[MasterofGroms]

There are a lot of people working hard at making Blue Mountain a success.
To partially define success;
We would like to have an awesome Race series for DH, DS, SuperD and in the future XC.
We would like to build a bike park.
We would like to have summer lift access at least on weekends.
There is a longer list, but let's start with this.
This is all a possibility and is in the works.

To achieve this goal, we realize that we need to communicate as much as possible with the end users, you the riders. So in an effort to intitiate this communication we are looking for feedback on this weekend's event from those of you that attended. Please understand that our goal is to constantly improve on these events. This past weekend's race had some issues but all in all it was a great time and now there's proof that there can be World Class riding in PA. This hill is no joke, just ask anyone who raced. It's a Big steep hill with lots of Trees, Roots and Rocks. Even a high speed quad for lift access.
With that in mind we are looking for Constructive Critisizm.
What do you guys think we need to do to make this better?
Remember, we are all just people like you trying to make this work, so be nice.
Oh, and thank you for coming. The little success we've had so far was because of you. The weather didn't hurt either, and if any of you has any control over that please PM me directly so I can order the same weather for the next event.

 

[jonKranked]

While I wasn't there, I do commend you for getting direct feedback from riders in order to make improvements.

 

[yuroshek]

joe, the event was great. i talked to dan a few times about the course and what i thought. the course was awesome. very challangeing and tech. this is what downhill is about. but i think it might have been jus a little to hard for beginners? maybe thats why the one guy got takin out on a back board. and also just because 1 guy gets takin out doesnt mean they should mark that part of the course as closed to the expert/pros.

also i heard from alot of the sport guys that they hated the go around on that steep shoot, they had to ride up a big hill so they say. so maybe next time make a less "steeper" shoot another 50 feet down course that still leads into the expert/pro course if that makes sense.

live timeing would be awesome. coming across the finish line and not knowing a time really kills you. waiting 2 hours to find out your time/result really stinks. that 2 hours could be spent on the road heading home if you didnt make top 3 in your class.

overall great event and great turnout for their very first race. count me in on the next one. i had a blast.

Dennis

 

[kidwithbike]

Hey Joe,

First I really enjoyed the race as a whole and would like to thank all involved...
I speak from the standpoint of a Cat 1 racer who races almost every weekend. I love the chance to get to a new mountain, especially one that is only 2 hours from the city, I anticipate it will get a good draw from nyc as well as philly!

Super D: track was very impressive, showed a great amount of building effort, kicking myself for waking up late! Talking with Dan Whitehead (race director) at the bar Sat night it seemed he had finally worked out the kinks, and should shed some light on the questionalbe and seriously delayed results.

Dual: I heard great things from Memmelaar, Griz, and Alejandro (top 4 pros)about the dual track except for 1 triple that was weird. Enthusiasm was really high for the racing but the delays (not caused by the shuttle truck) between each run stiffled the spectator experience a lot. Sadly I was 1 of less than a dozen people still watching the pro finals (which Neko, Griz, J, and Alejo were killing it in making for pinned close battles!)

DH: Track was freshcut, loamy and unpredictable, which kept it exciting, It took me several runs just to adjust to these conditions. Some may critisize it but i like that the course was taped wide and left open for some interpretation, obviously adventagous lines developed as the burnt in line was often greasy and slow. I do think the mountain has way more potential than this course showed. Throw in a couple longer traverses rather than straight down, and bench cut some like some parts of the Super D course and that would be a long manly course.

 

[amishmatt]

Joe,

I was only there on Saturday, so I can't speak for anything on Sunday.

IMO, it was an outstanding event, and any hiccups were completely understood and forgiven (IMO). Couple of points of constructive criticism to mention (since you asked):

Registration. I rarely race, so I don't know my way through registration. Apparently, nobody working reg. did either. But I was one of the first through, and they seemed to be figuring it out as they went.

Lifts. More capacity for bikes. Obviously, with a quad, you can move people. But one bike hook on every other lift was a real limiting factor. Also saw different standards for different riders: I asked to hold my bike instead of hang it, and was told that wasn't allowed because it would tear the seats. That rule apparently didn't apply to the pros. Also, the hooks are less than ideal. I had to watch my bike hit the side of the lift hard (luckily no damage) as it swung pretty violently as the lift docked at the top.

Start organization. The SD and DS seemed to go off about an hour behind schedule. Growing pains I'm sure, but timeliness is always appreciated.

My start (SD) in particular was botched due to misscommunication between the starter and I. They said they were running every other interval, but started me at the first interval after the previous racer. I was sitting there, unclipped, expecting another 30 sec., until about 3 sec, from missing my start the starter said "racer ready?"

Courses. I didn't get a run in on the Pro/Expert DH course, but rode the beginner/sport course and the SD course. No criticism here at all, great course. A lot of fun and a perfect "east coast" course. SD course was excellent as well. I hated the climb on my DH bike (but that's because I'm out of shape), but the rest of it was beautiful. It seemed to me like perfect SD course that didn't really favor an XC or DH bike. I didn't run the DS course either, but it certainly made for great racing and spectating. Your son can build and design great courses!

Overall I thought it was an outstanding event. There may have been a few issues, but nothing that would make me think twice about coming to the next race. Everybody seemed cool, no attitudes or ego, including the lift operators who were belting out the 80's rock.

Thanks to you and everyone who played a part in this. I truly hope Blue Mountain recognizes the potential they have.

 

[teamkranzelbike]

We all had a great time at the event. I can say that anyone who thought that everyting was going to go off without a burp or two or three or more was thinking foolish. There were going to be growing pains , and there were. But No reason to dwell on that.

as constructive critisism i would offer this. Take care of the Beginners. They are the ones growing the sport. I would keep the sport beginner courses challangeing, but on an intermediate level. I thought the course was a tad too difficult for beginners. I do feel that after it got workrd in a bit it became easier to navigate.

longer sunday practice. Since there were no places to stay, many people opted to drive back and forth both days. we traveld 1 1/2 hours and some 2 hours or more. After breaking in a new course all day saturday and having to get up early sunday to get 2 runs down the mountain was really pushing it.

riders meeting at the Bottom of the hill. Not everyone want to spend all day on top of the hill waiting for their run. and running up the hill and than back down cut into time that could have been spent repairing stuff.

as far as the Course. It just needs to me marked a little better. Some of us were practing parts of the course that were not even what we ended up racing.

I am sure the will be lots of input, mostly good stuff. We had fun. We will come back. And we would love another bike park on the east coast.

One thing that concerns me is the terrain. Now I did not see more than what the DH course was on. But it was lots of rocks, with lots more rocks. The first few seasons are going to require lots of regular trail maintenance to keep the trails rideable for the general public. Learn about erosion control from the start. Your trails will last longer and you wont have to rip them up later putting in stupid boards.It took several years for another mountain to realize that trails loaded with loose rock lost a lot of apeal for younger and less experienced rides, who I believe spend the bulk of the money. And that trails that eroded quickly took up most of the maintenance crews time.

anyway, good job. keep it going.

 

[jonKranked]

In regards to the sport/beginner course comments, I couldn't agree more that they need work (this is a general comment). Although I wasn't there, I have experience this at other mountains. Overall, I feel that beginner/sport courses need more attention. It's got to be easy enough that beginner racers don't get discouraged or feel overwhelmed, in over their heads, etc, but at the same time it needs to remain challenging enough for the faster/more advanced sport riders - the ones getting ready to move up to expert class.


I've ridden pro/ex courses and beginner/sport courses at mountains for the same race, and in some instances there is a HUGE difference in difficulty between the two. Which, when a sport/cat 2 rider moves up to expert/cat 1, can also be intimidating. I'm a sport/cat 2 racer, but normally I have no problems riding a pro/ex course. I just couldn't do it fast enough to be competitive. However, I have ridden some pro/expert courses that I felt would have been too difficult for a racer who just came into expert from sport.

Back on the original subject, I think a good way to remedy this solution is by using alternate/go-around lines in beginner/sport courses. Have some harder sections added in for the sport riders. One thing I've noticed consistently in beginner/sport courses is a lack of more challenging rock sections, which are plentiful in many pro/ex courses. Put a detour through a rock garden for sport riders, and have a go-around or alternate section of course for the beginners.

 

[soul-skier]

I did not make it up for race #1 and am regretting it. It sounds like the dual course was sick. I like "hard" DH courses because it forces me to take my riding to the next level and focus on basic riding fundamentals like looking ahead and not focusing on what's under the front wheel. Please continue to tape courses wide. From a riders standpoint it allows creativity, ingenuity, and individual riding styles to come to the forefront. This makes it more enjoyable for experienced racers (pro/cat1) and allows less experienced riders (cat2/3) the opportunity to learn critical skills such as line choice and breaking points. I also agree with all comments regarding cat2/3 riders being the future of the sport. Don't disregard these riders who want to spend their hard earned money at your resort and share in the stoke that is mtb'ing. See you all at the next Blue race! I'm looking forward to it.

 

[SeatPost]

Overall the event was pretty on point. The administrative stuff was a bit off but, considering it was their first event it wasn't all that bad. 1 min intervals between riders on the super d was the sweet spot. I was glad I was in the later groups. Near realtime results need to happen. Again hopefully that can be chalked up to first time admin woes. Was it me or was that starting block a little weird on the super d. It didn't cause me an issue I just thought it was odd. You could tell the parts they spent the most time on but, across the board the course was sweet. With some more break in time, digging and better weather that place could prove to be top notch. It would be nice to see a little less off camber going on. the top two or three sections. If I would make one course design suggestion it would be to level some of that out.

I know the PMBA guys had a respectable hand in getting that place race ready and I would like to thank them for all their efforts. The guy Dan running the show deserves a hand as well. I was very suprised to see as many riders there as there were. Hopefully that equates to Blue going full time sooner than later.

 

[MasterofGroms]

Great stuff. Keep it coming.
Live timing and a large visible timing clock are two of the things we are working on.
We already have the timing clock, we just need to set it up.
Improvements on the racecourse with more clearly marked trails will be a focus as well.
Dan's meeting with the Mountain on Wednesday to review and discuss improvements. All of these issues will be discussed.
Thanks for the feedback...Keep it Coming!

 

[crazywolf]

hey whats goin on i guess i can put my two cents in....lets start off with i had a great time i thought every thing went pretty well with only some small bumps. like some have already said regrastration was a bit confusing i raced dh and i thought sun practice was too short plus i had to sign in again witch eat up some more time...marking the course better i didnt know where i was going (which is nothing new to me )...changeing the course made some guys cat 2 race on something they only practice on a little bit on sun....and shuting down a section of course to run the super d made practiceing the tire jump tuff....yes some of us need time to get up the nerve to go for it..... and the last thing was timeing / results took long i gotta drive home yet......but like i said i had a great time all the work you guys and gals did was greatly apprecated and no race ever goes off with out a hitch or two so great job and like the big man said....ill be back...