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2011 National Championships

Racerx7734

Monkey
Mar 4, 2002
616
0
Hostile Sausage
Sounds like the XC portion is in Sun Valley Idaho this year.

Any E-spec on where the DH might be?

Would be killer if Northstar had them, since they have done a successful PRO GRT and 2 College Nationals already.

Any word?
 

jnooth

Monkey
Sep 19, 2008
384
1
Vermont Country
Sounds like the XC portion is in Sun Valley Idaho this year.

Any E-spec on where the DH might be?

Would be killer if Northstar had them, since they have done a successful PRO GRT and 2 College Nationals already.

Any word?
collegiate nationals there this year was very lame if you ask me. the year before was better. The courses (DH and 4x) were horrible representations of their discipline. I think if it were at northstar i would skip the trip
 

SBDHrida

Monkey
Aug 19, 2005
238
0
aMERica
collegiate nationals there this year was very lame if you ask me. the year before was better. The courses (DH and 4x) were horrible representations of their discipline. I think if it were at northstar i would skip the trip
Agreed about collegiate nationals this year. The mountain has a few trails worthy of a National Championship event, but Gypsy is certainly not one of them. I wouldn't write off the whole mountain because of that though. Even last years course skirted some of the more technical sections of trail. Talking to a couple of the UNR guys that were organizing it, this seemed to be a decree from USA Cycling because of wide disparity in skill level within Collegiate categories (i.e. girls racing the course on rear brake only dirt jump hardtails).
 

Sghost

Turbo Monkey
Jul 13, 2008
1,038
0
NY
Agreed about collegiate nationals this year. The mountain has a few trails worthy of a National Championship event, but Gypsy is certainly not one of them. I wouldn't write off the whole mountain because of that though. Even last years course skirted some of the more technical sections of trail. Talking to a couple of the UNR guys that were organizing it, this seemed to be a decree from USA Cycling because of wide disparity in skill level within Collegiate categories (i.e. girls racing the course on rear brake only dirt jump hardtails).
Not to pull it off topic, but this is the case. Random college kids show up to these without proper bikes/training/equipment and enter in as many categories as they can. Its not XC kid riding one bike in everything, its the 2 actual cyclists show up with friends/gfs on Murrays.

When it used to be at Platty, watching them ride the chutes, rocks, and drops was funny at first...but after a few crashes and looks on their faces, they had no clue what they were getting into and fatalities didn't seem too far off.
 

5150dhbiker

Turbo Monkey
Nov 5, 2007
1,200
0
Santa Barbara, CA
I'm hoping Keystone picks it up. This is only because I'll be out in Colorado anyways since my brother's wedding is on July 16th at Copper Mtn. and I would not be racing till Sunday so it would be PERFECT!
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,157
359
Roanoke, VA
Unless USAC drops the 4x requirement there isn't going to be a 2011 National DH championship, that's how I read this debate.
No promoter in their right mind should waste their time and money building a track that a hundred people or less are going to race on once. Heck, even the people who race 4x hate it more often than they enjoy it.
Maybe Deer Valley will pony up for the race and they can just hold the 4x on a bmx track like they did last time...

4x is killing/has killed gated racing in America. Time to let it die.
 

mattmatt86

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2005
5,347
10
Bleedmore, Murderland
Unless USAC drops the 4x requirement there isn't going to be a 2011 National DH championship, that's how I read this debate.
No promoter in their right mind should waste their time and money building a track that a hundred people or less are going to race on once. Heck, even the people who race 4x hate it more often than they enjoy it.
Maybe Deer Valley will pony up for the race and they can just hold the 4x on a bmx track like they did last time...

4x is killing/has killed gated racing in America. Time to let it die.
So 4x and DH are a package deal? If one gets dropped they both go?
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,157
359
Roanoke, VA
So 4x and DH are a package deal? If one gets dropped they both go?
Read the bid package here
I'm sure at some point something will get sorted out, but it is certainly going to be interesting to see if any venue is willing to take on 4x.
If they do it's going to be because of some supplemental assistance/waving of fees from USAC.
Hopefully USAC will break down and sell off 4x separately to a promoter and venue who feels like loosing money by taking it on can have it.
Aren't there one or two permanent tracks in the Front Range?

I say just give it to Yeti/BigFoot productions and let them figure it out.
 

olddogbmxer

Monkey
Aug 9, 2007
143
0
Another major issue, as I see it, is since the XC Nationals have been split off (Sun Valley ID)this also makes it less attractive to venues as it removes big numbers (which means lots of revenue) as you are only left with the gravity events.
 

Eastern States Cup

Turbo Monkey
Feb 29, 2008
2,465
2
East Coast
Unless USAC drops the 4x requirement there isn't going to be a 2011 National DH championship, that's how I read this debate.
No promoter in their right mind should waste their time and money building a track that a hundred people or less are going to race on once. Heck, even the people who race 4x hate it more often than they enjoy it.
Maybe Deer Valley will pony up for the race and they can just hold the 4x on a bmx track like they did last time...

4x is killing/has killed gated racing in America. Time to let it die.
There is a way around this. Read on.
 

Racerx7734

Monkey
Mar 4, 2002
616
0
Hostile Sausage
I'm not saying Northstar is the end all be all and that the courses couldn't be better. What I am saying is that it takes some serious logistics and proper infrastructure to pull off a large event AND have a descent run that EVERYONE can ride. It's not a world cup event.

Northstar has been very successful at pulling these events off without a major problem (nothing to do with the course)

The PRO Grt at Northstar was HUGE and everyone I know at the event had a great time.

I live 18 minutes away from Northstar, so of course I would vote for N*. What ever the venue, it needs to be able to handle all these things.
 
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huntandride

Chimp
Feb 16, 2009
82
0
Reno
I want it to be at northstar cause i live in reno and i wanna go without having to really travel.. There's my opinion. Yeah its very biased but so is everyone else's opinion too. Thats what makes it their opinion.
People who want to bag on the course choice of the GRT and Collegiate Nats dont read their stuff and see that N* (and any venue for that matter) does the best that they can with what they have to offer. and part of that means meeting the USA cyclings requirement of only running one course. Im sure that some of the trail crew and lots of N* locals would love to see Collegiate Nats run down full dogbone or something of the like but its just not going to happen. I agree with Racerx that N* has the room and the capability of pulling off the crowd and atmosphere of a big event and i believe that it was really well shown in the GRT.
 

bobsten

Monkey
Oct 23, 2008
240
0
rain rain go away
I want it to be at northstar cause i live in reno and i wanna go without having to really travel.. There's my opinion. Yeah its very biased but so is everyone else's opinion too. Thats what makes it their opinion.
People who want to bag on the course choice of the GRT and Collegiate Nats dont read their stuff and see that N* (and any venue for that matter) does the best that they can with what they have to offer. and part of that means meeting the USA cyclings requirement of only running one course. Im sure that some of the trail crew and lots of N* locals would love to see Collegiate Nats run down full dogbone or something of the like but its just not going to happen. I agree with Racerx that N* has the room and the capability of pulling off the crowd and atmosphere of a big event and i believe that it was really well shown in the GRT.
I think most people would enjoy Northstar as long as it does not run down Gypsy, Collegiate Nats 2009 showed that there IS a great potential, awesome gnargnar trails and east coast rox. But Sol Vista put in a huge effort to create something new the last two years and have thus set the bar quite high.

Also, I'd like to hear from a 4X pro racer that actually enjoys racing livewire with the drag race star, that won't work.

I'm tellin you guys. Bootleg... Strippers, cocaine, gambling, booze, gnarliest courses on the west coast. All we're missing is shaun palmer... think about it.
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,157
359
Roanoke, VA
I think most people would enjoy Northstar as long as it does not run down Gypsy, Collegiate Nats 2009 showed that there IS a great potential, awesome gnargnar trails and east coast rox. But Sol Vista put in a huge effort to create something new the last two years and have thus set the bar quite high.

Also, I'd like to hear from a 4X pro racer that actually enjoys racing livewire with the drag race star, that won't work.

I'm tellin you guys. Bootleg... Strippers, cocaine, gambling, booze, gnarliest courses on the west coast. All we're missing is shaun palmer... think about it.

Um, have you ever been to Boulder City in July or August?
It's the desert dude. In the summer.
 

bobsten

Monkey
Oct 23, 2008
240
0
rain rain go away
I think most people would enjoy Northstar as long as it does not run down Gypsy, Collegiate Nats 2009 showed that there IS a great potential, awesome gnargnar trails and east coast rox. But Sol Vista put in a huge effort to create something new the last two years and have thus set the bar quite high.

Also, I'd like to hear from a 4X pro racer that actually enjoys racing livewire with the drag race star, that won't work.

I'm tellin you guys. Bootleg... Strippers, cocaine, gambling, booze, gnarliest courses on the west coast. All we're missing is shaun palmer... think about it.
Um, have you ever been to Boulder City in July or August?
It's the desert dude. In the summer.
I'm from Arizona. **** it. But ya. That would suck. I'm just suggesting we all go there. 1500 downhillers in Vegas. Nice.
 
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SylentK

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2004
2,287
854
coloRADo
Sounds like the XC portion is in Sun Valley Idaho this year.

Any E-spec on where the DH might be?

Would be killer if Northstar had them, since they have done a successful PRO GRT and 2 College Nationals already.

Any word?
So USAC went ahead and secured an XC venue without any regard for DH?

Can they alienate DH anymore? Jeebus WTF?!
 

NAYR

Monkey
Jul 13, 2009
109
0
Truckee
The reason Collegiate Nats was run on Gypsy was to rid the flat fire road pedal in the middle of the 2009 course.

With that, I thought Gypsy was a fitting Collegiate Nats course compared to the typical Collegiate DH tracks that we hold most of our races on. Sure, it's not uber gnar DH, but it's still has some somewhat wide-open sections, some fun corners and some gap lines. I also don't think that there was one rider that didn't have fun that weekend.

I think Northstar's biggest mistake was plowing the "pro" features after the GRT. It's inarguable that those "pro" lines were the best additions to park in recent memory. If Northstar brought some of the "Pro" features over to the Vista side race courses(Dog Bone, Karpiel, etc), they would have a very fun, Nationals' worthy course.
 

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
If Northstar brought some of the "Pro" features over to the Vista side race courses(Dog Bone, Karpiel, etc), they would have a very fun, Nationals' worthy course.
That would be the holy grail of trails. A few big stepdowns and doubles thrown in on dogbone and karpiel....hmmmmmmmm
 

thom9719

Turbo Monkey
Jul 25, 2005
1,104
0
In the Northwest.
Combine the lack of a real 4X course, plus high pit fees, no onsite camping, you can't have access the pits for 3 days, a flat blown out track that even the locals didn't like, terrible course taping, it really doesn't make me want to vote that this is the "best" this country has to offer.

Sorry to bag on a venue, I know putting on races is difficult, but N* missed the bar on quite a few issues at the proGRT.

To be positive however, the lift lines were short, the registration was efficent, the people were friendly and jumping in lake tahoe after a long day was refreshing.

-KT
 

NAYR

Monkey
Jul 13, 2009
109
0
Truckee
Combine the lack of a real 4X course, plus high pit fees, no onsite camping, you can't have access the pits for 3 days, a flat blown out track that even the locals didn't like, terrible course taping, it really doesn't make me want to vote that this is the "best" this country has to offer.

Sorry to bag on a venue, I know putting on races is difficult, but N* missed the bar on quite a few issues at the proGRT.

To be positive however, the lift lines were short, the registration was efficent, the people were friendly and jumping in lake tahoe after a long day was refreshing.

-KT
It's amazing how everyone forgot that the Vista Side had a considerable amount of snow on it two weeks before the race. That was the original reason Gypsy was used as the GRT course in the first place. I agree with you that it is a flat track, but it wasn't really blown out. Gypsy was the best it had ever been the weekend of the Pro GRT by far. The Northstar guys put a lot of work into it to make it as good as it could be. Northstar isn't the PNW or the East Coast. It doesn't really rain there except for on rare occasions or in October. Blown out corners are the name of the game.

I can't speak for the high pit fees, or pit access because that is not something that affects me. As for the lack of onsite camping, there are plenty of camping locations as close as a 5 minute drive from Northstar. That's not much of an issue at all.

I wouldn't say Northstar dropped the ball. They did the best they could with the resources they had and held a good event in my opinion.
 
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MDJ

Monkey
Dec 15, 2005
669
0
San Jose, CA
Combine the lack of a real 4X course, plus high pit fees, no onsite camping, you can't have access the pits for 3 days, a flat blown out track that even the locals didn't like, terrible course taping, it really doesn't make me want to vote that this is the "best" this country has to offer.

Sorry to bag on a venue, I know putting on races is difficult, but N* missed the bar on quite a few issues at the proGRT.

To be positive however, the lift lines were short, the registration was efficent, the people were friendly and jumping in lake tahoe after a long day was refreshing.

-KT
That alone should tell you something about Northstar. :D