Don't have an account yet? You can create one. As a registered user you have some advantages like theme manager, comments configuration and post comments with your name.
Hey this is more of an idea and spin off from the meeting laz had at the last race with the women. My sister and friends gf are getting into dh/mtx, they are very new to all of it. Krysten has ridden dh with us at plattekill but is scared of most steeps. My sis does some mellow trail rides with me as well. There was discussion at the meeting of having a beg race series on the same trail everytime to make the true beg's really excited about racing/riding. A trail that was suggested was Rythm on the old side of the mtn. Krysten has ridden this trail many times and enjoys it alot and she just started riding this past year.
This trail seems to be the best option because its very mellow if you want it to be and can be very fun for every skill level. Also if this is the trail of choice for the beg. racers then people with cheap mtb hardtails, ie trek 3700, 4500 line bikes, can race it and not feel at a dissadvantage compared to the other racers or intimadated. According to my sis and krysten this seems to be a big concern of feeling very intimadated by much better racers going by them at mach speeds on very intimadating trails, leaving them nervous about other riders and the trails.
If there was a race series for just true beg. on a mellow trail such as Rythm it would encouage many new downhillers and mountain bikers to come to plattekill, it def would be a great idea i think.
_________________ Bikes are rad
Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 9:53 am
SuspectDevice
All-City
Joined: Sep 15, 2002
Posts: 1727
Location: Northampton, MA 413!
I agree 100%. There is not true "beginner" racing in DH right now, and it is part of what is keeping rider numbers down in some classes. I know a lot of people are advocating the same thing, and it would be nice to see it happen.
that's a great idea. a true beginner course wouldn't scare some XC people away and once they get addicted to DH, they'll progress over time. I'm sure most of us can remember when DH was nothing more than some fire roads and grassy slopes.
_________________ Be Kind,
Be True,
Be Fearless
and
RIDE!
Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 7:24 pm
ford
All-City
Joined: Sep 28, 2004
Posts: 829
Location: NY
that is a great idea.
_________________ Live free, Ride hard, Die happy.
Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 8:33 pm
DHJUNKIE
Kingpin
Joined: Sep 8, 2002
Posts: 2689
Location: Cromwell, CT
laz? chris? any input on this??
_________________ Bikes are rad
Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 10:30 pm
Prometheus
Burner
Joined: Nov 7, 2002
Posts: 367
Location: Home: Long Island, Work: NYC
It has been discussed over and over the last few months. Springfish and I made the same suggestion a while back. We added though to have one beg trail/race course on each side of the mountain. That way we have a backup depending on which lift is running. The double side would be Rythm and the Triple side would be the 100 series, aka to grandmas house, aka some other name I forget at the moment. Laz and everyone really like this idea. We will most likely be doing it this season.
Re: 06 Beg Racers
Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 1:07 am
ViciousDHer
All-City
Joined: Nov 10, 2002
Posts: 1119
Location: Upstate New York
But then all the career beg racers won't be able to run the gnar courses
Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 2:06 am
DHJUNKIE
Kingpin
Joined: Sep 8, 2002
Posts: 2689
Location: Cromwell, CT
oh awesome news chris, my sis and krysten would be soooo stoked if that happened. good idea on the 2 diff trails too.
_________________ Bikes are rad
Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 12:28 pm
springfish
All-City
Joined: Jan 27, 2003
Posts: 1490
Location: Hood River, Oregon
When this idea was pitched to Laz the real benefit was that this would give beginners the ability to make a CLEAR improvement througout the year. The fact that there would only be two courses for the entire season would allow them to race against themselves more and give them to time to practice all month if they chose to.
In my opinion it's the only way for beginners to really get more comfortable when riding a mountain like Platty. It also builds the competition element in slowly instead of being such a scary first jump.
_________________ Bloody shins are my wedding ring.
Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 1:34 pm
DHJUNKIE
Kingpin
Joined: Sep 8, 2002
Posts: 2689
Location: Cromwell, CT
awesome.. i hope this really goes to plan.
_________________ Bikes are rad
Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 3:34 pm
Prometheus
Burner
Joined: Nov 7, 2002
Posts: 367
Location: Home: Long Island, Work: NYC
DHJUNKIE wrote:
awesome.. i hope this really goes to plan.
Ok I just finished talking with Laz and he agrees. This is the official plan for this season. One beg course on each side of the mountain to be used for every race. He also said that other ideas from the womens meeting will be put into place as well. I do not know anything about that and he is still in the think snow mode. He also says that the mountain has good conditions compared to other mountains in the north east and that you should come on down to enjoy it. Hehe
Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 1:18 am
DHJUNKIE
Kingpin
Joined: Sep 8, 2002
Posts: 2689
Location: Cromwell, CT
niiice thanks a lot chris
_________________ Bikes are rad
Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 9:40 pm
bikerchick
Burner
Joined: Nov 30, 2003
Posts: 202
Location: NY
Good, good news. If this trail is indeed going to be mellow enough I may give it a go on my XC bike to try it out. If the bug bites...
There is a such thing as women's meetings? How can I get involved in attending? Although I don't ride the mtn yet...getting my feet wet by meeting with some of the women may be just enough to get my a$$ on the lift finally!
Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 10:54 am
McGRP01
Burner
Joined: Jul 04, 2004
Posts: 105
Location: Upstate, NY
Why didn't someone think of this last year? (maybe I won't move up to Sport...? ) lol j/k!
Why didn't someone think of this last year? (maybe I won't move up to Sport...? ) lol j/k!
Actually, last year is when the idea was pitched to Laz. It was just too far into the season to make the change.
On another note, and I'm prepared to take some heat for it, I think it would be a good idea to have 2-3 dedicated courses (per lift side) for the sport guys (per season) too. The pros and experts could race the same course with unique lines that change each race. If the name of the game is getting more riders into the sport, I think this would help make it more approachable. Also, this would allow for less time dedicated to fresh cutting new trails and more time to maintaining and improving the ones that already exist.
I realize that a big part of Pkill's reputation is to have a NEW course each race, but when you really break it all down, it's normally just a new line here and there. And more times than not, it's so fresh that it's hardly ridable with any degree of fun (especially when wet) for a few months. This mentality creates a lot of stress on guys like Steve who are up there mapping and cutting constantly to get the courses ready in time. Which in turn means corners are cut and features that could be exploited in a really creative and FUN way are rushed and instead made into mediocre trails that people forget about.
Having all levels of racers dedicated to 3 or 4 courses for the season could really be a huge benefit all around in my opinion. I see so many things going right (and wrong) for many trails at Pkill and think a lot of the effort up there could be put to better use.
Thoughts?
_________________ Bloody shins are my wedding ring.
Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 11:34 am
ford
All-City
Joined: Sep 28, 2004
Posts: 829
Location: NY
there are a lot of good arguments going in both directions on the suggestion above. i think that just as long as there is a different course for every race then the courses can be used year after year with new features every year.
_________________ Live free, Ride hard, Die happy.
Hcor.net Features
Pictures and Videos
Home
Members :
) lol j/k!
