[sunnerbeanmtb]

Ok..so since Wisp resort screwed me royal this weekend and moved the downhill race to sunday (cant go cause I have camp to coach) I have to race DS on saturday. Can someone please explain to me what DS is, break it down to me, tips, is it hard, etc.... I have NO IDEA what to expect and Id rather do something than nothing this weekend for some points.
thanksss

 

[laura]

OOOO000oo00o00OOOooooooo......DS looks like so much fun. I have always wanted to try it and when we move close enough so that I can compete, I think I might. Other than what i have seen on TV, I know nothing about it. My tip is go faster than the other girl.

Since I know nothing, I did some google searching for you. Here's the link There is tons of **** out there on it, here's the basics.

"Dual Slalom mountain bike racing is a great head to head competition down a manmade course usually with gated turns (much like ski racing). The course usually has manmade obstacles such as berms, jumps, bumps and the occasional drop or rock pile.
The courses are short, with a single run usually lasting around 30 seconds. Two racers compete down nearly identical/parallel courses at the same time. The runs are timed and the same racers then switch courses and make another run.

The combined race times are compared and the slower racer is eliminated. The faster rider then moves up into the next round to race a winner from another set of race runs.

The races and eliminations continue until the final two racers are left. Their race is the final and it determines 1st and 2nd places. The last racers that the finalists had beat then run a set of races to determine 3rd and 4th places.

This is a fun race format that moves fast through the race brackets."
-from some random website from a google search


Dual Slalom course -source:google image search

 

[MudGrrl]

oh man, that does look like fun

 

[altagirl]

It can be anything from that to looking more like a big BMX course with 2 lanes (separate courses). Sometimes there are big jumps and bermed turns. At Brianhead last year they even built a rock garden into it - the fast guys could air over the whole rock garden, the rest of us kindof aired into it and just had to hang on for the rest.

Tips? Work on starts. And cornering. If you can coerce a friend into helping by pushing your bike back up to the start for you so you can just walk, you'll save a lot of energy.

And an XC-ish bike with a chainguide is ideal. But you'll see people racing on DH bikes if that's all they have.

 

[amydalayna]

i agree with altagirl. work on starts. go to the bmx track and practice at the gates.