

Cult Following

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 25

Players: 1-8

Area: Chiliad Mountain State Wilderness

Distance: 1.90 Miles

If you think the way up to the Altruists is dangerous, try this treacherous path down from their camp. Hold onto the foothills of Mount Chilliad all the way to Cassidy Creek in Raton Canyon. Watch out for the perilous cliff-edge turns after emerging from the long tunnel leading out to the Alamo Sea. Point-to-point race for dirt bikes.

Hints and Tips: The trick to this track is to remember to use the brakes and try very hard NOT to allow yourself to get major air. Getting air is what tends to mess you up on this very tight and twisty track.

Cycle Path

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 1

Players: 1 to 4

Area: Del Perro

Distance: 1.00 Mile.

Every Los Santos tourist has to take a bike ride along the beach from Del Perro to Vespucci. Point-to-point follows the cycle path and cuts inland. Passes Muscle

Hints and Tips: The description makes this sound like a pleasant ride along the beach, but we hardly think the typical tourist will be seeking out the ramps and jumps found here!

The fact that some of the jumps are actually functional (meaning there are obstacles past them that require a bit of speed and effort) you will want to conserve at least some of your Stamina for an extra boost to the pedals for them.

While you do spend a bit of time on the actual bike path, you also spend more than a bit off of the path in the sand and, as mentioned, making some fun jumps.

Keep an eye on the Stamina, and for the parts where you are on the path, simply hold down the A button rather than pumping it to recover some Stamina in between the sandy areas and the jumps.

Free Fall

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 18

Players: 1-8

Area: Grand Senora Desert

Distance: 2.50 Miles.

Lap race going up and down the Blaine County side of the Vinewood Hills. Dirt bike point-to-point featuring road and off-road sections, and a large jump.

Hints and Tips: This is a fairly tough run mostly due to the terrain -- rarely do we suggest that you try a route a few times solo before you try to race others on it, but this is such a route. Play it solo to learn its quirks before you try to play with others and it will be a lot easier on you.

Bike Race: Going Down

Going Down

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 18

Players: 1-8

Area: Great Chaparral

Distance: 4.63 Miles.

Motorbike race starting in the narrow canyon roads of chichi Rockford hills, and ending in wide boulevards of scuzzy Downtown Vinewood. Point-to-point with an opportunity to take flight.

Hints and Tips: This is a long course that winds through a mixture of narrow suburban streets and then on to busy city streets then back to suburban - and along the way this race that seems to go on forever exposes you to a lot of obstacles, oncoming traffic, and things that will catch you and knock you off of your bike if you are not careful and paying attention the entire run.

Basically you are riding a crotch-rocket (cafe racer) through a route that takes you through some of the busiest streets in the city - so you have to drive defensively -- and the route that the course takes is not always clear, so it is a good idea for this race to get in the habit of glancing at the radar map to see which splits are coming and the direction you will need to go.

That all may sound like common sense but, if you are not prepared to be doing it, you will easily lose this race. And that would be a shame because we didn't come here to lose.

Horse Power

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 35

Players: 1-8

Area: San Chianski Mountain Range

Distance: 0.98 Mile

Dirt bike race through the O'Neil Ranch in rural Grapeseed. Quick and dirty just like the crank cooked there. Short laps and a jump.

Hints and Tips: The ride for this race is locked into the Sanchez Dirt Bike - which is good since the course pretty much requires it -- though I have been in races where you would think that the course required a dirt bike and then watched helplessly as an opponent on a street bike wiped up the floor with the rest of us and our dirt bikes... Thankfully that is not going to happen here as everyone will be racing on the same ride!

The first thing to note is that this is a short course -- a single lap is less than a mile -- and the real trick to this one is figuring out where to turn! Seriously, several of the turns (and this course is basically a bunch of sharp turns with a few straight sections thrown in so you know where the turns aren't) look like the could be made early but, if you do you end up either blocked off of the path or knocked off of your bike.

The best approach you can take is to be conservative about turning into an area you can't see - slowing down is better than getting knocked off of your bike. Just saying.

In the Pipeline

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 15

Players: 1-16

Area: Pacific Bluffs

Distance: 4.28 Miles

From Vespucci Beach to Chumash, tour some of Los Santos' stretches of coastline with this sixteen rider dirt bike point to point. Starts at the Pipeline Inn and goes inland.

Hints and Tips: This is not a short race but it is one of the races where you need to remember that half the battle (and half way to winning) is making fewer mistakes than your opponents. This is certainly a race where you are racing against your opponents AND yourself!

What I mean by not making mistakes can fill volumes -- but for this race there is a short list of mistakes that can easily cost you the race and many of them are not your fault!

The race starts out on the beach, and then takes you through the city, then back roads, then through a drainage canal and back onto the beach. Throughout that course there are a number of common elements that count as mistakes. At two points you will be crossing a traffic lane - and there is no way to know what is coming or how fast, so getting past those two threat-zones is mostly luck.

Remember that the brakes on this model bike are not at all responsive -- so you will want to break early as otherwise you risk hitting a T-intersection and being dismounted due to too high as speed preventing you from making the turn. There are a number of blind corners and hill pops that can easily see you plowing into the back of a car.

When you hit the drainage canal near the end of the race there are rocks and boulders you can get hung up on that can dismount you! In addition to that, if you stray too far to the left or right you hit pop-ups in the bushes that can easily either dismount you or worse, send your bike on a diverted path that will cost you time getting back on the route.

These are examples of the mistakes that you want to not make -- I know them all because I have made them :)

Mixed mode racing always poses the question Street Bike or Moto? I chose Moto

Into the Lights

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 1

Players: 1 to 8

Area: Vinewood Hills

Distance: 1.95 Miles.

Take a path down the North face of the Vinewood Hills going from Galileo Observatory to the Redwood Lights Motocross Track. Point-to-point motorbike race with off-road and paved sections.

Hints and Tips: This is a very simple dirtbike race that has no surprises, just a few tight turns. That being the case the race is really against yourself -- as in try to make as few mistakes as possible so that you win instead of place.

Off the Rails

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 8

Players: 1 to 8

Area: Mount Chiliad

Distance: 2.82 Miles.

Starting near the Procopico Truck Stop in Northern Blaine County, race along the railway to Humane Labs and Research on the Eastern Coast. Point-to-point motorbikes.

Hints and Tips: The only area in this race that is challenging is following the markers, as they do not really indicate very well when you are about to leave the track, and one of the sharper turns can easily be over-shot. Try to use the radar dots as well as the arrows to tell when a change is coming.

On the Trail

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 15

Players: 1-8

Area: Cassidy Creek

Distance: 2.20 Miles.

A tour through San Andreas Wilderness at its best. Go from Raton Canyon to Paleto Bay with this motorcycle point-to-point on dirt tracks, river beds, highways, and beaches.

Hints and Tips: This is not a forgiving course when it comes to mistakes, and it has enough things that can kill you that you really have to stay in tight control pretty much the entire way. It is certainly a course you would do well to run solo a few times to learn its quirks before racing with others.

On Yer Bike

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 8

Players: 1 to 8

Area: Vinewood Hills

Distance: 1.58 Miles

Eight rider bicycle descent from the Vinewood sign to Vinewood itself. Pick up serious speed in the road and off-road sextions, and get some air on the large jumps.

Hints and Tips: This is a straight mostly downhill or level run to the city and at the very end it has a double set of ramps you need to jump so save some of your Stamina for those! That will probably be a bit of a challenge since you are competing

Bike Race: Peak Performance

Peak Performance

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 25

Players: 1-4

Area: Mount Chilliad

Distance: 1.61 Miles

Dominate this steep descent from the peak of Mount Chilliad to the side of the GOH. Point-to-point bicycle race.

Hints and Tips: First of all, just getting to this if you don't use the tram up the mountain should be worth serious money and RP.. Bleh! This is a very VERY tough route - you will be well-served by trying it solo BEFORE you try to race it. The path is narrow and fraught with danger - just saying!

For the first 2/3 of the race you are going down narrow paths so do NOT pump - just focus upon riding and staying on course - you can pump going uphill, but otherwise coast or hold A. Save your stamina until you reach the wider road section, and then go all-out since that will be where your stamina is best used, and is near the end anyway.

Pit Lane

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 15

Players: 1-8

Area: Davis Quartz

Distance: 0.44 Mile.

Short circuits around Davis Quartz Quarry in Blaine County. Lap race jumping between paths at different heights on dirt bikes.

Hints and Tips: This is a very short lap quarry race which means you want to be very careful not to make a mistake that sends you off the path and down a level or two towards the center because that right there will cost you the race.

Don't rely on the fact that there are three laps to this to get you thinking you can recover from a mistake - they are three very brief laps and so dropping down more than one level in the quarry will pretty much cost you the race.

Obviously you cannot take this slow because you have to compete with the competition -- if you are lucky they will make the mistakes and you won't - and then again you can try to make a little of your own luck by helping the competition to fall down a level or two (grin)....

Power Trip

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 1

Players: 1 to 16

Area: Ron Alternates Wind Farm

Distance: 2.52 Miles

Up to sixteen riders can take part in this motorbike race from the Ron Alternates Wind Farm to the Land Act Dam. Point-to-point with off-road and road sections.

Hints and Tips: This is one of those situations in which using the correct tool for the job is strictly to your benefit, so selecting a dirt bike as opposed to a street bike, cruiser, or a cafe racer is not just a good idea but a necessary one.

The track that you are racing here is ill-suited for a crotch-rocket and the one thought that came to mind when trying to race it on anything other than one of the dirt bikes was that death was constantly close at hand. Flipping off of your ride and going rag-doll down the side of a mountain or hill will make you just as dead as being shot by a gang-banger. Just saying.

The only other caveat is that several sections of the route include slow-moving farm traffic (think tractors) so care must be taken when you initially transition onto pavement.

Quick Getaway

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 25

Players: 1-8

Area: Rockford Hills

Distance: 4.06 Miles.

Like some crooks in a hurry, take motorbikes off the Del Perro Freeway, through the metro tunnel excavation, and into the channel of the LS River. Largely subterranean point-to-point race.

Hints and Tips: This is a tough course with a lot of level-changes and obstructions and it is NOT forgiving of mistakes. You will benefit by racing it several times solo before you try to race it with others.

Redwood Light District

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 1

Players: 1 to 8

Area: Redwood Light Track

Distance: 1.12 Miles

Fulfill your childhood dreams of competing on the Redwood Lights Motocross Track. Lap race on dirt bikes with multiple jumps.

Hints and Tips: This is one of the neatest track routes in the game for motorbikes mostly because it was laid out very much like real motoX tracks are created. There are lots of jumps, twists, and turns, and several of the points in which you will get major air happen to be AT turns.

What that means is you will need to get used to changing direction while in the air -- not something that really comes natural but by the time you learn this track well enough to finish in first place, it will!

Saddle Up

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 20

Players: 1-4

Area: Vinewood Hills

Distance: 1.31 Miles.

Bicycle point-to-point around East Vinewood. Pass the casino, racetrack, and soccer pitch. On road and off-road sections.

Hints and Tips: This race is so long that it is critical that you reign in the use of your stamina to save it for jumps and the rare uphill sections, trying to conserve as much as possible for the final push at the end once you approach the river.

Bike Race: Scale the Heights

Scale the Heights

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 1

Players: 1 to 4

Area: El Burro Heights

Distance: 1.49 Miles

Mainly off-road descent for bicycles through the oil fields of El Burro Heights in East Los. Point-to-point on the dirt track overlooking the city.

Hints and Tips: The biggest issue you will face with this race is in having the Stamina you need to not only keep pace with the competition, but also to have when you need to burn it at the half-dozen ramps that are actually functional in the sense that you need to be going fast enough to clear the obstructions beyond them!

Because of that you are best off holding off on doing this one until you have built up some Stamina, Strength, and Lung Capacity. Seriously -- the mixture of rough and resistant surfaces (sand and grass) and the jumps will keep you pumping to keep up with the competition and clear the jumps, so having as much of all three as you can manage is necessary in order to have any chance of winning this let alone finishing in the pack.

Staying on Track

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 1

Players: 1 to 8

Area: Cypress Flats

Distance: 1.09 Miles

Track winding and weaving through the alleys, lots, and lanes of Industrial East Los Santos. Lap race on motorbikes.

Hints and Tips: This is a very tight race with lots of sharp turns and narrow choke points which makes it a very challenging race. There is very little that you can do to get the odds in your favor due to the tight and narrow openings other than try to keep the other racers at a distance.

Sundae Driving

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 1

Players: 1-8

Area: Vespucci Canals

Distance: 0.94 Mile

Short looping race around the Vespucci Beach Promenade and nearby roads. Suitable for all motorcycles, tourists, and wackos.

Hints and Tips: Another very short lap race with each lap coming in at just under a mile, and the environment for the course being a mixture of street and boardwalk, which means your obstacles are basically traffic and then humans!

Another issue that you must contend with for this race is that there is a wide selection of bikes and bike types available! If you pick a slower bike with more control and traction, as sure as God made little green apples the competition is going to pick crotch-rockets and wipe the floor with you. Just saying, you have to find a balance that does not compromise you - and there is such a thing as too fast, you should remember that as well!

I have had really good luck with the Pegassi Bati 801 on this course but YMMV... I find that this thing corners like it is on a rail, which is good.

The Dam Before the Storm

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 30

Players: 1-4

Area: Land Act Reservoir

Distance: 2.06 Miles

Challenging dirt bike point to point. Hold it together on this steep descent from the top of the Land Act Dam to the basin of the LS River in East Los Santos.

Hints and Tips: I found this one to be a nasty race -- it is just long enough to allow you to make a lot of mistakes and just short enough so that if you are lucky and don't make a lot of mistakes you stand a good chance of winning - particularly when your opponents DO make mistakes :)

At least part of the problem is the series of very abrupt environmental changes on the route for this race. You won't understand what I mean by that until you actually race this route but, once you do, you will really appreciate the impact of the phrase "abrupt environmental changes!"

So here is my infinite wisdom with regards to this race: What I said before about it being just long enough for you to make a lot of mistakes -- well it is. And hopefully that will translate into it being just long enough for your opponents to make mistakes, but to be honest with you unless they have recently raced this course the chances are really very high that they will make mistakes - and because there are false-turns that you can make in this route that will essentially block you out of it, they can be really convenient mistakes :)

So here is the thing - in terms of the races typically encountered in GTAO this has to be one of the more complex routes, and in particular complicated in terms of the abrupt changes I was talking about above. So here is the best advice that I can five you short of suggesting you spend some solo time running and then re-running this course (which by the way is a very good idea and you should consider it):

There is nothing that will replace keen-eyed attention to what you are doing. There are several points in this course in which to follow the route you actually have to do moves that on the face of it seem insane.

It is one of those races where you have to force yourself to commit to a drop - for example the two drops into the canal -- when every sensible bone in your body is screaming "Don't DO that!"? If you are having that experience than it is quite likely your opponents are too - so the more comfortable you are with the idea of doing these suicide-like moves, you will hesitate less and you won't delay committing - and that can give you ten or more seconds of lead time on your opponents right there.

If you are a gamer who is thinking to yourself -- my he takes this all very seriously -- you are what we call a casual gamer but you will still benefit greatly from my advice. If on the other hand you fully understand the reason why I take this so seriously because you, yourself, do too - and you totally grok the notion that we came here to win, not have fun, then hey, we are already on the same page mates!

Moto is not an option for this race as it is more on-road than off, and your competition is sure to choose a faster Street Bike!

Touch Base

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 1

Players: 1 to 16

Area: Vinewood Hills

Distance: 2.33 Miles.

Sixteen rider motorcycle point-to-point, corkscrewing down from the hills near Galileo Observatory to the gate of Fort Zancudo. Road and off-road sections.

Hints and Tips: The pavement portions of the race are easily managed but the off-road sections have some wicked tight turns and curves, which means that a dirt bike is really helpful. Assuming that the competition chose

Tunnel Vision

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 20

Players: 1-8

Area: La Puenta

Distance: 2.09 Miles

Ride the wall in this motorcycle point-to-point that loops through the metro tunnels under Los Santos International Airport.

Hints and Tips: This is a very difficult race. The only advice that will help you is stay as close to the center of the tunnels as you can as there are a LOT of things on each side that will kill you if you hit them.

Up the Creek

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 1

Players: 1-8

Area: Paleto Cove

Distance: 2.40 Miles

Dirt Bike point to point going along Cassidy Creek and ending in the Alamo Sea. Road section on the Great Ocean Highway and jumps onto, and out of, North Chumash Beach.

Hints and Tips: Here is another course that is just long enough to allow us to make serious mistakes or a lot of little ones that can easily cost you the race. That is a bad thing because we did not come here so everyone can take turns winning, we came here to win :) And making mistakes - even little ones - is not how you win!

So from the top, if you did not get creamed coming off of the beach road onto the highway, and you did not get knocked out of the saddle by the Jersey Barriers exiting the highway to go down to the beach -- AND you did not lose it at any point running up the canyon on the dirt road, then chances are you avoided all of the more obvious mistakes, and good on ya mates! Good on ya indeed!

In my experience if you avoided all of those very common mistakes on this course AND your opponents fell prey to at least ONE of them each, you have already won this race.

Wingin' It

Created by: Rockstar

Rank: 1

Players: 1 to 8

Area: Los Santos International Airport

Distance: 0.68 Mile.

Bypass cavity searches and get straight on the runway with this obstacle race for bicycles at Lost Santos International Airport. Point-to-point track where you'll jump over baggage trucks and go along the wing of a jumbo jet.

Hints and Tips: This has to be one of the more interesting bicycle races in the set, mostly due to the environment and the optional jumps onto the wing of a jumbo jet! Conserving Stamina with all of the jumps available took a bit of effort, I admit.

Most of the jumps can be avoided if you chose the wrong ride or just don't want to do them, and as there is no traffic to get in the way or endanger you, it is all good.

So this concludes the Bike Races for GTAO -- which while you obviously did not complete them in order or anything like in order, with any luck you won more than you lost, and more to the point, you had fun doing it.

Yeah, I often say that we came here to win, not have fun, but you know that is sarcasm right? You know that what I really mean is that it is fun to win? Heh!

So yeah, good on ya, well done! Now that you have fully enjoyed our more-or-less guided tour of the bike races, why not see what sort of dent you can put into the Land Races, hey? And following those, the Water Races? Because since we don't consider the Parachute Jumps to be races, that is pretty much that!

I hope that this has been helpful to you!

Everything below here is present for our convenience for cutting and pasting guides for new entries - you can safely ignore it :)

Created by: Rockstar

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