[stiksandstones]

Hey monkeys, if anyone cares I have the first of many hopeful gallerys from the worlds. This one is just shots of the 4X course. Its pretty rad, I think about 45 seconds, some jumps, hips, logs, interesting stuff. Much different from any lame NCS track where they race for no prizemoney...oh wait, they are racing here for no prize money, but its the worlds and the course is cool so screw it. Anyway, check the site for some dribble and pics as they come in-flame on
Stikman
www.stiksandstones.com is where the pics are
www.stiksandstones.com/20044x/ to be exact.
It aint no leelikesbikes but its good enough for now. More news and crap to come. Hell, email me if you wanna know about a specific team or rider you want to know about.
Thanks-now flame on

 

[Acadian]

Sweet...keep the updates comin'!!

 

[dhtahoe]

It looks like alot of passing on that sucker. And it LOOKS like they brought the mountain back to Mountain-X.

 

[stiksandstones]

They are going to be going so frickin fast, I really dont see much passing...atleast in the middle mega high speed part, but its long enough that someone could make a comeback after a mistake.
Key elements in good 4X racing (to me)
-longer than 40 sec
-long first straight
-wide
-turns with different lines
-no girls racing...every answer about why there are no big gaps "we have to make it safe for the girls"
-proper start gate "riders ready, watch the lights" its a global standard, the whole world uses it, its fair. NCS 4X needs to get a clue.

oh hell, anyway, the racing here should be awesome, big screen is coming in tomm. the fans are piling in...is this a rebirth? haha

 

[Full Trucker]

Thanks for the pics and updates, that rocks! Funny stuff in there about Hairbald's Durango "explanations" too. 4X looks SICK. Separating the men from the boys type of stuff, eh. Radness.

 

[vitox]

just spoke to a friend who is there racing and he told me the dh course was way fast and has a huge triple (45ft he said) at the end who had claimed a few bikes (gemini dh owners keep an eye on the place where the floater anchors to the main frame) already, but that the organizers were reducing it right now.

lessee what happens tomorrow.

 

[dw]

That looks SWEEET!

Nice work on the pics and descriptions Craig, that helps a lot. I wish I was there for sure.

Dave

 

[Damn True]

They are going to be going so frickin fast, I really dont see much passing...atleast in the middle mega high speed part, but its long enough that someone could make a comeback after a mistake.
Key elements in good 4X racing (to me)
-longer than 40 sec
-long first straight
-wide
-turns with different lines
-no girls racing...every answer about why there are no big gaps "we have to make it safe for the girls"
-proper start gate "riders ready, watch the lights" its a global standard, the whole world uses it, its fair. NCS 4X needs to get a clue.

oh hell, anyway, the racing here should be awesome, big screen is coming in tomm. the fans are piling in...is this a rebirth? haha

Hmm, all of it seems fairly obvious unless of course you are a professional national race series sanctioning body.

Craig, be carefull with the no girls comment. I spoke to Leigh in Durango. She's smart enough to use this internet thingy. Ive been married, Ive been cut off. It aint a pretty place bro!

As for your comment. I will keep blowing the following tune:
The AMA, ABA and NBL (MX & BMX just in case someone needs the tip) all manage to build courses to challenge riders from novice to superstar. 26" cycling needs to follow this paradigm.
The common denominator is that the tracks are existing facilities. Pull your head out cycling, hold the races in places that want riders around ALL SUMMER, not just for two weeks.

 

[JohnnyBoyDH]

Thanks Stik...you da mang. Keep it coming!

 

[Damn True]

Holy moly that is some SUPER BITCHIN stuff!

What the?

Is that a hip to road? Are they gapping the pave?

Ok, this is just RAD

Wow, if we had courses like this I might do MtX just for the chance to ride it!

 

[dhtahoe]

Holy moly that is some SUPER BITCHIN stuff!

What the?

Is that a hip to road? Are they gapping the pave?

Ok, this is just RAD

Wow, if we had courses like this I might do MtX just for the chance to ride it!

Hey look a REAL MTN-X course... not just a downhill BMX. Damn that looks super fun.

 

[Transcend]

Now that is what i have been talking about. MSA duel style from 1997. Woohoo, nice to see mountain biking back in mountain cross.

 

[bizutch]

I think I pee'd myself. Stikman, tell me you got all that crap video taped and that we will see it on the next ficking bike video out. Way, WAY, WAY COOL!!!

 

[stiksandstones]

Damn True...that is not a hip to the road ( I think thats what you were assuming) its a small hip then land backside...roll down, cross the flat road and pick up massive speed before the big triple. As for my girls comment, its true, they are having to build courses so the girls can ride em, and its slowing progress. True they could make option lines, fill in gaps so u can come up short, etc, but I just wanna see guys flying over huge gaps elbow to elbow, pedalling in the air-landing, dicing in a turn after they come down from outer space...My wife knows what I think and to quote her from Durango in a laughing tone "what the hell, I quit racing because the 4X was getting to gnarly for me, now I come back to durango in 2004 and the track is so lame, I would have loved racing this kind of stuff, I would have not been scared all the time..haha"

As for the triple at the finish, yeah, I watched with Powell for a bit yesterday, it was scary to watch some of the squirrels...but they were never changing it, nor are they going to-unless they did something last night. I am off to breakfast, then go watch some DH practice. More on the site later.
Seeya guys

 

[rockracing]

Are those clear skies I see ? where's the rain ?

DH quali's today !!

 

[caballero]

thx for all those infos stikman......it was to quiet without stiksandstones.com

the 4X looks cool !

 

[Repack]

I don't see why more 4x courses don't have stuff like whoops and mogul fields built into them. Stuff that can't be jumbed. Seems like the OG 4x courses used to have a lot more than that. People complain about no passing, but what do you expect when you throw the worlds fastest racers on a course that is all straights and airs? The closeness of the qualifying times alone shows are pretty telling. When you have 32 (or whatever) riders within a few tenths of each other, and pasing takes longer than that, of course there won't be much passing!
But whatever, looks like a rad course. Sorry if I am coming off as bitter. Well, only a little bitter about the fact that I amsitting thousands of miles away from that gem.
And about the girls racing, why not throw in some slow go-arounds? Or build jumps that can be hit in a number of ways? I was a big fan of the double w/ table landing that Attitash had in their course years ago. Riders could either take the gap small and land on top of the table, or clear the whole thing and land on a trani. The jump was nothing new, but I am a little surprised that I haven't seen that style of jump appear in many other courses.

EDIT: I guess that is why they built in the logs, but they don't look like they have much potential to "mix things up".

 

[Dingus McGee]

Stik's opinions and info is missed on my computer screen. Good to see some of it!

Gotta hand it to Lee McCormack ..he's putting alot of (free, thankless) effort into his site these days...I dig reading that too.

 

[RaID]

looks pretty nice

keep the pics coming Stiks!!!

log drop section looks sweeeeet

 

[JohnnyBoyDH]

Just read on Stiks site about Vories. It is a crime not to allow that guy to race the Worlds. He has so much experience on the international circuit and is ALWAYS the top American finisher on the WC scene. Damn shame. Your cycling federation is whack.