Must have been a very special boy you met that day.
US National Champs course
- Thread starter gemini2k
- Start date
That's about half and half. The berm train shots are on the AM, the rocks and stepdowns are on the pro. It probably goes with out saying, but that video flattens things out a lot. I think this photo by Alex LeSueur is a good indicator of what to expect on the pro track.
Looking good on the slalom too boys. You have done a lot in less than 3 weeks when you were weedeating a grass hill. Much respect.
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That was really not called for... Us 40+ guys are not Exceptionally old, just slightly old. 50+ is exceptionally old (at least until I turn 50).
If you plan on attending, remember that your AARP card can usually provide a discount rate at the hotel. It will also get you a free coffee refill at the local Hardees.
And yes, I have cut tennis balls for bar ends.
And yes, I have cut tennis balls for bar ends.
I'll give somebody $5.00 to sleep in Dorothy's house on Oz that weekend.
I am usually a BIG supporter of USAC but this is just STUPID:
USAC National Champs at Beech, NC are screwed up. Not only in Sept this year out of the UCI window and hard for kids and college age 's to attend. Cat 2-3 and 50+ Cat 1 have 1/2 day practice on Thursday, 1 hour on Friday and race at noon Friday. While the rest of Cat 1 and pro's race on Sunday.........Now it's total FAIL !!
Stupid Schedule here
USAC National Champs at Beech, NC are screwed up. Not only in Sept this year out of the UCI window and hard for kids and college age 's to attend. Cat 2-3 and 50+ Cat 1 have 1/2 day practice on Thursday, 1 hour on Friday and race at noon Friday. While the rest of Cat 1 and pro's race on Sunday.........Now it's total FAIL !!
Stupid Schedule here
maybe its my reading skills but Im pretty sure it show 50+ cat 1 racing on Sunday
no, its not you
That's what happens when we decide there needs to be a Cat 2-3 national champ. Let alone a Cat 2-3 National champ in tight age group increments so everyone gets to feel good.
Youth, Jr, Senior/Elite, Cat 1 under 30, Cat 1 30-45, 45+ done.
This whole Category X: 15-16, 17-18, 19-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50+ is just ridiculous.
Do we really need Cat 2/3 at National Champs? Even 12 year olds in little league understand that not everyone gets a trophy. Or does USAC just want your money?
Youth, Jr, Senior/Elite, Cat 1 under 30, Cat 1 30-45, 45+ done.
This whole Category X: 15-16, 17-18, 19-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50+ is just ridiculous.
Do we really need Cat 2/3 at National Champs? Even 12 year olds in little league understand that not everyone gets a trophy. Or does USAC just want your money?
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I stand corrected: cat 1 50+ is on Sunday but cat 2 and cat 3 are still on friday and still epic fail. I'm sure the 2 or 3 50+ guys will be happy. but what about the cat 2 and cat 3 racers?
Lee, it's not only USAC that wants the money but the venues and promoters NEED the money to exist these days. Sponsorship money has all but dried up. Our competition draws 15k entrants to a mountain venue at $100-$125 per entry. A schedule like this will tend to keep all but the local Cat 2-3 racers away and 2/3's of the entry fee's.
Honestly how many pro and cat 1 racers will attend this event. What ever number you come up with it will be hard for the venue and the promoter to make any money at all. We looked long and hard at hosting the national champs this year and the numbers just don't add up.
This is why we started the ESC. We want to make racing affordable for the racers so they come out in numbers and profitable and easy for the venues so we can keep on having DH races at their venues. (rant over, sorry)
Honestly how many pro and cat 1 racers will attend this event. What ever number you come up with it will be hard for the venue and the promoter to make any money at all. We looked long and hard at hosting the national champs this year and the numbers just don't add up.
This is why we started the ESC. We want to make racing affordable for the racers so they come out in numbers and profitable and easy for the venues so we can keep on having DH races at their venues. (rant over, sorry)
To bad this series does not come farther south done the East Coast, you might get more riders for this (ESC) series! Maybe next year..
gravity east?
Hardly. The past few years the closest GES race was at Massanutten, still 5 + hours North driving from most NC cities. This year the closest was at snowshoe, again 5-7 hours. Most GES races are in the Northeast.
I agree it would be great for a series like ESC or Gravity East to come down our way
Or just start our own South East series somehow.
ur just realizing this now???
the nationals schedule has been out for a month or two now...
as a cat 2 racer, i'm sitting this one out, i can't get the days off i need from work. i'd need to be off wednesday-saturday. good luck cat1 racers, kick some ass.
the nationals schedule has been out for a month or two now...
as a cat 2 racer, i'm sitting this one out, i can't get the days off i need from work. i'd need to be off wednesday-saturday. good luck cat1 racers, kick some ass.
contact yer local mountains and have them get crackin
We just had 150 at the Beech DH race last week.
I think Plattekill had 58 at the last July race. So yeah, we have enough racers for sure.
The problem with the Southeast has always been a proper venue.
We have had places with good terrain but either no lift or a $hitty lift.
Beech Mtn. is the first venue we have had that has proper terrain and now has an awesome lift with Whistler style lift trays.
The plan for next year is to have a bike park and hopefully in the future it will be a destination spot for bigger races.
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Meh....stay home. I could use a trophy.
I am not going because of this schedule...along with others, and that sucks because it is going to hurt the turnout! I was looking forward to the race before I saw the schedule cause i think I actually had a chance. What I don't understand is why DH practice goes to 6pm on Friday and then never later than 330pm after that!
I am out too...
10 hours of practice over 4 days!!!
CAT 2/3 race on Friday???
Not worth the trip. This will be the Southeast Championship.
Best of luck to everyone that goes. Course does look fun and the amount of work that was put into it is great. Just cannot payout 3 nights of lodging for 10 hours of riding. My drive there I figured is at least 10 hours each way too.
10 hours of practice over 4 days!!!
CAT 2/3 race on Friday???
Not worth the trip. This will be the Southeast Championship.
Best of luck to everyone that goes. Course does look fun and the amount of work that was put into it is great. Just cannot payout 3 nights of lodging for 10 hours of riding. My drive there I figured is at least 10 hours each way too.
There has been racing on Friday at nationals for as long as I can remember, and that's a long time.
I'm not sure where the surprise is coming from here.
The 2/3 riders- What gives guys? Sport and Beginner riders shouldn't be racing for national titles. The US is the only country on earth where it happens. Lighten up a little.
I'm going to assume if the race schedule was published sooner there wouldn't be such a kerfuffle right?
I'm not sure where the surprise is coming from here.
The 2/3 riders- What gives guys? Sport and Beginner riders shouldn't be racing for national titles. The US is the only country on earth where it happens. Lighten up a little.
I'm going to assume if the race schedule was published sooner there wouldn't be such a kerfuffle right?
The schedule has been posted for well over a month.
I made my decision when the schedule came out and figured that it would be brought up. If there was Thursday practice (like a few years ago) and practice went to 6pm then there would be a better turnout IMO. I am gutted about it cause the tracks look awesome!
Good luck to all that race!
Good luck to all that race!
I do remember XC races on Friday's back in the day, but as long as I can remember DH am's were always on Saturday and Pro on Sunday.
Also, they had to deal with XC and XC short track to, there are no XC events at this, just Dual and DH so that should open up the schedule.
I will be there. I will make the best of the schedule, it is not easy to make one that pleases everyone but it does seem there should be more practice time on Saturday. The DH course closes at noon?
Also, they had to deal with XC and XC short track to, there are no XC events at this, just Dual and DH so that should open up the schedule.
I will be there. I will make the best of the schedule, it is not easy to make one that pleases everyone but it does seem there should be more practice time on Saturday. The DH course closes at noon?
For what it's worth, if you ride a trail in late September at 5pm, you're riding in the dark. Sure, it might be light out, but the woods are a blackout. And if there is fog, you'll be picking granite out of your teeth.
This is not an excuse for anybody. Just want to point out that our woods at that time of day are not something you'd wanna session for speed.
Well looking over those who have prereg already there are quite a few traveling from Washington state, Utah and OR. So wont be a Southeast only race.
Where are you Traveling from? Carpool?
5+ hours? boo ****ing hoo.
I am JUST getting back into DH riding and mountain biking in general.
I am not fast, I am not going to win an event and I am not super cool like a lot of the people here.
This summer alone I have made at least 5 trips to the only lift assisted bike park in michigan. It's a 4 hour drive one way.
I drove once to copper harbor michigan (the most northern point in the upper peninsula) and it's about an 11 hour drive for me from the detroit area.
I raced twice at snowshoe in the powerade series. 9-10 hours for me 520 miles.
Next season I am hoping to choose a racing series that will allow me to get to 5-7 races, they will all be at least a 9 hour drive.
If I had the option of living 5 hours from platty, snowshoe, seven springs, massenhutten, beach, sugar, diablo, mt. snow, etc. I'd race twice a month if I could.
No matter where you live, if you want to race downhill at multiple venues throughout the year you are going to have to travel, the schedule will not always be perfect, and you won't like every race course.
It's a tough sport to enjoy in your own backyard at 5 different venues unless you live in a perfect spot.
I have a truck dedicated to road trips, I don't drive it to work daily, I use it for mountain bike trips, snowboard trips, and home depot porjects at the house. I put 13,000 miles on it since I bought it in december of 2010.
You wanna ride, you gotta drive, end of story.
At 2010 Sol Vista nationals, here was the cat2 breakdown
I don't know what the Beech operating hours traditionally are, but maybe you could get more time if more marshals volunteered.
- Wednesday
- Walking Only
- Thursday
- 8-11 practice
- Friday
- 10:30-13:30 practice
- Saturday
- 9:00-9:45 practice
- 10:00 race
I don't know what the Beech operating hours traditionally are, but maybe you could get more time if more marshals volunteered.
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You guys should keep in mind that it's a 2.5 minute track and I was easily getting 5 runs/hr two weeks ago at the quali race. I understand the desire to ride as much as possible (especially if traveling long distances) but I think there will be sufficient time to learn the track.
If you're really concerned about just getting enough riding in for your drive, I'd bring a trailbike or go check out the old nmbs track at sugar mtn.
If you're really concerned about just getting enough riding in for your drive, I'd bring a trailbike or go check out the old nmbs track at sugar mtn.
When I evaluate a trip, I look at the ratio of car time to ride time.
Total Ride Time
______________________>=1
Total Travel Time * .5
From Colorado, Nationals is about a 24 hour drive, which means the AM trails would have to be open for a week to make this trip worthwhile. Even if they added a couple of hours, they would not be able to satisfy my formula for biking satisfaction.
Total Ride Time
______________________>=1
Total Travel Time * .5
From Colorado, Nationals is about a 24 hour drive, which means the AM trails would have to be open for a week to make this trip worthwhile. Even if they added a couple of hours, they would not be able to satisfy my formula for biking satisfaction.
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Am I reading the schedule wrong?? I see practice on Thursday 1:15-6pm??
And then CAT 1 on Friday from 11:15-1:30.
why the hate on cat 2/3 racers?
Because it's insane to give out national championships to non-elite racers. Just like it's insane to award singlespeed(!) SuperD, 24hr and shorttrack racing national champions. If something isn't a legitimate world championship event it shouldn't be a national championship event. It's embarrassing.
We used to give out "National Challenge" medals and commemorative jerseys to the non-elite categories, which i was stoked to race for as a grom.One of the more useless USAC adminstrations started throwing out titles like they were made of fluffernutter. Singlespeed? Seriously?
Nationals can and still be a rad participant event but giving out real jerseys and bestowing real titles for non-elite races cheapens the significance of the elite titles.
Can you image a Cat2 World Championship?
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Cant imagine it ...but I will say I know a little boy who did one of his first races at the 2004 Mount Snow National event and he raced CAT3
1-10 he loved it and it got our whole family involved in gravity racing.....lets support the Cat 2/3 racers, we need more of them, besides the next champ might be out there and I would love to give that kid a Jersey!
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