[RUFUS]

hahaha... glad i could provide you some entertainment

i think i have been trying to get those decals from you for 2 weeks but our paths never seem to cross at the right time, ha

ryan/skc who else was there helping me out? i would like to say thanks but really have absolutely no clue what went down.

the last thing i remember was pink shirt kid taking a pic at the wedge rock jump.... then lights out

How sad is that. You would figure that 2 people that live 5 minutes apart could meet up. haha Oh well, I'll swing by this week
There were a lot of great guys helping out, I cant even remember names right now.
I would like to thank the guy that laughed at me when I went down after the first big berm to the small jump. I got right up and the guy was blown away that I had a casual conversation with him, hung my busted helmet on the bars and finished the berm section and the rest of the course. I even tried to sell him on buying a sinister because he was amazed that the bike didn't split in half.

 

[TankerX]

well i have a 11-24, close enough?

 

[spoke80]

he had built up a morewood that friday at 7am. never ridin the frame before got use to it and killed the us in the AM's.

 

[sirbikealot]

Who is Steve Smith?

18 yr old slow canadian, pretty weak future ahead of him

 

[bizutch]

Team America jnr rider Neko Mullaly wins ams by 4 secs.

Thanks to good sportsmanship, Neko was riding Garrit Beytagh's Morewood Shova LT frameset and I9 wheels otherwise he would be sitting it out!! Garrit CRUSHED IT!!

Big props go out to Ethan Quill, 3rd Place Amateur, 17 YEARS OLD...and riding a KHS Dominatrix DH frame of all things! Only his 5th DH race ever.
Props to Swangeum for making slalom fun again

I was so freaking lucky to ride this weekend:
Demo Morewood IZIMU courtesy of Richard Beytagh
Hotel room courtesy of S.K.C. , Jason and Justin from www.sicklines.com
Sunday day pass courtesy of Justin
Ride TO Diablo courtesy of Shayne & his dad
Ride home courtesy of Richard Beytagh

Big shouts out to all the guys I met, hung out with, rode with and some random guy I punched in the rib cage who's too snobby to say Hi to a hillbilly.
Trumpores 1 & 2
DW, Jonas, Phillip (thanks Brother!!), Tobler aka Unibomber
JD Swangeum & Ben Hulse (NC represent) for being down to earth groms
Luke D
Ska Todd y la familia
Leif
Dante
John & the Northeast Sovereign US Open Food Relief Fund
Karl aka Hell Yeah!
Shawn's entire Diablo crew for not being douches
all the other guys I said "I'm gonna go do another run. See Ya!" to

 

[stiksandstones]

I will assume you mean 'swanguen'? ^

Not bustin balls, just keepin tabs on if there is some new names to look out for.

 

[S.K.C.]

Yeah - I think that's what Butch met.

It's a lot easier to just call him J-Dizzle... fo' shizzle.

:biggrin:

Butch - I've got the car-charger for your cell phone... want me to mail it?

Gotta get some sleep, but we've gotta catch up later - what time did you guys get in this morning anyway? You're welcome to crash at the hotel room ANYTIME... had a blast man! Lots of good stories! Never had the time to get some drinks though - we need to log some bar time next year.

:biggrin:

 

[bfrich]

I think the top five in am were as follows

1 Neko Mulally 2:48 15 yrs old
2 Phil Kmetz 2:51 18yrs old
3 Zach Faulkner 2:52 18 yrs old
4 Ethan Quell 2:52 17 yrs old
5 Richie Rude 2:57 13 yrs old

Yes the young guns dominate!
Thanks to Colin Bailey and Travis from the Santa Cruz Allride tour for all the help this weekend you guys were awesome!

 

[Pip3r]

hahaha... glad i could provide you some entertainment

i think i have been trying to get those decals from you for 2 weeks but our paths never seem to cross at the right time, ha

ryan/skc who else was there helping me out? i would like to say thanks but really have absolutely no clue what went down.

the last thing i remember was pink shirt kid taking a pic at the wedge rock jump.... then lights out

Lawndart I'm pretty sure is the 'big tall dude in a black shirt with a backpack' that helped you out the whole time. He and I went up there and saw it was you. There were already people helping you so I didnt want to freak you out any more and just stood behind you trying to get a hold of Lee on the phone. After he didnt pick up I started making my way down the course to try and find him but by the time I got a hold of him he was already up there with you.

 

[profro]

The only casuality I had was a trailer hub that exploded at 8am this morning about 20 minutes from home.

Wow, that one could have been a lot worse.

 

[Jim Mac]

I think the top five in am were as follows

1 Neko Mulally 2:48 15 yrs old
2 Phil Kmetz 2:51 18yrs old
3 Zach Faulkner 2:52 18 yrs old
4 Ethan Quell 2:52 17 yrs old
5 Richie Rude 2:57 13 yrs old

Yes the young guns dominate!
Thanks to Colin Bailey and Travis from the Santa Cruz Allride tour for all the help this weekend you guys were awesome!

Rich, congrats on your son's outstanding showing!

 

[bfrich]

Thanks Jim - it was a fun weekend for sure!

Podium shots - goofy tent pole in the way

 

[CBJ]

18 yr old slow canadian, pretty weak future ahead of him

I am just uncool and have not heard about him before this season. Only 18 - hope this will give him even more confidence for the rest of the season.

 

[General Lee]

I am just uncool and have not heard about him before this season. Only 18 - hope this will give him even more confidence for the rest of the season.

He got 2nd to Bryn last year

 

[dante]

Holy crap Dave, heal fast! Any testing for a concussion? If you lost that long of a period of time, I might take it easy for a bit... Also, keep that helmet, I'd love to take a look at it at some point.

Hope everyone else heals fast as well, can't believe the number and severity of these injuries!

 

[bfrich]

yeah concussions nothing to fool around with - Everybody heal up quick.

It was a bad feeling hearing that chopper fly in.

 

[Tmeyer]

Healing vibes to all! I just got back from the ER, torn Plantar Facia in my foot, out 4-6 weeks minimum. What a nasty weekend for injuries.....

 

[William42]

hope the healing goes well guys, just finishing my stint in a cast (i hope), hope the injuries heal up fast and well!

 

[corey_rideDC]

any definitive word on what happened with Hill? Did he go down or did Smith just ride faster?

 

[ridiculous]

smith looked way faster than hill through the toyota rock garden.

 

[DHJUNKIE]

yeah smith def. looked faster in the rocks when i was there

 

[stiksandstones]

I guess no one has figured out Sam does not care about races that do not have 'world cup' or 'world championships' in the name.

That is not to say he did not 'try' here I assume, but he most certainly does not get in the 'sam hill' zone at anything but the big events.

 

[LukeD]

I guess no one has figured out Sam does not care about races that do not have 'world cup' or 'world championships' in the name.

That is not to say he did not 'try' here I assume, but he most certainly does not get in the 'sam hill' zone at anything but the big events.

I did figure out that he is a robot though. I swear he only has certain programmable answers to certain questions which DW downloads onto his motherboard every so often. Either that or he's an alien and tries to communicate through telepathy and we just don't understand...awesome rider to watch in person though.

 

[Pip3r]

anyone have any video or pics of sams crazy line up top after the step down? Apparently he was popping off a root, and intentionally hitting a sapling (with course tape on it) with his left knee mid-air to make more room and get his bike to plant in the right direction for the next turn. Brendan was trying to do the same thing just not quite as well I guess.

 

[LukeD]

anyone have any video or pics of sams crazy line up top after the step down? Apparently he was popping off a root, and intentionally hitting a sapling (with course tape on it) with his left knee mid-air to make more room and get his bike to plant in the right direction for the next turn. Brendan was trying to do the same thing just not quite as well I guess.

wtf?? see what I mean about the above statement? Piper was this before going under the lift? or just after it?

 

[General Lee]

I guess no one has figured out Sam does not care about races that do not have 'world cup' or 'world championships' in the name.

That is not to say he did not 'try' here I assume, but he most certainly does not get in the 'sam hill' zone at anything but the big events.

not so sure about that, Stik. He had every intention of winning it last year even after he flatted his front tire half way down. Said he wanted to win by 10 seconds and thought he could still get it done on the flat; ended up crashing hard and getting stitches in his arm

 

[General Lee]

wtf?? see what I mean about the above statement? Piper was this before going under the lift? or just after it?

it was immediatly after the rock stepdown comming out of the first turn. he knocked the small sappling out of the way with his knee and set up a few inches wider to carry more speed around the right hand turn that exits into the traverse under the lift.

Whittsel saw it and was pretty much blown away


he had a pretty sneaky line shortly after the rock garden as well. I watched him him pull his elbow in so as not to hit a tree and the split second he was clear cut the tighest line i have ever seen to avoid the main line along the outside. brendan was about a foot off his rear wheel and couldn't follow him. polc was the only other guy i saw doing it but he was way slower than the guys railing the main line. I've never seen anyone who can change direction as fast as Hill and in doing so he made the track 4 feet shorter than it was for anyone else. add that all up over an entire track and it's no wonder he can win by such large margins.

 

[LukeD]

it was immediatly after the rock stepdown comming out of the first turn. he knocked the small sappling out of the way with his knee and set up a few inches wider to carry more speed around the right hand turn that exits into the traverse under the lift.

Whittsel saw it and was pretty much blown away

that's nuts.

 

[Pip3r]

wtf?? see what I mean about the above statement? Piper was this before going under the lift? or just after it?

it was like 50ft after the step down before going under the lift. The quick right/left that you could pretty much straighten out.

Whitsell is the one that saw it and was going nuts over it all weekend, and im pretty sure he knows a thing or 2 about line choice...

 

[yuroshek]

yea my buddy saw him doin that line too and was blown away. he said he wasnt ready for sam to jump past his face like that.

 

[profro]

Brendan was trying to do the same thing just not quite as well I guess.

Brendan was standing there during practice and I almost hit him. I actually went off course and through the woods because of it. I think I caught him by surprise. I am sure was was far enough off course, but I was sort of star stuck and lost concentration. oster_oops:

 

[in the trees]

I saw Hill hit that line during Sunday morning's practice. Sick! I'm not sure what he was popping off of, but the tree was getting knock outta his way each time. Smooth.

toby

 

[A.P]

After the Am race on sunday I watched a long section of course that was a couple of very rocky parts linked up with 2 turns...Smith definitely came through fastest, Hill came through pinned but it was not as fast as a couple others. The actual course only has about 10 turns in it, barring the berms at the bottom which are so flat and pedally that everyone hits them about the same. There was a good sum of money on the line and I cant believe that hill wasn't going for it, although the course doesn't play much to his strengths. Props for smith though, he came through like a freight train and almost lost his front wheel popping out of a rut before a drop, thought he was going down but saved it.

 

[ska todd]

I believe Whit's term for Hill was "certifiable ninja"

-ska todd

 

[RUFUS]

I really dont think that hill was sandbagging it at all. Sure he looked slower in the rock garden but that is Sam Hill being Sam Hill, picking lines that others dont see, I just think that his line choice wasnt as good.
I know that he was pissed off that he didnt get first. He went right back to the tent and just sat there. I talked to him for a little while and he was not happy.
Steve just flat out beat him and rode better than him on the race run. Give Steve the credit that he deserves, he was the better rider that day.

 

[mattmatt86]

Didn't see the whole run but Steve just looked flat out faster through the Yota rock garden. Didn't take a ninja line or anything, just plain fast.

 

[bizutch]

Hill pulled a line no one else could in the very last berm at the bottom. Me & Ben Hulse were watching the last 3 turns then checking the clock with each rider. Every pro took one of two lines, top of the berm then straight out to avoid the rut or just all the way around through the rut. Hill came through faster than anyone and never used ANY of the last berm...nothing. He just went right at the pole on off camber dirt and out onto the slope. Nobody but me noticed it I think.

Scariest part was he didn't even slide and most everyone else was throwing roost even with using the berm.

Smith came out on those last two rollers of it absolutely cranking and looked like Lopes on a hardtail. He actually pedaled while on a wheelie and pumped the second roller. He was putting more power down than anyone other than Jurgen.

I don't know about anybody else's thoughts on this, but I've been lucky enough to ride in practice at Nats and the Open with Hill on course and this year he just looked lazy in practice. He did one run on Friday with Fairclough and I never saw him again. They even said he didn't really bother pedaling on the upper road during qualifying. My guess is he ASSUMED he was going to win, had it in the bag and took it for granted that his 99% best was going to get it done. But Smith had a 101% run.

He slacked up in a race against the clock.

 

[bizutch]

Anybody besides me vote for TeamDecline to get different color helmets so you know who you're cheering for?

 

[General Lee]

I don't know about anybody else's thoughts on this, but I've been lucky enough to ride in practice at Nats and the Open with Hill on course and this year he just looked lazy in practice. He did one run on Friday with Fairclough and I never saw him again.

i saw him back in line 4 more times at the end of friday practice and several times on saturday. I never got the impression he was messing around or slacking off. pretty much business as usual; he keeps a super low profile even at the world cups.

I'm giving the benefit of the doubt to Smith. He shaved 7 seconds off his 3rd place quali and won with what was certainly a flat out run. I highly doubt Sam was holding back, especially knowing that everyone is looking for an opportunity to beat him.

 

[LukeD]

i saw him back in line 4 more times at the end of friday practice and several times on saturday. I never got the impression he was messing around or slacking off. pretty much business as usual; he keeps a super low profile even at the world cups.

I'm giving the benefit of the doubt to Smith. He shaved 7 seconds off his 3rd place quali and won with what was certainly a flat out run. I highly doubt Sam was holding back, especially knowing that everyone is looking for an opportunity to beat him.

same here. I got to practice late on friday and I saw him in line at least 3 times while I was there. saturday he got in at least 3 runs that i saw before I crashed.