[Bike078]

@sethimus, years ago Sam was asked how he felt when his first child Bam was born and he said something along the lines of he never knew that he could love something so much until he had a kid. I feel the same way about my children (and your parents probably felt the same way about you). In my culture, which is different to yours, family is very important. You have your beliefs and I have mine and I will leave it at that.

Anyway, back to racing.

 

[Bike078]

Harriet Harnden in first in elite Women. Didn't she replace Katy Winton on Trek? She races high-level XC and CX too.

 

[toodles]

Harriet Harnden in first in elite Women. Didn't she replace Katy Winton on Trek? She races high-level XC and CX too.

Yep two wins on the trot for her now. Unusual seeing Isabeau out of the top few!

 

[SuspectDevice]

I was so bored this morning i watched the jack moir preview video.
I’ve ridden burke a bunch so i wasn’t expecting anything mind blowing, but it does seem like someone is making track decisions specifically to de-motivate Sam Hill.

 

[slyfink]

... it does seem like someone is making track decisions specifically to de-motivate Sam Hill.

Would it be rude to ask you to explain a little more? Caus' I don't really follow your drift...

 

[Bike078]

Yep two wins on the trot for her now. Unusual seeing Isabeau out of the top few!

Tracey Mosley coaches or manages Harnden's team no? Yeah, wonder what's up with Isabeau. If Cecil Ravanel didn't retire would she still be dominating?

With Sam potentially riding off into the sunset who do we root for now? Jack and the privateers? I will always cheer for Wyn Masters whether he races dh or enduro, he's the best. The privateer award is great. He was kind enough to do an online Q and A with the small team I'm helping out with (teamwcnb on instagram). Our young racers were starstruck (so were we). The Sunn French Connexion Team is rad as well. They gave a young racer from Thailand (Vee tire is a team sponsor) the chance to race the EWS with full factory support. Both Wyn and the Sunn team follow us on IG too.

 

[canadmos]

Imagine being Hill right now....

Dudes won it all and gets to ride out these last few races/seasons with nothing to lose. Gets to travel on his sponsorships dime riding all these awesome spots.

60th, 1st or last, doesn't seem so bad to me.

 

[Westy]

Blame the EWS and its shitty/non existant coverage even during the events.

Enduro is hate

 

[toodles]

With Sam potentially riding off into the sunset who do we root for now? Jack and the privateers?

Morgane is still rocking flat pedals to the podium so I'm cheering for her.

Would it be rude to ask you to explain a little more? Caus' I don't really follow your drift...

The course selection for the past two-three years is significantly different to when Sam was winning, so much so that riders have mentioned the EWS needs to re-read their own rule book sometime.

 

[Da Peach]

Enduro is hate

of the children.

 

[Bike078]

Imagine being Hill right now....

Dudes won it all and gets to ride out these last few races/seasons with nothing to lose. Gets to travel on his sponsorships dime riding all these awesome spots.

60th, 1st or last, doesn't seem so bad to me.

I hope Hill does a reverse Mick Hannah and races DH in his old age.

 

[Westy]

I hope Hill does a reverse Mick Hannah and races DH in his old age.

If DH is limited to the top 30 riders next year Enduro will be replaced with all the DH backmarkers.

 

[Bike078]

I hope not. The riders have to agree on what they want. Finn, in the podcast with Dean Lucas, said he wants a top 30 so that the viewers could get to know the racers more through rider profiles and interviews. Others obviously want top 60 so they can have a chance to race finals. I want to see the likes of Ronan Dunne and Johannes the denim destroyer show up and get top 20.

 

[sethimus]

Holy fuck you judgemental dickhead.

what’s the point in having children if you teach them it’s ok to go on burning hydrocarbons just to have fun? they are the fucked ones who need to live in a very different world than the one we grew up in?

 

[Gary]

I hope Hill does a reverse Mick Hannah and races DH in his old age.

In the E bike category

 

[Bike078]

In the E bike category

Noooo! @Gary have you ever tried EWS-E style of e-bike racing?

 

[Rockland]

I’ve rode the trails off Burke’s summit many times. It’s too bad there was nothing new for the race. Upper Jbar has always struck me as worthy, but there are lots of flat sections & even uphills on the other trails. Even the DH Trail (aka “Rude Awakening”) has filler in it - a long flattish traverse back towards the auto road / campground.
Sugarloaf should leave people quite pleased . As recent as yesterday got to ride fresh fall line goodness. The dirt so good.

 

[Gary]

Noooo! @Gary have you ever tried EWS-E style of e-bike racing?

No. Its fucking stupid! And with the differences between the various motors not even a vaguely fair playing field.

Have I ridden EWS tracks on an Ebike? Yes. Fuck paying for the privilege that one weekend of the year they're taped out. .

 

[captainspauldin]

what’s the point in having children if you teach them it’s ok to go on burning hydrocarbons just to have fun? they are the fucked ones who need to live in a very different world than the one we grew up in?

Oh wait, you're one of those assholes who aren't having kids because of "climate change", now it makes sense. Bring on the Idiocracy.

 

[sethimus]

Oh wait, you're one of those assholes who aren't having kids because of "climate change", now it makes sense. Bring on the Idiocracy.

i‘m the asshole? yeah, right…
you release your kids into THIS world and i’m the asshole

Page not found | First Street

First Street is defining America's risk by leveraging its peer-reviewed research to create the most comprehensive climate risk data available.

firststreet.org

 

[Flo33]

i‘m the asshole? yeah, right…
you release your kids into THIS world and i’m the asshole

Page not found | First Street

First Street is defining America's risk by leveraging its peer-reviewed research to create the most comprehensive climate risk data available.

firststreet.org

Maybe you should upgrade your worldview

Important stuff most people get wrong

Gapminder Worldview Upgrader - Get rid of your misconceptions about global development!

upgrader.gapminder.org

and read the book behind the website - Factfulness - and get less miserable and more educated.

 

[sethimus]

k climate change is a hoax and we don’t need to adapt to a hotter climate. thx

 

[SylentK]

Back to the topic.... the EWS is in the US, east coast, to be specific. Pretty cool. As an American, have to admit I didn't really know Burke existed. Looks cool. Now they are on the way to Sugarloaf, Maine. Which I don't know much about either. But I'm in Colorado, so...you know, I'm all about no oxygen and shitty rocky mountains Yearning for the day, maybe some day, the world will come back to Colorado. And not just for skiing.

 

[captainspauldin]

WynTV had some good bits on track feedback:

 

[schwaaa31]

Sugarloaf is much bigger than Burke. And from what I gather, all the tracks are relatively new. Should make for some really fun riding/racing.

 

[fwp]

Just looked at the results, when Sam Hill is getting beat by locals, fire everyone involved. From Chris Ball down to the course designers/planners. What a disgrace.

 

[shirk007]

Just looked at the results, when Sam Hill is getting beat by locals, fire everyone involved. From Chris Ball down to the course designers/planners. What a disgrace.

Or he's washed up?

 

[Gary]

when Sam Hill is getting beat by locals, fire everyone involved.

What? 2 years ago? and almost every round since?

 

[toodles]

Just looked at the results, when Sam Hill is getting beat by locals, fire everyone involved. From Chris Ball down to the course designers/planners. What a disgrace.

Enduro has always favoured locals a fair bit. The limited practise and huge variance in terrain makes it a real challenge for out-of-towners to figure shit out.

Or he's washed up?

He's still doing bloody well for 37 realistically, although unless the stages start pointing back down the hill the whole time I doubt he's gonna be able to claw back to the pointy end. Even if he has the fitness to compete against younger Elites, I imagine the motivation to bother sprinting till you puke or taste blood must wear thin.

The course approval guys need to get off their fucken ebikes and actually do the stages on normal MTBs at race pace before they approve them. No one wants to spectate, let along participate in EWS stages that are being decided by 60 second fire-road intervals.

 

[SuspectDevice]

Victory Hill, on the backside of Burke is where most of the stages SHOULD have been. It’s so painfully flat at burke in the bikepark that people that live slopeside don’t even own DH bikes.

Sugarloaf on the other hand is a GIGANTIC hill full of fresh cut raw gravity fed stages- the transfers will no doubt be even more brutal than burke, but at least the tracks won’t have interminable flat garbage on them(if they do have some shit climbs, they will certainly be worth it, or Adam Craig will never hear the end of it.
So, something about Sugarloaf- until last year the new bikepark manager was the man on the ground for the EWS in North America. In 2019 and 2020- Adam was everywhere, showing up at gold qualifier races and asking race organizers if they “need a hand with anything”.
I’m biased- as a native mainer Sugarloaf will never not be significant to me.
My parents met and were married there, i started skiing there at 18mos, and I used to build my entire summers around their old Widowmaker Classic XC/DH/shorttrack weekend in the late 20th century.
American’s don’t know Sugarloaf, BUT it’s only an hour farther from Quebec City than Mt St Anne- come winter time, it is certainly quebec’s best ski area!

 

[Jm_]

Victory Hill, on the backside of Burke is where most of the stages SHOULD have been. It’s so painfully flat at burke in the bikepark that people that live slopeside don’t even own DH bikes.

Sugarloaf on the other hand is a GIGANTIC hill full of fresh cut raw gravity fed stages- the transfers will no doubt be even more brutal than burke, but at least the tracks won’t have interminable flat garbage on them(if they do have some shit climbs, they will certainly be worth it, or Adam Craig will never hear the end of it.
So, something about Sugarloaf- until last year the new bikepark manager was the man on the ground for the EWS in North America. In 2019 and 2020- Adam was everywhere, showing up at gold qualifier races and asking race organizers if they “need a hand with anything”.
I’m biased- as a native mainer Sugarloaf will never not be significant to me.
My parents met and were married there, i started skiing there at 18mos, and I used to build my entire summers around their old Widowmaker Classic XC/DH/shorttrack weekend in the late 20th century.
American’s don’t know Sugarloaf, BUT it’s only an hour farther from Quebec City than Mt St Anne- come winter time, it is certainly quebec’s best ski area!

I was checking out the 'Loaf today on google maps and pictures from it. Very "East Coast". Many of us that grew up watching Warren Miller films are familiar with most of the bigger places back East.

 

[aaronjb]

I might mosey over on Sunday to check out some racing.

+1 to everything said above, @SuspectDevice . I also grew up skiing and riding there in the 90s.

 

[aaronjb]

Ok, caught up with the thread now. If I do head into the woods of Western Maine to watch this, I'm supposed to yell at Sam Hill that his kid's an asshole, and then kick Chris Ball right in the gooch?

 

[Rockland]

I think the Sugarloaf transfers will not be that bad. There will be sections of access road / ski slope that will be push up, but I view that as a break from pedaling. The Burke auto road you can burn lots of energy just endlessly grinding away because it’s all pavement.

 

[ebarker9]

Yeah, wonder what's up with Isabeau.

She put a giant stick through her foot in a a race in the beginning of July.

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/isabeau-courdurier-has-branch-pierce-her-foot-at-ews-e-valberg.html

 

[fwp]

Or he's washed up?

He's not in his prime for sure, but it seems like they did everything they could to keep him from making it 4 titles in a row by taking the gravity out of the courses.

 

[Gary]

Meanwhile 2 of the current top 3 riders also came from elite DH racing success.
Hill still wouldn't be near the top 3 anymore even if they reverted to the exact same stages he dominated on 4 or 5 years back.
His dominance had to come to an end someday. Just accept it and move on.
Better still. Share some classic Sam Hill baggy pants 26" DH bike footage.
Sounds like you enjoy modern Enduro about as much as me.

 

[sethimus]

what ARE you actually enjoying?

 

[Westy]

Meanwhile 2 of the current top 3 riders also came from elite DH racing success.
Hill still wouldn't be near the top 3 anymore even if they reverted to the exact same stages he dominated on 4 or 5 years back.
His dominance had to come to an end someday. Just accept it and move on.
Better still. Share some classic Sam Hill baggy pants 26" DH bike footage.
Sounds like you enjoy modern Enduro about as much as me.

In 2022 the best explaination for everything is cOnSpiRaCy!

 

[Gary]

what ARE you actually enjoying?

Right now. I'm REALLY enjoying the pure simplictic fun and versatility of this...

But enough about me.
I'm still hugely intrigued as to what that ONE thing you personally view as having most importance in your own life.
And please don't sissy out of answering the question this time.