[manimal]

so.....we went to sugar yesterday. apparently the beginner course is the xc course down and it's waaaaay to tech for a beginner, especially one riding a 20" hardtail. noah had a serious case of arm pump on the steep sections, mainly due to his lack of practice with the new front brake. he took the nastiest spill i've ever seen and managed to bruise/cut up his face inside of his fullface helmet.
i'm guesstimating that he was probably doing 20+mph when he tried to pass me on the lower slope and found a hole big enough to bury him in.....all i saw was him going OTB and skidding/tumbling past me.
i'll post the pics of his face later when i have the camera with me.

he was a trooper though and vowed to attack the mountain again some other time but we both decided that he doesn't need to race DH there this year....so sugar DS...here we come


and ditto on what TP said, the course was nice. the pro/ex entrance into donovans dungeon is much smoother and has a nice line through it. the sport line into the old donovans dungeon is the nastiest i've ever seen it. the old right handed drop off the rock is now a 90 degree 3' root drop followed by a 2' root drop, it's all washed out and will catch people by surprise if they're used to othe old corner there. i only had one run on the big course so i skipped lizards lane but everthing else is dialed for sure.

 

[bizutch]

Manimal...I'm not sure what you mean about the rock drop to the right?

As for the rest of the course, it is dialed. Top waterfall drop has a completely new entrance that gives you a good 15-20 foot straight shot right at the drop..no turning. Nice and wide too.

The boulder face is screaming fast...a no braker all the way. Everything in great shape. Just watch out for the entrance to lizards lane...it is still a bear to stay on line in.

I started to fill in that massive water hole in Lizards lane on the flat area with rocks to build a bridge on my final run. A guy who goes by Necker stopped and we filled it in pretty well with big rocks. so you don't sink and soak anymore.

 

[manimal]

Manimal...I'm not sure what you mean about the rock drop to the right?

old sport/ex entrance to donovans dungeon that sport takes now. you drop in to the left from the fire road (used to be right near the start when we started at 3/4 station). you drop in the chute and you had to make a right turn at the bottom of the chute. there was once a line where you could go left, over a big rock and round out the turn but now you're forced to go straight in between some nasty rocks that are at h-bar level and it drops about 2-3' in the middle of the right turn, then does another smaller rolling drop once you've started the turn. nothing crazy but definitely much different than last year, caught me by suprise.

 

[bizutch]

gotcha

 

[JeffD]

i'm guesstimating that he was probably doing 20+mph when he tried to pass me on the lower slope and found a hole big enough to bury him in.....all i saw was him going OTB and skidding/tumbling past me.

Brady Jeremy and I witnessed a teenage kid in the XC race do the exact same thing with more speed and less pads. He ragdolled a few times and after his body settled, started screaming "FvCK!" several times then segued in to - no joke - "I don't wanna die...I don't wanna die!" over and over again. Great times...for everybody but the kid.

 

[manimal]

Brady Jeremy and I witnessed a teenage kid in the XC race do the exact same thing with more speed and less pads. He ragdolled a few times and after his body settled, started screaming "FvCK!" several times then segued in to - no joke - "I don't wanna die...I don't wanna die!" over and over again. Great times...for everybody but the kid.

lol!!!!! that's classic.

they need to spraypaint those holes like they do the bad rocks at massanutten so that the bright colors draw you to it.

 

[Jeremy R]

lol!!!!! that's classic.

they need to spraypaint those holes like they do the bad rocks at massanutten so that the bright colors draw you to it.

It was unreal to see.
The kid was tucked behind another rider all aero roadie style going full tilt down the slope, he drifted out beside him and hit the water bar he did not see. It threw him up off his bike and he was hovering over it going like 35.
He then came down on his bike and ragdolled all the way down the slope. It was the worst crash I had seen in years.
It wasn't even funny at all until after your realized he was OK, but was still screaming, "I don't want to die" over and over.
Sometimes I can still hear him scream....sometimes.

I am glad Noah is OK.

 

[manimal]

i just read the "edited" version of that story to noah...he thought it was hilarious and said, "that kid must be a roadie"

lol!!!!!

 

[dhchix]

I'm glad to hear Noah is okay after his crash. He is one touch little man. I can't wait to see him blast down the DS course.