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A new twist on Super D

ridetoofast

scarred, broken and drunk
Mar 31, 2002
2,095
5
crashing at a trail near you...
i was riding today and thinking...how could one incorporate each major discipline of riding into one race and i got to thinking that super d already did that with one exception, road riding.

so.....

what if there was a race where you did road, dh, AND xc and make it sort of triatholon like where you had a transition area in between each discipline so you had the right bike for each race.

say you did road first by climbing to the top of the mtn that you were about to DH on, then DH down to a certain point, and finish off with XC.

it seems to me that you could feasibly pull this off on one mountain/location with some creative course layout.

i was just thinking then you would REALLY see who the BEST all round rider was

wadda y'all :monkey:'s think?

please discuss
 

gonzostrike

Monkey
May 21, 2002
118
0
Montana
I think you'd be surprised how many of the same riders would dominate.

the top WC DH racers who also race 4X/mtnX are pretty strong pedalers who probably wouldn't have much difficulty on a climbing section that resembled XC... until the climb got long, and then you might see some fitness deficit among the gravity guys.

on the other hand,

how many of the top XC riders do you think would be skilled at the DH oriented part of the race?

maybe the ones from coastal BC.

the Downieville DH is a pedaling descent and crossover racers usually do well. Mark Weir, Henry O'Donnell -- for example.
 

dromond

Monkey
Aug 20, 2002
286
0
Northampton, MA
You realize that that would put the least emphasis on the downhill, right? Because it's so short and high-consequence compared to the other disciplines.

Still not a worthless idea.
 

gonzostrike

Monkey
May 21, 2002
118
0
Montana
I think it's a great idea.

It reminds me of what XC race courses used to be like, back in the mid- to late 90s, before they became dirt criterium courses.
 

ridetoofast

scarred, broken and drunk
Mar 31, 2002
2,095
5
crashing at a trail near you...
thanks for the replies :thumb:

what can i say, i am a bike whore, if it has 2 wheels i like to ride it and i just thought it would be cool to see a format that touched on each discipline

perhaps you could make it interesting and make the road have both climb AND descent

any number of permutations would be possible, so long as each discipline was touched on i think it would be cool!
 
May 12, 2005
977
0
roanoke va
you missed cyclocross, dual slalom, and 4X, and heck, try and through a FR contest in. the higher you place, the more of a handycap you get. and add a lemans start.
 

Freerider697

Monkey
Jun 16, 2005
140
0
Yeah thats a good idea, it would definetly mix it up a bit. You know something else that would be cool? If there could be like an extreme 4x course with 10 foot drops and huge gaps,and a short DH section and then the usual stuff. You would probably need like a 6 or 7 inch bike with a 170mm single crown to pull that off. I dont know about hitting a 10 footer at that speed though. But its a thought.
 

bballboy388

Monkey
Dec 4, 2004
812
0
for that race to make it harder i think there shouldnt be transition places you should have to use one bike and make it work for all the sections.
 

allsk8sno

Turbo Monkey
Jun 6, 2002
1,153
33
Bellingham, WA
i can see it now, your typical DH hardtail or 5-6" travel bike with a lockout and an boxxer ride U-turn up front would be the ticket i think
sweet!!!
 

PatBranch

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2004
10,451
9
wine country
another idea that could be added: another version of this race could have teams in which certain people in the team would specialize in road, xc, dh, mx and each do a race.
 

PatBranch

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2004
10,451
9
wine country
For the indepandant person, single bike version version, it would be cool if it was all one race so that right after you finish the road section there could be a dirt section with dh, 4x,...
 

BigMike

BrokenbikeMike
Jul 29, 2003
8,931
0
Montgomery county MD
I think its a pretty good idea, but I'm all for the one bike thing. Being able to balance out speed and stamina, and doing it all on one bike would be the impressive part.
 

PatBranch

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2004
10,451
9
wine country
THat would be cool. It would require a lot of endurance after a long climb to be on your toes through the gravity type sections.
 

dogwonder

Nitro
May 3, 2005
1,849
0
Walking the Earth
I like the one bike idea....you gotta do a hill climb followed by a decent, through some rollers, berms, and small drops in as well. But it would still have to be more down than up or the XC riders would dominate. Look at Super D today, very few spots to climb but XC riders still mop up.

Oh yeah, and definitely a Le Mans start...
 

dante

Unabomber
Feb 13, 2004
8,807
9
looking for classic NE singletrack
Scurry said:
I cant imagine DH or MTX would have as much weight as the XC/road part.
so time each individually, and give a multiplier penalty onto something that is only going to take 4 min or so. Maybe keep road and xc as normal, but add a 10x or 20x multiplier to the time difference between the fastest time on the DH and everyone else.

For example, if you were one minute behind the fastest time on the DH, it would translate to 10min penalty overall. Probably be about right, especially if the road section was about 45min, and the DH section was about 4.5min, it would probably work out.
 

Freerider697

Monkey
Jun 16, 2005
140
0
Yeah, if there could be a race incorperating sections of all the race types, XC, DH, MTX, you would probably need a bike that has either 4-5-6 inch travel front and rear, or a DH hardtail with an adjustable fork like someone said before. Im for the one bike idea also. It would be cool if you could incorperate some parts of a dirt jump line or rithem section with drops and jumps to mix it up. Incorperate all aspects of riding on that particular mountain. Like if it was at whistler, a part of the race could go through the bone yard. I dont know if that would work but just making suggestions.
 

Freerider697

Monkey
Jun 16, 2005
140
0
The only way I could see this happening, is if any of you guys know someone that ownes a MTB center and could make it a one day special event like on the 4th of july weekend or something, and eventually people will catch on to it.
 

Reactor

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2005
3,976
1
Chandler, AZ, USA
I like the one bike idea. Seems a lot of people would be competetive on just about any 4-7" bike. A lot of the DH guys are pretty strong, with a pretty high LT, as long as the road climb wasn't overly long they wouldn't be at a huge disadvantage. Most bikes are pretty reasonable at XC now days, propedal and SPV have slosed teh gap between XC and FR bikes quite a bit. And the DH would have to balance out the road. I know people of 4" bikes who desend like kamakazies an climb like goats. I could see a strong rider on something like a Giant Reign doing well too. Hell I'd give it a shot.
 

Freerider697

Monkey
Jun 16, 2005
140
0
My new bike would be perfecto for this. A yeti ASX with manitou breakout plus, and rear shock in 6inch settingl version. We would have to call it Super Special D or Extreme MTX. He he he