NORBA has their head so far up their ass they are seeing sunshine. Maybe they should have the dh race at the raceway down the stairs in the bleachers..
sayndesyn said:NORBA has their head so far up their ass they are seeing sunshine. Maybe they should have the dh race at the raceway down the stairs in the bleachers..
I agree. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise because it makes it very obvious to anyone that NORBA/USA cycling could care less.ViciousDHer said:Wow this is unbelievable !! But at least the END IS NEAR !!
No, it still looks ****ty.offtheedge said:fontana aint looking so bad now huh?
bballe336 said:No, it still looks ****ty.
Just move the championships to the east coast. We have good courses that are lift accessed and actually open.
Oh wait, you have good mountains that are open and available that weekend? Big Bear, Mammoth and Tahoe are all out as choices. I am pretty sure he meant the east coast ones would welcome the event.offtheedge said:yeah, if we only had good mountains on the west
Transcend said:Oh wait, you have good mountains that are open and available that weekend? Big Bear, Mammoth and Tahoe are all out as choices. I am pretty sure he meant the east coast ones would welcome the event.
Funny, NORBA couldn't/ decided not to find one.
Most of the resorts out west don't cater to MTBing, so they wont have a trail network, summer infrastructure to do it.offtheedge said:Well, thats three possabilities out of maybe ten resorts in the waste. Now whether or not the waste coast resorts aren't welcoming or Norba isn't soliciting who knows?
I'm not claiming to know sh@t, but the amount of mountains and resorts this direction is hard to overlook.
Hell...instead of dubbing Infineon the Championship...why not just move it up another week and hold it at Deer Valley??!!! Where there's, dare I say, actual terrain worthy of DH and XC races.....offtheedge said:Well, thats three possabilities out of maybe ten resorts in the waste. Now whether or not the waste coast resorts aren't welcoming or Norba isn't soliciting who knows?
I'm not claiming to know sh@t, but the amount of mountains and resorts this direction is hard to overlook.
Yeah....Cardio, cardio, and...um....oh yeah, more cardio.SuspectDevice said:Sweet. I had have 2 riders that are possible contentders for Semi-slow DH. Now I have to complete change their programs from training for DH to training for..... Well, uh, something that isn't really DH I guess...
I'm with you 100% man! I'd much rather see the Nat Champs 1. at a real venue w/ a real track & 2. here in the good ole USA but, I think that desperate times call for desperate measures. The Nat Champs have to be awarded before Worlds and unfortunately just about every weekend in June, July, & beg Aug has a World Cup or NCS event scheduled. For the entire traveling extravaganza of the North American race scene to move from the west coast, to the east coast, back to the west coast just wouldn't be logistically possible or economically feasible for a lot of teams or the privateers.Metal said:There are plenty off great tracks in the US, so there wouldn't be a need to go elsewhere. Hell I would rather drive across the country and camp in a parking lot and race Plattekill instead of have our Championship race at Infineon.
This is what has to happen, and has had to for a few years and has not. Maybe this will be a wakeup call and the sweet ass series and courses we had around 2000 will come back. Decent organization, much cheaper registrations and good courses.ska todd said:Whatever happens, as an American downhill community we all must get ourselves on the phones and emailing tomorrow to anyone and everyone at USA Cycling and let them know that this is unacceptable. I have already started doing this myself and urge everyone else to let their voices be heard as Norba members.
-ska todd
What the hell... their landscape is HILL not 700 ft tall. Last year they made a pretty fun course about 2 minutes long, however like Fontana it's awesome for a local venue, not the National Championships. This is so fvcking embarassing. I'm glad I'm going to miss it. Maybe spend an extra few days in Canuckistan at a real race?NORBA said:"This is a phenomenal opportunity for Infineon Raceway and for the Northern California cycling community," said Steve Page, president and general manager of Infineon Raceway. "We have long believed that the unique nature of our facility landscape and our location in the virtual birthplace of the mountain bike offered the ingredients for an outstanding competition festival. Hosting the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships is an honor and a responsibility we take very seriously and we look forward to working with everyone involved to stage a successful and memorable event in July."
Transcend said:I miss those races. Boy, do I ever miss Crystal. Most middle of nowhere venue ever with possibly the greatest start line view and most epic course in all of North America.
Remember the off the hook party we had that night at the bar in the woods? That was insane. I have never PHYSICALLY been thrown out of a bar before, and then had the bouncer try and steal my beer. Asshat.DylanDeanDesign said:(sigh)....that place was truly EPIC! probably my FAVORITE course i have EVER been on! It truly did have a bit of everything...gnarly rock sections, high speed, steep twisty tree sections... i think Rennie's winning time was in the 5 minute area. Amazing.(now we're looking at courses less than a minute long!!?!?!). Ashame it was fairly far from everything....but defintaely worth the trip in my opinion!
Okay, well already did. Who should I be sending it to?Transcend said:Andy Lee is just the PR guy for NORBA, don't bother hassling him.
Not sure. I am pretty much saying screw this year, and hoping for better stuff next year. It doesn't seem like they'll make Deer Valley the national after declaring it at Sonoma, do you think?©2001 said:should everyone rally around getting deer valley to be the nat'l champs? seems like it'd make the most sense. just emailing them that they suck or whatever won't help. if they get 100 emails saying dh should have nat's at deer valley, it'd give them an easy goal/answer.
they'll still have sonoma, but it won't be the decision-making race, ya know?
Crystal.....those were the days. When there were actually national courses worthy of being called nationals courses. What were the times on that course?? Like 8+ minutes of sheer rock smashing terror and exhaustion. Now we have Infineon. So sad. My local lift assisted state course is better than that crap. Lame.DylanDeanDesign said:(sigh)....that place was truly EPIC! probably my FAVORITE course i have EVER been on! It truly did have a bit of everything...gnarly rock sections, high speed, steep twisty tree sections... i think Rennie's winning time was in the 5 minute area. Amazing.(now we're looking at courses less than a minute long!!?!?!). Ashame it was fairly far from everything....but defintaely worth the trip in my opinion!
Steve Johnson is the acting CEO of USA Cycling, sjohnson@usacycling.org, and the Chairman of the Board is Jim Ochowicz, jochowicz@tweisel.com.matt12 said:Okay, well already did. Who should I be sending it to?
Whats up everyone, i just sent this out to Steve Johnson and Jim Ochowicz, i think it is a good idea you all do the same or something like it. If we all conduct this issue with class and respect our collective efforts could make a difference! Join inriverside73 said:Steve Johnson is the acting CEO of USA Cycling, sjohnson@usacycling.org, and the Chairman of the Board is Jim Ochowicz, jochowicz@tweisel.com.
If you want more names to send to, go to www.usacycling.org, click on "about USA Cycling" and then go to contact. All the names and emails of everyone working in the office are there.
Brilliant, when I sober up I will write a letter myself, probably won't make a difference judging by the total lack of respect of Norba for gravity racers, but, the more constructive feedback they get the more likely they will actually listen to what we have to say.BRIANBUELL said:Whats up everyone, i just sent this out to Steve Johnson and Jim Ochowicz, i think it is a good idea you all do the same or something like it. If we all conduct this issue with class and respect our collective efforts could make a difference! Join in
Dear Steve Johnson and Jim Ochowicz
My name is Brian Buell, NORBA # 218052, I am a Semi Pro Gravity Rider racing for RotecCycles and I will be traveling to many Venues this year including, Mt St Ann Canada, Snowmass, Vermont, US Open ect... These places make for great races becuase of the Vertical Drop, important for DH. Great terrain and a long 3-6 min course that will weed out the men from the boys. Now after presenting this information, it is obvious that Sonoma and the Infinion Raceway is not a proper place to hold a large DH event, let alone the National Championships. A raceway might be a great place for a XC race and mountaincross but holds no place for a world class, supposivly, DH race that will crown the best rider in the nation. This course will not showcase the best overall DH rider but only the best sprinter due to the lack of terrain(rocks, roots, logs ect). This needs to be changed. The possible solution that has been discussed by many is Deer Valley holding the DH NAT Champs the week before Sanoma. This is a great course perfect for a NAT Championship as it is very popular among DH riders of all classes. I was planning on attending Mammoth for the Nats but since this change was made i have absolutely no desire on attending a Nats at Sonoma. I look foreward to riding NORBA every year and esspecially the National Championships but of the look of things this year i am not to stoked about the situation! Please, everyone at NORBA, from a commited rider, listion to the many many people like me trying to make DH mountain bike riding better for all. Thank you for your time and consideration and hopefully this situation can be solved, thoughtfully, rationally and for the better. Gravity racers pay their dues each season and deserve better, much better.
Brian Buell
P.S. I respect all XC racers and appreciate everything they do for the sport yet they cannot dictate where large races like the NAT Champs are held.