[Damo]

I know a wee bit about the Avalanche series (have raced in some of the 'short course' ones), but have never participated in a maxi- or mega-avalanche. I think I'll try to get down to one, perhaps the Alpes d'Huez one would be closest. They certainly look like a hell of a lot of fun.

Cheers sirbikesalot for a decent reply. Folks are getting a bit heckled in this thread and your response was detailed, informative and mature.

Stik, come back.

 

[rb92078]

hats off to Lopes! those races are gnarly, I remember talking to Paroline a while ago and him telling me he pedaled so hard he puked in his helmet! (By the way Paroline used to be top 10 WC DH guy back in the day) Anyways way to go Lopes.

And for those who don't think Lopes hooks people up, I raced a 4x a while back in euro, and the uci was not gonna wait for me to fix my wheel to race my heat. Lopes was in my heat... and he backed out of the gate and he said to the official, "he doesn't have 2 min to fix a front flat. Im not racing." Whole event stopped and waited till my bike was fixed and we got to race. By the way that race was 2003 World Champs in Lugano.

 

[TA..]

Well I found it first go on google! man some people are lazy!

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.maxiavalanche.com%2F

Seems like there is a whole series now and Rene and Tomi are well respected in Europe I thought and always tops in Mega!

The whole concept look really cool, I would love to do mega just once!

 

[buckoW]

Rene Wildhaber won the Alpes de Huez Mega Avalanche 5 times, I think. He has a small segment in Kranked 7 if anyone is interested. Here is a good video of Mega Avalanche racing http://freecaster.com/1000006_1003054

 

[Damo]

Here is a good video of Mega Avalanche racing http://freecaster.com/1000006_1003054

Holy sh1t if thats not an eye opener.

Looks like fun to ride, but pure evil to race. Fantastic.

Blenkinsop in 7th and Camellini in 4th... Nice one lads.

I'm going to look into that for next year I think...

 

[BC VAN]

those guys BL beat are awesome riders at this format and all have done the events many times....BL's ride is impressive for sure,

he is going to do well in these types of races with his fitness and sprint ability....i think Downieville will surprise him a bit and when he gets to Mega in Alpe i'm curious to see what he thinks about the snow and glacier.....

i talked with Weir last weekend and he wants nothing to do with Mega from the stand point of getting cleaned out by other riders.

if you know Lopes, you know that if he puts his mind to this he's going to get some results.
it doesn't surprise me he is done with the world cup deal and on to this format.....it gets old doing the same thing and more importantly dealing with the same short comings of an event and series year after year.....no matter how much feedback you give.

i think that a lot of people are seeing this as a downgrade in prestige, world cup is most certainly the highest level of racing, and i'm sure always will be but don't be surprised when you see endurance DH stuff getting big in the next 3 years....

i know of a couple of companies that are very interested in growing this format to a higher level. BL is always ahead of the curve when it comes to stuff...

he'll be right in the mix when this thing is more recognized and a lot of top riders are involved.

i understand how some get fired up bout stik, he always is posting about BL and can be opinionated.....but i think his fanboy status gets a hall pass with BL, when someone is in your wedding it kind of negates the whole fanboy deal i think.

 

[CBJ]

Enduro DH sounds like a good idea. More fitness required than crazy lines so us old guys stand a better chance.

I would think these are some of the reasons why Enduro has gotten so big in Europe too.

 

[ChrisKring]

EC

Please put on an endurance DH somewhere. 3 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, doesn't matter.

I have been racing some hare scrambles (think a XC race on a MX bike with half MX track and half woods) and it would be awesome to do something similar with the DH bike. Of course, a lift would be required unless it had a 10,000+' decent.

 

[Mani_UT]

i talked with Weir last weekend and he wants nothing to do with Mega from the stand point of getting cleaned out by other riders.

Hum that sounds like a weak excuse... Many top WC guys with much more to loose do not seem to have that issue. Which top rider even got "cleaned out" at Alpes d'Huez in the last 10 years?

It's cool being king of the hill especially when it's Downieville but you don't achieve greatness by staying in your backyard (not that I know anything about greatness )

 

[sanjuro]

Hum that sounds like a weak excuse... Many top WC guys with much more to loose do not seem to have that issue. Which top rider even got "cleaned out" at Alpes d'Huez in the last 10 years?

It's cool being king of the hill especially when it's Downieville but you don't achieve greatness by staying in your backyard (not that I know anything about greatness )

You mean a mass start of about 1000 riders in the snow? No chance of getting "cleaned out".

BTW, what World Cup has a downhill start like this?

 

[Nagaredama]

i talked with Weir last weekend and he wants nothing to do with Mega from the stand point of getting cleaned out by other riders.

I find this funny considering Weir never seems to wear a full face helmet. All the DH pros at SOC wear one but him. Same with that article in Decline a year or so a go. Everyone is wearing a full face but Weir.

 

[BC VAN]

Hum that sounds like a weak excuse... Many top WC guys with much more to loose do not seem to have that issue. Which top rider even got "cleaned out" at Alpes d'Huez in the last 10 years?

It's cool being king of the hill especially when it's Downieville but you don't achieve greatness by staying in your backyard (not that I know anything about greatness )

i can tell you i got cleaned out 3 times last year...twice on the snow and once in the qualifier....but i would still do it again, the fun factor for me out weights the risk factor....

i didn't state it to slam Weir, although i don't think it is as dangerous as he does...Weir doesn't come from a background of multi rider racing so it is a bit different for him.

i do agree that in order for him to be the true top guy of the type of racing he is doing he needs to venture over to Europe,like he did last year, Europe is no doubt the hot bed for this type of stuff, with much stronger fields.

what he does in Downieville is amazing without argument, and he just smoked us all at Ashland 12 mile as well....but i think it would be a good test for him to do the Mega stuff and i think after the fact he would be stoked....i highly doubt he would win due to the commitment it takes at the start in the snow.....but i think the experience would be awesome for him.

 

[Mani_UT]

You mean a mass start of about 1000 riders in the snow? No chance of getting "cleaned out".
BTW, what World Cup has a downhill start like this?

Many many top world cup racers ran the mega over the years. I don't think any of them got hurt. That's all I was trying to say. The event is not dangerous (well except for your ego ).

 

[Mani_UT]

i can tell you i got cleaned out 3 times last year...twice on the snow and once in the qualifier....but i would still do it again, the fun factor for me out weights the risk factor....

Got it Never got hurt tough right?
Beside if you get the holeshot down he glacier nobody is gonna take you out!!!
On that topic, the glacier this year should be THE BEST it has been in many m,any years!!! Should be good!

 

[BC VAN]

Got it Never got hurt tough right?
Beside if you get the holeshot down he glacier nobody is gonna take you out!!!
On that topic, the glacier this year should be THE BEST it has been in many m,any years!!! Should be good!

i got bruised up....but we are riding MTB's after all.


Mark's fear as he says "is some crazy euro guy bombing down on him and cleaning him out" something completely out of his control....and there is some truth to that situation happening,

i just think he would have a lot of fun doing it...i think it would be a bit hard for Mark to go to a race and know that he isn't going with the expectation of winning....not sure if his type of mind set deals with that well?

i saw a lot of downed riders but i didn't see any getting carted off.....and i saw more smiling faces at the finish then any other race.


getting the holeshot on the glacier is really only possible for the first row riders and then you have to be a absolute maniac to pull it....no brakes 60 plus on snow until you hit the small patch of dirt that has a small single track groove with monster boulders outside of the line....so you have 40 guys going 60+ all trying to fit into one spot.

i really wish Lopes was doing Mega instead of D Ville this year....i'm curious to see his thoughts on the one in France, i think he would love it and think it was crazy at the same time.