[rainbow_smoke]

I had an awesome time!! the dist was fun, and except for falling on a very rollable part, I did a lot better then I thought I would!

It was awesome to see some peoples again! though a lot were missing!

And hooray too good weather.

DOWN with mosquito's I have tons of bites...

 

[oly]

What a great weekend. The wim people definatly stepped it up a bit this weekend. Shuttles ran very smoothly, starting on time, and never creating a long line. They even had a person at the bottom with a radio to call up top if people needed a ride up from the main staging area..(thanks to one of the Psychos suggestions...) The timing system simply rocked... I hadnt quite caught my breath before hearing i had made podium... I thought i was hearing things... The course wasnt much improved...same as last year. DUSTY and LOOSE. For the parts that were in the trees it was pretty technical and challening, the fire road parts... well for me it was a challenge keeping my pedaling up. I was struggling with a cold so my breathing and energy were all fouled up. I managed to conqure my demons and clean the "big" jump and nail it perfect on my race run (unlike last year!!)

Lastly, even after all the awards, and schwag, we were done and out of there in time to be back to seattle by 8:00. Thats a bonus any day.

 

[Skookum]

sweet.

 

[Five]

I had a good time too. For some reason my time was 18 sec slower than last year - I think I'm getting old or something. It was good meeting more monkeys too. See y'all at Chelan!

 

[MUTOLI]

It was fun. Nice and dusty...(cough cough)
It went really smooth like Oly was saying. The ankel things worked really well...helps keep those people in check that seem to get a bit of a head start... We camped at a pretty cool spot that was very quit and layed back...
It was great...the husband made some $$$$$! Fastest man on the course!!!!!

 

[PsychO!1]

It was a great race. Turn out was a little thin, which probably helped the shuttle situation. Shuttles were running smooth, for most of the time. They did run out of gas early on Saturdays practice, which left me with only 1 practice run. Then, because of a flat, i only got one practice run in on Sunday. I hadn't had enough time on the course to gather the kahoonas to do the big step down....sooo, I just closed my eyes and threw my self off it for the first time during my race run! Wheels touched down and all was good.

I thought the timing trasponders were great!! Although I heard a lot people complaining about them before the race....nobody was complaining about them after. I didn't get it, they were all worried about having to wear this small band around their ankle, when had about 10lbs of armor on!!! Maybe some can explain the big issue with wearing the transponders, because I never noticed it.

Congrats Oly, for making the podium and taking home some hardeware!!

Great race great time.
PsychO! Mike

 

[Snacks]

Originally posted by PsychO!1

I thought the timing trasponders were great!! Although I heard a lot people complaining about them before the race....nobody was complaining about them after. I didn't get it, they were all worried about having to wear this small band around their ankle, when had about 10lbs of armor on!!! Maybe some can explain the big issue with wearing the transponders, because I never noticed it.

We use the transponders at the Battle in Seattle and they worked great there too! I was thinking they might bother me durning the race but after putting it on 5 minutes later you don't even notice them!!!

 

[oly]

Originally posted by PsychO!1


Congrats Oly, for making the podium and taking home some hardeware!!

Great race great time.
PsychO! Mike

Thanks mike. Congrats to you as well.

 

[speedbump]

Originally posted by oly
...same as last year. DUSTY and LOOSE.

You know what they say, "timing is everything". It started raining here in Winthrop about 5pm last night and rained all evening.

Glad you had a good time!

 

[mplutodh1]

Awesome race, the timing was awesome, crap the transponder I forgot about after i got in the shuttle truck, actually got down on my race run, collapsed and next thing I know some lady is playing around with my ankle, startled me at first but after I realized I still had that thing on my ankle I laughed.

Definently sucks being off a bike for almost 6 months, I got my ass kicked, my ankle was pretty sore after hiking up that friggin hill 5 times and then some of the jaring along the course aggrivated it so I decided to go around the two log step downs in the woods before the big log, then rolled the log. Pedaling on the fire road was enough to make my lungs burn! Came into the first of the two spurs off the road and stared straight at Rhino and his camera, crap I felt like a deer in headlights, came in there way faster than I had in practice and next thing I know feet are off the pedals and I am heading straight for Kevin. A pat on the back from Rhino and I was going again, but dang I am out of shape! Got home after 3+ hrs in the car and noticed my ankle had swollen up considerably, still swollen today and I don't have much motion but hey it was fun to race again!

 

[SebringMGB]

I had a great time! thanks for the loaner shock Damon, wouldnt have been out there without it... i liked the course a lot. nice and tight, even if it was a bit dusty and loose. i think i did ok considering i hadnt sat on my bike since beacon. had a small washout, but got up quick (single run format was an incentive to haul serious ass at that point) and rolled in 8th. good to see you all again. gonna do more riding between now and the next race for sure!

edit: i dropped a place

 

[PsychO!1]

Originally posted by mplutodh1
...collapsed and next thing I know some lady is playing around with my ankle, startled me at first but after I realized I still had that thing on my ankle I laughed.

[/RANT]
Actually, that was the only part that irritated me. Within seconds of my finish, I had people asking for the transponder. I am wheezing for oxygen, seeing stars, hacking....last thing i need is someone hounding me for the transponder and grabbing my leg!!!! Just leave me alone for couple minutes, you'll get your transponder back!!!:angry: {/END RANT]

 

[ggrubb]

Originally posted by Five
For some reason my time was 18 sec slower than last year - I think I'm getting old or something.

For some reason I was slower this year also. Only by about 3 seconds, but I also crashed last year (about a 8 second screw-up), and now I'm on a on a better bike????
Not going to argue with the transponder timing, but it sucks to think that I am getting slower. Doesn't seem right, makes me wonder if something was jacked-up.

 

[buildyourown]

The course was definitly faster this year. The womens times this year were faster than the pro mens last year. I noticed that all the courses are faster this year compared to last. IMO, whoever is taping the courses, is leaving the tape too far off the trail and allowing new straighter lines to form. This happened on both Beacon courses and on the Winthrop. Right out of the gate there were a series of washed out dusty turns that you could straightline. I think this makes the race a little less interesting.
I was alot faster, but I didn't crash or false start like I did last year.

 

[oly]

Originally posted by ggrubb
For some reason I was slower this year also. Only by about 3 seconds, but I also crashed last year (about a 8 second screw-up), and now I'm on a on a better bike????
Not going to argue with the transponder timing, but it sucks to think that I am getting slower. Doesn't seem right, makes me wonder if something was jacked-up.

They still have 03 results up so if you want to compare go save the page before they change it.

I forget what bike you were on last year? How was your start? I wish they would show you if you get a penalty for an early start. Ive heard gino call down a few times at other races when people jump the gun. I hesitated a little this time, and then when i was moving i was in too hard of gear... still I was 10 seconds or so faster compared to last year, but i didnt crash this time. Last year i ended up in the trees a little uphill of the big rock after the log drop....with my bike on top of my and my front brake messed up. It wasnt till the road section that i could re adjust my brake.

One other note, is i think the trail was dustier and rougher than last year (no maint was done it seemed). A couple of those corners seemed alot harder to navigate than i remember.

 

[mplutodh1]

Originally posted by buildyourown
The course was definitly faster this year. The womens times this year were faster than the pro mens last year. I noticed that all the courses are faster this year compared to last. IMO, whoever is taping the courses, is leaving the tape too far off the trail and allowing new straighter lines to form. This happened on both Beacon courses and on the Winthrop. Right out of the gate there were a series of washed out dusty turns that you could straightline. I think this makes the race a little less interesting.
I was alot faster, but I didn't crash or false start like I did last year.

Not necessarily, it seperates those who know where a faster line would be from those who stay in the rut and don't want to look for faster ways. I found 2 lines that I hadn't seen my first run down after taking a second practice run, got off the bike, looked at them and pushed back up to hit them, a lot of riders just get on their bike and stay in the rut the whole way down. That's their choice. Problem with taping so close to the trail is it doesnt allow for much line choice, in the past you really had one line and that was it, which is cool but a big part of racing is also line choice. It could go both ways, but I think it was fine.

 

[DrewS]

Originally posted by buildyourown
The course was definitly faster this year. The womens times this year were faster than the pro mens last year. I noticed that all the courses are faster this year compared to last. IMO, whoever is taping the courses, is leaving the tape too far off the trail and allowing new straighter lines to form. This happened on both Beacon courses and on the Winthrop. Right out of the gate there were a series of washed out dusty turns that you could straightline. I think this makes the race a little less interesting.
I was alot faster, but I didn't crash or false start like I did last year.

The top time last year 2:57.
The top time this year, i thought, was 3:03.

 

[buildyourown]

Originally posted by mplutodh1
Not necessarily, it seperates those who know where a faster line would be from those who stay in the rut and don't want to look for faster ways. I found 2 lines that I hadn't seen my first run down after taking a second practice run, got off the bike, looked at them and pushed back up to hit them, a lot of riders just get on their bike and stay in the rut the whole way down. That's their choice. Problem with taping so close to the trail is it doesnt allow for much line choice, in the past you really had one line and that was it, which is cool but a big part of racing is also line choice. It could go both ways, but I think it was fine.

I agree to a point. When you have a wide rocky section, its good to have a wide course to allow for multiply lines. However, when the trail is single track and you make the course wide, people just cut the corners. It takes alot of skill to corner fast in that loose stuff and I think that was a bit taken away by straightening the course. Plus, it makes the course wider and more seseptable to erosion which doesn't help our cause in the long run. Alot of land managers don't want to run DH races because of the environmental impact.

 

[crash13]

i had a blast at this race and i loved the course. i thought all the loose corners were kind of cool, made it more challenging and gave some of us who don't have a bmxing background a better chance to make podium. i was a little disappointed that i busted my derailer hanger off the big log jump in my race run, but i was also grateful that i didn't wreck because of it. this also seemed like the most relaxing race of the year also.

 

[joelsman]

My time was the same as last year or within .5 sec, this year was 3:11.5, on a bike I finished puting to gether saturday morning .
I had a great time nice and relaxed, shuttle system much better this year

ankle bracelets were great didn't notice at all after a minute, almost forgot it though!:

Joel

 

[Skookum]

i love Winthrop i wanna go back and trail ride out there some more.... Lightning Creek fast pummy pumm is callin my name.......