Good point, dealing with TBB's employees can be a real pain. I almost went to blows with one at last year's National in Big Bear. He tried to shoot off his mouth, and I came real close to hitting him upside his head...good times!Msisle Dad said:
Does anybody have an Idea what the Norba National Series looks like for 2006 ?
- Thread starter Msisle Dad
- Start date
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XC is an Olympic sport & NORBA obiously puts that thier main priority..
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Guess DH will always be a sideshow.
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A competitive lightweight XC bike costs about the same as a DH bike ?hmm
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You need a Mountain,resort,shuttle or hill to do real full-on DH..whereas XC is anywhere-legally of course.
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FREERIDE "scene" probably took away some Downhill racers-- forever...?
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NO TV coverage.
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All the DH bikes & suspension systems have been kinda refined & developed,so it's not like the "glory days"97-98-99 when Cannonndale,GT,GIANT,etc pay BIG SALERIES....
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BIG BEAR........... !
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.02
peas...............
XC is an Olympic sport & NORBA obiously puts that thier main priority..
-
Guess DH will always be a sideshow.
-
A competitive lightweight XC bike costs about the same as a DH bike ?hmm
-
You need a Mountain,resort,shuttle or hill to do real full-on DH..whereas XC is anywhere-legally of course.
-
FREERIDE "scene" probably took away some Downhill racers-- forever...?
-
NO TV coverage.
-
All the DH bikes & suspension systems have been kinda refined & developed,so it's not like the "glory days"97-98-99 when Cannonndale,GT,GIANT,etc pay BIG SALERIES....
-
BIG BEAR........... !
-
.02
peas...............
why is it confusing that i will not go to a race because my particular events are not respected?
my time and money will go to races where gravity is respected...US Open, World Cups, Mtn States Cups and others like Snowshoe.
agreed that the press release thing is a HUGE deal. hundreds of words and details on xc/short track and 15 words saying pruitt won women's dh and graves won men's.
the promoters/mountains/norba do not give anyone a reason to care about downhilling, so i'll go to races who give me and outsiders reason to care. they embrace the racing and the athletes, so they'll get my support...not the national series.
my time and money will go to races where gravity is respected...US Open, World Cups, Mtn States Cups and others like Snowshoe.
agreed that the press release thing is a HUGE deal. hundreds of words and details on xc/short track and 15 words saying pruitt won women's dh and graves won men's.
the promoters/mountains/norba do not give anyone a reason to care about downhilling, so i'll go to races who give me and outsiders reason to care. they embrace the racing and the athletes, so they'll get my support...not the national series.
yep..and money speaks louder than complaining.©2001 said:
and southerners speak louder than anyone, ahahahahaha!!! who's PC now biznatch?! 
Why is it so hard to see the answer and follow through? The clear answer is to boycott the Nats series, and hopefully somebody will step up and break free of the chains of USA Cycling. There is absolutly no compitition for the orginization. Yeah, I know its an Olympic committee or whatever, they have all the insurance bla bla bla...excuse excuse excuse...
Until we step up and seperate ourselves from USA Cycling/NORBA I don't know where this is going. I hate to see growth stiffled by beurocracy (SP?)....
Not many people have tried to understand the link between all forms of cycling better than myself, and I have tons of respect for the XC set...but what's better for all is a seperation of disciplines...they are SOOO different!
I'll be going to the MSC races, US Open and whatever else looks like a good time for RACING DH.
Take the US Open format and run with it!
Until we step up and seperate ourselves from USA Cycling/NORBA I don't know where this is going. I hate to see growth stiffled by beurocracy (SP?)....
Not many people have tried to understand the link between all forms of cycling better than myself, and I have tons of respect for the XC set...but what's better for all is a seperation of disciplines...they are SOOO different!
I'll be going to the MSC races, US Open and whatever else looks like a good time for RACING DH.
Take the US Open format and run with it!
my friend boycotted the Nats this year. You know what happened?
The nats still went down without him.
The nats still went down without him.
Msisle Dad said:
At mount snow i couldnt for the life of me figure out how racing slalom as a semi-pro was MORE expensive than racing Downhill. It must have been for that awesome course they built and all the dirt they brought in, plus that lift they had bringing the riders to the top of the course...
Yes I was a bit thrown off by that as well. I see no way that racing slalom cost more than racing the DH. Yes It was a crap course that required little $ to build but it was still a blast to ride. Bring on the old school, grassy turn, "crap" slalom courses. They make for great racing.DS Dom said:At mount snow i couldnt for the life of me figure out how racing slalom as a semi-pro was MORE expensive than racing Downhill. It must have been for that awesome course they built and all the dirt they brought in, plus that lift they had bringing the riders to the top of the course...
yeah, but heikki, if all you guys raced around cones in a downhill parking lot, the racing would be exciting.
it's about respecting the sport and putting forth an effort to build quality tracks. i think WV's "old school" track was cooler than mt. snow.
the nationals will still go down if we boycott, but again, put your hard earned money towards races that care about you and your gravity events.
it's about respecting the sport and putting forth an effort to build quality tracks. i think WV's "old school" track was cooler than mt. snow.
the nationals will still go down if we boycott, but again, put your hard earned money towards races that care about you and your gravity events.
I cant wait for Sea Otter...no controversy just fun
Ok , but put a jump or two on it for goodness sake... This is the National Series , not the backyard hill series.heikkihall said:
wait...you were there? FOKK! why didn't we meet? and why didn't you snap any photos of me so that once in my life I can LOOK faster than I am!!!©2001 said:
There will come a point where there is some competition and another series will be able to compete directly with the nats series. That is all that we need...a competing series, and the NCS as we know it will change.
Imagine 5 US Open quality events throughout the country....enough said.
Imagine 5 US Open quality events throughout the country....enough said.
There we go. New competition is the only way that anything is going to change. As of right now there is no competition for the National series, so NORBA has no reason to change anything.neversummersnow said:
©2001 said:
It looks like some people here do not care about people respecting them. I wish I could find a way to get people to hand me money then allow me to walk all over them.
neversummersnow said:
i proudlly did just that!
didn't do a single NCS.
i have done at least one since like 1996.
not that i didn't have the drive to.
i just chose the races i liked and had no feeling like i hade to do well at a ncs,
FOR WHAT? nada, not even a fun weekend of riding.
this year i did have a great time at races.
next year i might to mammoth, but non of the other
interest me.
Jefferey makes a good point, but I dont think you could run a race the size of a well attended Norba national in exactly the same format as the US Open. Having hundreds of riders racing in the same class would just turn into a cluster-fvck. At US Open this year there were like 135 riders qualifying in open class, competing for 60 spots. If you got all the pros that come to Norba's at a race like that, semipros and junior-xers wouldnt have a chance. Doing well keeps people excited about racing and nobody wants to go to a race and not qualify. At some point you would need to split in up into more classes. What you dont need to do is have 20 different sport and expert age groups and give asseninely short practice times and no prize money to your pros. So US Open quality races, for sure, but US Open format I'm not so sure about.neversummersnow said:
As for Nats next year, I will probably still go to the ones I can make it to because there's really nothing I like doing more than racing my bike, and If I'm sitting at home while I could be at a race it pisses me off. Yeah Norba sucks and it seems like every year is a new low, but that just motivates me to race as much as possible so I can get the support and experience I need to get away from Norba and still be able to race bikes every weekend. That said, main goal for next year is doing respectably at the Open and tearing up the MSC, especially that fool Jeff.
The U.S. Open is a great setup for a world class event. Only 60 qualify from the open class, and registration is limited. They are not worried about have every single racer on the planet attending their event.
I like the idea of having to qualify to race an event. Nationals would be more fun this way, they could not do it from a time stand point.
I like the idea of having to qualify to race an event. Nationals would be more fun this way, they could not do it from a time stand point.
I just got back from a local DH race. The top third of the course was steep, loose, rocky, and pretty tech. The middle part was a quick sprint down some streets with several obnoxious huck to flats, and the last third was stairs/crazy handicap ramps/launch to steep banks/berm on walls/urban freeride frenzy to the finish line. I, a non-citizen, non-licensed rider, had to pay a whole $21 euros, about $25, to enter. This included 2 (yes, 2) free T-shirts for the event, free sandwhiches, energy drinks, and fruit. The race was organized very well, even with no start times to worry about. As long as you made it to the top of the hill, you could start whenever you felt like it. There were about 80 or so racers, and things went very smoothly. I didn't hear a single complaint all day long about the event. Practice/signups started around 9am, and awards were over by 3pm. I even got a nice trophy for my efforts, engraved with event name, class, and place earned.
Wish we could organize races this well in the states. I officially determine Euro racing to be better than American racing.
Wish we could organize races this well in the states. I officially determine Euro racing to be better than American racing.
TheInedibleHulk said:
Actually i disagrees with you, look at the results at nationals, the front end of the Semi-pro and JrX hold there own against alot of the Pro field, it's just the front end of the pros that are that much faster. I think the open is a great format, several sports use it and it seems to work well, it lets the underdog have a chance if they put it together.
I agree with Zutroy, in Europe the classes are munch bigger, and it's a good change of pace. Sure, not everone will be able to win, but it's racing, that's part of the definition. Bigger classes emphasize having fun rather than simply trying to win, and most people ride a lot better when they're having fun. Plus, for those who win, the result is a lot more credible. My 2 cents. Let's get rid of semi-pro and make expert GNARLY! wut wut