[SinatorJ]

Ok, I am going to start this one only because it needs to be done.
I attended and raced the race this past weekend, and overall I feel that this was one of the most poorly run events that I have attended in the 12 years that I have been racing, as Pro and Semi-pros we were faced with a new format that many people were unfamiliar with, uless you were racing back in the stone ages. The racing went well, but that is the only highlight for the weekend.
Team Big Bear needs to address some serious issues and we as riders need to make a point of seeing these issues through.
1. Lift access: Pro practice is just that practice for Pros and Semi-pros. I am not the fastest, that was shown by my qualifying 65 in the pro class, but I value my practice time as much as the next rider. By using the same lift for expert practice as well as pro practice, we spent most of the time waiting in huge lift lines.
2. The course of Course! Money needs to be spent on building a quality course. What we raced on was a joke. TBB spent all of maybe one week, with an aresenal of fat guys on quads building the worst course ever at Snow Summitt. It is no wonder that our sport is looked on as a joke in the cycling world. We were reduced to riding a poorly groomed fire road with one crappy table and an ok hip jump. I mean where does my $65.00 go any way???
3. Charging for lift access and giving the general public priority on the lift.
This is B&%LS%^T!!!
4. Lack of communication. No one was able to give a serious anwser concerning the points break down for Qualifying and the mania.
I just would like to bring these issues to light. I hope that I am not the only one who is concerned over the state of the sport I love. I just hope this is not a sign of things to come.
J.P.

 

[Brian Peterson]

You ought to clean that up a little and send it to info@teambigbear.com.

Might get a little more attention then it will here...

Brian

 

[dhtahoe]

I totally agree. If this is what Team Big Bear is going to bring to the table for being the new national promotor they need to do some work. I spent 15 minutes in that line sat and then some guy from TBB tells us to go to the other lift because the line is shorter. A whole bunch of us go over to the other lift... wait like 45 minutes. Then we get all the way to the front of the line and the lift op says he won't load us. When we tell him that TBB sent us over he SHUT THE CHAIR OFF goes on this rant about how we are at fault and he is just a lift op doing his job. Well that rolled right off my back because I have his job. I told him that you never shut a chair down while loaded to stop and rant, and if he didn't start the chair I would report him to lift management about stopping the chair. This is a HUGE no no in resort operations... you never stop a chair!!! I told him to pull out the god damn stop button and start loading or I would have his job. It was a pass the buck weekend. If you had issuses go see this person... then that person... no wait that person... no wait go back and see the first guy. Hell the people in the "Media Center" didn't even know what a Downhiil was when we went looking for Mania Results. TBB hires cheap local labor who know nothing. What is it going to take to get this sport organized... The funniest thing all weekend was the 70 year old guy with the lenses in his glasses borrowed from the Hubble space telescope calling all the barges in Pro DS qualifing. Steve Peat suffered his wrath as did many others. The ref is blind just got a whole new meaning.

 

[profro]

Sorry to hear JP. Hope we have better organization at Snowshoe. See you there.

 

[AZRacerX]

I could not agree more with JP and dhtahoe. The Pro Mania course was a complete joke, especially with how much hype they gave it. The slalom course was even worse. On the TBB web site they bragged about how they have had some of the best slalom courses in the past and I was so stoked to go to Big Bear and race slalom, and then I get there and find a few piles of dirt scattered along a hillside. Yeah, after everyone rode it for 2 days it got better, but come on this is supposed to be a NATIONAL! Riders from all over the world expect to show up to a finished and groomed course! And then the random "Barging" disqualification bullsh!t, don't get me started there... Also as a media representative, I was thoroughly unimpressed with the staff in the Media Center. When I showed up and asked if they had high speed internet, the lady I asked looked at me like I was speaking Chinese. Then she said "I don't know, you can go back there and check". When I asked if they would be emailing press releases and results she had no idea what I was talking about.

I honestly doubt emailing TBB will do a bit of good. I've done this in the past in a very diplomatic manner only to be told they are already doing the best they can and that I don't understand what it takes to put on a race series like this. While that may be true, I do know that there are people out there capable of doing it right, I've seen it!