Check out that fancy sign they have now! When I went there last there was just a busted sign that said <Ski I think there was a part that was missing that was supposed to say Plattekill. Man do I miss that place! 
My First DH experience - a photo essay of sorts.........
- Thread starter MMcG
- Start date
MMcG,
so how ya feeling today?
I'd think riding a hardtail at Platty could put a beating on your body!
so how ya feeling today?
I'd think riding a hardtail at Platty could put a beating on your body!
I'm tired but I feel great!!
DHing is definitely a work out - but one helluva fun one. I have one of those stress balls at work and I've been squeezing it this a.m. to build up my lower arm strength for all the bumps and all the braking that you need to do when DHing. Maybe I was braking too much??
Between playing catcher for Liam's Rookie Ball game and then DHing my quads are feeling tired but it is a good tired!
My back was a little sore last night - wasn't sure if it was from the ass back body position I had to try to remember to stay in or from getting bumped around a bit on the hard tail - probably a combination of both.
i saw you with that smile bursting out of your full-face, rockin' the hard tail you hardcore! you looked great out there working your way through the insanity. always nice to have a good "tour guide" on one's first downhill experience, and it sounds like you had an exceptional one.
welcome to another addiction.
welcome to another addiction.
Were you the woman riding the lift that I talked to? When we were looking for my sunglasses that I dropped?
Thanks for the words of encouragement and yeah I have to remember next time not to smile so much - you get mud in your teeth when you do that! But I couldn't help it - I had a blast.
And yes, Doug was a great guy to help me out on my first time DHing. He rocks!
congrats on surviving, sounds like a good time was had. why'd you decide on the hardtail? have you used flat pedals much before? if not, i'd have suggested to keep the clipless on, esp for a hardtail.
The Snipes was all set up and ready to go. I was thinking of swapping parts over to the Belair, but that would have been a pain and the Belair has three rings on it. Plus I wasn't sure if the Hayes hydros would fit the Shiver ( I needed to use spacers to get my 7" Avid Mechs to work on the Shiver) etc. etc.
The Snipes already had the Shiver, the short stem, one ring and a bashguard with Truvativ box guide to keep everything in place. I was glad to have the race face bash guard too. Felt it hit several times....I would have killed my chainrings on the Belair I think, since it has a lower bottom bracket than the Snipes as well.
I started out with Time Zs on the bike but it was pretty damned muddy and getting clipped in on steep stuff was difficult.....switched over to flats and it worked fine. One less thing to worry about in a way......and for me on a day like yesterday that was a good thing. I've been riding flats on the Snipes pretty much since I got it.....only recently tried the Atac Zs.....all in all the flats worked out fine.
Why would clipless be better for a hardtail? Not sure I'm quite getting it? More control over the rear end of the frame or something?
And yes a good time was had indeed.
Sweet, now you need a DH bike:devil:
usually it's because it's easier to get bucked off the pedals on a hardtail. i've only DH'd on a hardtail twice; once on my voodoo/z1 at sunday river (the wife was riding the joker), and once @ bromont w/ my evil and monster t.
if you've got a big fork on a hardtail, it's easier to go faster but then you'll have to use a lot more body english and finesse to keep w/ the bike. your legs can get sapped pretty quickly.
come to think of it, i've actually never used clipless while DHing.
just a frame and a fork....I think I have the rest.
I have a Shiver Single Crown on my Snipes..... another couple of inches of travel up front would have been nice. A nice 7 and 7 bike would really work well for me methinks. But the Snipes worked well.
I felt better on the flats than I did on my first run down with the Time Zs - I'm glad I made the switch. I have Wellgo Mag pedals and the pins are pretty damned grippy.
What does this have to do with this thread?
Douglas can show you where it is. I want to see someone do it. It's sketchy!
I'll let you know when I go.
Kick Ass!
Hardtail Priiiieeeeeed!!!!
We got our first taste of DH with Biggins ( a great ambassador to this discipline of the sport
) in Pisgah & are now racing the Arkansas DH series AND going to Bootleg Canyon in June & riding everywhere in between.
I say, keep on rockin the Snipes!
Hardtail Priiiieeeeeed!!!!
We got our first taste of DH with Biggins ( a great ambassador to this discipline of the sport
) in Pisgah & are now racing the Arkansas DH series AND going to Bootleg Canyon in June & riding everywhere in between.I say, keep on rockin the Snipes!
This all sounds very Xtreme. 
Originally posted by Tweek
Glad to hear you had fun at P'kill.
Yes, the run from the lift to the "old" side has several opportunities to air out the ol' cycle. Lotta great flow over on that side. Would that drop Douglas showed you be the infamous Broken Tooth?
I love broken tooth drop............
hi. i don't think that was me, but i do get in quite the zone when i'm riding. heck, we may have gone into great detail about those lenses you were looking for and could easily have no recollection. i watched you from the lift a few times and noticed your grin-plastered mug in the parking lot as i was parked past you guys. i have a chrome bike with pink stickers and a white astro van. hope to see you there again soon. cuz it's so much fun. sweet glutenous fun!!!
Hi, this is MMcG's tour guide
you should have come over and said Hi
we love meeting fellow
s !ps: how often to you go to Platty, I have a season pass and will be looking for people to ride with
Originally posted by Lexx D
I'm there most sundays. Silver xterra, black bb7w/ shiver. We''ll have to do some runs.
cool !
this w/e I have to work (have to help my work movie to a new location) and the following w/e I have a xc race,
but the w/e after that
well you must be crazy...aren't you?Originally posted by Lexx D
I saw you at the first race. That bike is amazing! I was on the lift line drooling at it. I was like nice bike. You looked at me like i was crazy and just smiled.
thanks for the compliment but i can't take credit. brooklyn and the pink intense team are to blame. it's fun and quite surprising how it seems to make people smile. and smiling is a good thing....except for the mud in your teeth, right MMcG?edit: douglas, i think you might recognize me because i know we've spoken in the lift line over the years, but i will come say hi next time. and expect the same from all y'all. was hoping to meet treesaw over the race w/e, but none of the women i asked were her. shucks. maybe next time. there was quite a crew of betties that first weekend.
LOL! Oh that was YOU! Bikey wouldn't shut up about some drooling hunk the whole ride home.Originally posted by Lexx D
Yes a bit. besides i may have looked strange looking at your bike the way i was. I think it was flirting with me.
Hmm, now I am really curious to who to heck are you???
Being I am not racing the series this year (or calculating everyones points/series for Laz) I have more time to do fun runs and be social
douglas, sorry i don't have any photos at the moment. usually the chrome brooklyn is what people remember about me (giving me quite an identity crisis!) i wrote plattekill race coverage for their site last year, if that helps at all. it's okay if not. i'll make sure to say hi next time i see ya.
I remember seeing a black Brooklyn with pink lettering and another brooklyn....maybe yellow......but don't remeber seeing a chrome one.
Were you also riding with a group where someone was riding a Nicolai and a V-10........because that group when by us up that the top and my jaw dropped at all the fine bike porn that was passing by me to head down the mountain!
i was the only female on a bklyn at pkill sunday, and the only bklyn with pink stickers, but my bike is chrome. i did a few runs with the ripper on the yellow bklyn and some other people too. maybe i was riding by as you were smiling and the mud in your teeth reflected off the chrome and made it look black.
Maybe my orange glasses made your bike look darker - I guess I was focused on staying alive out there or something......but I do remember some pink brooklyn stickers that's for sure!
Hopefully I'll get to meet you the next time I hit Plattekill or some other mountain or trail in and around NY and New England!
Now if you had one of those cool crazy helmets like your friend Grizgal there I woulda definitely spotted you.
that is one badazz helmet, eh? we'll all meet, i'm sure if it.Originally posted by MMcG
Maybe my orange glasses made your bike look darker - I guess I was focused on staying alive out there or something......but I do remember some pink brooklyn stickers that's for sure!
Hopefully I'll get to meet you the next time I hit Plattekill or some other mountain or trail in and around NY and New England!
Now if you had one of those cool crazy helmets like your friend Grizgal there I woulda definitely spotted you.
but this thread is about YOU!!!!...and YOU'RE kick ass 1st time dhing. you ripped....on a HARD TAIL!!! in the slick wet conditions. focused and determined. getting better as the day wore on. wheeeeeee.
Yeah it's all about ME!
Actually it is about me, and Douglas, and riding and DHing and the sites, the sounds, the scenery, and the gnarlyness of some of the trails and drops etc. etc.
It was a kick arse day!
I think one of the cool things of the day was riding the lifts and hearing the sounds of those big bad arsed bikes ripping down the trails.
I'm glad this thread is still kickin because it is helping me remember all the little things from yesterday.
Will do - but only if you let me take a run on your Balfa!
:devil: No problem.Originally posted by MMcG
Will do - but only if you let me take a run on your Balfa!
. She may be a bit on the stiff side. how much do you weigh? I only ask since i set my bikes up very stiff. i'm not as concerned about a smooth ride since the faster i go the smoother it get's
I'm around 180 with gear on I suspect. 170 without.Originally posted by Lexx D
No problem.
yeah! the sound ... nothingness while the chair chugs along (at a SNAILS PACE!!) ... then a little rattle, or some crunching heard in the distance.....then some shale heard under braking power....the dreary woods packed with twisting trails through un-sprung trees, slick roots, you can spy for hundreds of yards until the thick lush green takes over sometime this month. the trails comes alive as brightly colored jerseys and bikes pick their way through. watch 'em flow. skipping over earths magnificent undulations. a train of riders. or just one. you see a near-death mishap and a miraculous recovery....but not without a howling hoot of relief mixed with glee. directed at whom? the trees? the rocks? the chair lift eavesdroppers? sometimes i can't help it and a yelpping call explodes from my lungs as i sit not-so-patiently for the chair to deliver me to the top. yeeeeeeehaaaaaaawwww!
giddyup downhill.
giddyup downhill.
Mmmm. Plattekill. Such a huge reputation for such a small rural mountain. EDIT: I was surprised to say the least when I saw that Marie was pregnant. (What I had before came across as rude, which was not my intent. I know what I originally said will still probably come up in quotes, but I still felt the need to rephrase it. I love Plattekill and do not want to offend anyone who is asociated with it. So, for what its worth, sorry if I offended anyone <Chromegoddess>.)
Sunday, race weekend #1, May 2004
Sunday, race weekend #1, May 2004