[Capt. Jack Sparrow]

What have your experiences been racing DH at Wisp in the past? The MD State Championship race (NORBA/Racer's Edge) is in two weeks there.

Some friends and I went there yesterday and concluded that Wisp was not worth the trip. The Shed or Wintergreen (and Snowshoe, of course) have way better riding, in our opinion... so we're not sure if want to go back now to race.

Any thoughts?

 

[Animal Mother]

What have your experiences been racing DH at Wisp in the past? The MD State Championship race (NORBA/Racer's Edge) is in two weeks there.

Some friends and I went there yesterday and concluded that Wisp was not worth the trip. The Shed or Wintergreen (and Snowshoe, of course) have way better riding, in our opinion... so we're not sure if want to go back now to race.

Any thoughts?

haven't been there but Mike at Racers Edge works his arse off on the courses they built. give it a chance, Blue Knob rocked.

 

[llkoolkeg]

I have never actually raced there, but I have ridden the two main DH race courses. I thought they were pretty cool, actually. The day I was there, though, it had rained like Hell for a few days before and the race course(primarily stage right of the lift) was VERY muddy. I tried to follow Dave K. of RDR down it and almost killed myself on one super muddy steep through the trees even though I was walking it. The older DH race course primarily stage left of the lift was also real fun and less muddy due to less overall traffic. My favorite run on that mountain involved doing the top part of the old DH race course and connecting it up with a trail the local workers referred to as the black XC race course, which was an all super-tight rocky singletrack run that went downhill stage right and ultimately switched back towards the bottom of the lift along an off-camber the overlooked the paintball battlefield. Towards the end of the day, I was so tired and sore from busting my ass on the long, fast off-camber section of the newer DH race course that I just rode the actual bumpy, grassy ski slopes down for a few runs. Too this day, I have never gone faster on a bike than on the black diamond ski slopes of Wisp.

 

[Capt. Jack Sparrow]

...Too this day, I have never gone faster on a bike than on the black diamond ski slopes of Wisp.

And I've never gone faster than I did yesterday on a bike, either. That was fun. We just couldn't find too many trails that had any flow to them. And I emphasize that "we just couldn't find," because I'm sure there's good stuff there to actually race on... but we made the mistake of thinking it would be an excellent place for a day of riding.

We ended up riding about half of the time on the slopes themselves because the stuff in the woods was unmarked, overgrown, and partly washed-out. All day long we were like, "I really hope the race is gonna be on the other side of the mountain or something because we're missing the appeal on this side." (We were on the side with the running lift, obviously... directly up from the driving range.)

I'm glad no one has posted that the Wisp race trails were boring. I know Mike works hard on the Racer's Edge race trails. There's something in those woods that we just couldn't find.

 

[Animal Mother]

There's something in those woods that we just couldn't find.

Guaranteed!

 

[SHEDPIMP]

Wisp is an f'ed up resort. They had big plans for biking this year, but flaked at the last minute. There was a sick freeride trail up there that had plenty of stunts, sketchy stunts but fun. They decided to tear those down as fast as E Recker built them. As for DH courses there are 3 main runs. i don't know if they have been kept up. The rumor is that this year's course will be the same as last year's finals. It had everything in it, even a BMX style berm and jump section in the middle. Not technical, but fun and fast. All I can tell you is that if Recker cuts it it will no-doubt be dope. Either way the more people that show up to races, the more resorts we can get next year.



SHEDPIMP

 

[Capt. Jack Sparrow]

Wisp is an f'ed up resort. They had big plans for biking this year, but flaked at the last minute. There was a sick freeride trail up there that had plenty of stunts, sketchy stunts but fun. They decided to tear those down as fast as E Recker built them. As for DH courses there are 3 main runs. i don't know if they have been kept up. The rumor is that this year's course will be the same as last year's finals. It had everything in it, even a BMX style berm and jump section in the middle. Not technical, but fun and fast. All I can tell you is that if Recker cuts it it will no-doubt be dope. Either way the more people that show up to races, the more resorts we can get next year.
SHEDPIMP

You all have sufficiently reassured me--thanks! I just wanted to make sure I wasn't gonna drive three hours to race down a grassy ski slope for five minutes or so... although there's a lot more to racing than just the race itself.

BTW, I must add that at least Wisp seems pretty alive in the summer. It looks like there are plenty of people engaging in summer activities.... Plus, the lifts look well-maintained, the staff was very friendly and helpful, and the cheeseburgers off the deck menu were excellent. That kind of thing is a plus for me.

 

[mpd510]

ok, who's going to wisp?

I'm in. I think me and tara are going to camp. Anyone wanna join?

 

[bagtagley]

I wasn't really impressed w/ the DH course last year at the finals. I guess my biggest complaint was the flatness (although, I guess there's not much they can do about that), and the 2+ hour wait for results. Having said that, I'm going to try like hell to make it to this years race. I think I'm going to bring the hardtail and test it against the full squish. I think I can be quicker in the flats w/ a hardtail, and the course wasn't really rough enough to warrant a DH bike...IMO.

 

[BigMike]

I'll be there to check it out anyway.... See ya all there

 

[MojoJojo]

I was considering going. I missed out on Blue Knob. I should have went...was in Winchester for BMX state points, but rained out. Aug 21 and 22 are Qualifiers 7 and 8 for State. I got enough points not to have to worry about missing out on Sunday. Long drive from Hampton. We'll see.

 

[rekdog]

Hey Monkeys,

I'm cutting the course tomorrow. It's going to be fast with tons of flow. Bits and pieces of diffrent courses will be used with some new sections too. I am thinking of using the jump trail in the middle.. What do you guys think? Most of you know the mountain and know what I have to work with. Let me know if there is any feed back.

Recker

 

[Msisle Dad]

whats goin on recker, its morgan, i cant make the race this weekend due to expenses, so i'm going bmx racing instead i wanna go really bad but i gotta pay for my plane tickets to durango and mammoth.

Morgan

come to baltimore to ride

 

[Capt. Jack Sparrow]

R-

I've only been there once, but if you're talking about that flowy series of 3 or so jumps and then an immediate steep (rollable) drop to grass, yes! Yes!

My feedback is... I saw a lot of really steep stuff up there and me (beginner class) and my friends (sport class) just weren't into riding that stuff there... but then again, we didn't want to ride on grass the whole time, either.... We loved that jumpy part. We didn't like that trail that's really steep and just ends with a 10+ foot drop onto grass that doesn't even look rollable. (The one that just shoots ya out of the woods onto grass without much warning that there's a drop-off.)

Hey Monkeys,

I'm cutting the course tomorrow. It's going to be fast with tons of flow. Bits and pieces of diffrent courses will be used with some new sections too. I am thinking of using the jump trail in the middle.. What do you guys think? Most of you know the mountain and know what I have to work with. Let me know if there is any feed back.

Recker

 

[BigMike]

R-

I've only been there once, but if you're talking about that flowy series of 3 or so jumps and then an immediate steep (rollable) drop to grass, yes! Yes!

My feedback is... I saw a lot of really steep stuff up there and me (beginner class) and my friends (sport class) just weren't into riding that stuff there... but then again, we didn't want to ride on grass the whole time, either.... We loved that jumpy part. We didn't like that trail that's really steep and just ends with a 10+ foot drop onto grass that doesn't even look rollable. (The one that just shoots ya out of the woods onto grass without much warning that there's a drop-off.)

All that sounds exacly like what I want to ride on

 

[MojoJojo]

whats goin on recker, its morgan, i cant make the race this weekend due to expenses, so i'm going bmx racing instead i wanna go really bad but i gotta pay for my plane tickets to durango and mammoth.

Morgan

come to baltimore to ride

Where did you BMX race on this weekend??? I raced Gillies Creek in Richmond, VA

 

[Animal Mother]

Hey Monkeys,

I'm cutting the course tomorrow. It's going to be fast with tons of flow. Bits and pieces of diffrent courses will be used with some new sections too. I am thinking of using the jump trail in the middle.. What do you guys think? Most of you know the mountain and know what I have to work with. Let me know if there is any feed back.

Recker

PROPS!!! Thanks for all your work at Wisp and Blue Knob. You cut some killer race courses in a very short amount of time! Much appriciated!!!



ben

 

[Capt. Jack Sparrow]

Anybody got pics? I'd love to see that first drop onto the slope in pixels.

 

[Animal Mother]

Anybody got pics? I'd love to see that first drop onto the slope in pixels.

yeah! yeah! i need proof