2019 Gravity Season

serviceguy

serviceguy

Well-Known Member
I won’t speak of the race other than to say I’m glad I didn’t miss it. The Opera setup worked pretty well, the only problem being that you can’t select the specific country but just the continent where you want the VPN to be originatin from. On Saturday The only continent that was allowing me to stream was the Americas (probably some Latin America country) but then on Sunday it was breaking up all the time and really made it impossible to watch, so I tried Europe again just for shits and giggles and I was able to see the entire men’scrace on full HD with only a couple of glitches of a few seconds. Who knows what is going to be the setup next year, but I sure wish Red Bull could cover it in full, Rob Warner continuous apologizing for the bad audio and random footage of athletes mid race being shown before their start was bad enough. Well, beggar can’t be choosers!
 
NJ-XC-Justin

NJ-XC-Justin

KY-DH-Freddy
Ian F said:
Yeah, the women's XC race was great and definitely worth watching. There's a drop on the XC course that is really poorly viewed in the broadcast, but a couple IG shots give an idea of how far it is from the edge to the landing. At least 6 feet. I'd guess about the same as the drop near the end of the Citizen's DH course at Windham a few years ago. And the men and women were sending it on XC race bikes. Times have changed. You need some serious technical skills to race the World Cup XC these days and be competitive.
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I saw a pic of kate courtney on IG dropping off that and it was a straight DH drop. We talk about XC courses being harder than years before, but I've never seen a drop that big. Shame they didn't get it on TV (I didn't see it anyway). And a lot of the women were on hardtails too. Good lord.

Great fever chart of the DH race progression, time-wise. Shame Brosnan lost a half second to Bruni in the first section because he was even with him the rest of the race. Also a shame that a frenchie won yet again, but I can't be mad because these two guys are just amazing.
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/nerding-out-mont-sainte-anne-dh-world-championships-2019.html

Good to see Gwin back btw. And good to see some US riders with respectable finishes. Maybe through tomorrow is enough spoiler-free time and we can officially talk turkey.
 
Ian F

Ian F

Well-Known Member
I won't need to watch the broadcast from Snowshoe - because I'm here! :p

I'm looking forward to roaming the pits and track and just being a general fan-boi for the next few days. There's no Verizon service here on the mtn (ATT only), although I have pretty decent WiFI in my condo, so I'll try to post a few pictures during the week. :)
 
Ian F

Ian F

Well-Known Member
Day 1. Quiet with teams still setting up.

Such a great view.
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Spotted Ben Cathro and his fiance Tina getting to work.
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During a break, he chatted with me and gave me a a couple of stickers. He was amusing in they totally underestimated how long it would take to get here from MSA.
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The Transition team is in the same condo complex, so I've already seen Tahnee Seagrave twice. Saw the Fox tent, but I know Wednesday is their busy day, so didn't bother them.
 
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Ian F

Ian F

Well-Known Member
Day 2 - practice. I took more video than still pictures, but got a few.

This was near the beginning of B practice. Vali Holl in the Red Bull helmet waiting to go. Apparently, someone got hurt very early, so there was a course hold.
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The first kicker/hip jump near the start. A few were sending it (Kaos Seagrave apparently flipped it on his second practice run), but most were taking the speed line to the right.
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Then some grass turns and a really healthy road gap. Easily 40' from lip to landing.


After a short woods section, there's this rock drop/gap thing. It looked pretty easy to just roll off (the landing looked butter), but the fast line was to jump the dirt lip and not touch the rock at all. Which was insane.
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The lead in to the Wild Zone drop. This is much steeper than it looks and not smooth in the least. The drop itself hasn't changed much since I raced here for the NORBA races back in '01-03. Except now the line is to the left and after the first drop, you hit an even bigger drop under the lift, followed by another insanely steep and rocky chute into a tight right turn in the woods.
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The last jump before the finish. You can actually walk through the container, but it doesn't go anywhere due to the B line route.
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Jordi from Fox Suspension "puzzling" with a rider on camera. I realized afterwards I might be in the background, depending on how they edit the next Dialed episode.
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After walking down the mountain, my legs and knees are screaming, so I'll probably go for another ride around the pits before making dinner.
 

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NJ-XC-Justin

NJ-XC-Justin

KY-DH-Freddy
Awesome man. There the whole week. Should be a ton of great races. I loved watching short track last year at MSA. And right after that podium my son chatted with winner sam gaze and I realized we might be able to watch our sport on TV but it's not exactly big time lol. Can you do shuttle runs down any part of the race course?
 
Ian F

Ian F

Well-Known Member
After the race, the course will just be another trail on the mountain, although I'm guessing the big hip jump near the top may get plowed before ski season. The aforementioned road gap after it as well, since both are in the middle of ski runs. Right now, there is pretty much no riding on the mountain. A small handful of trails are open, but to be honest, only for XC and not enough to gear up for. I've mostly used my bike to get back and forth between my condo and the pits. I can practically see the start of the DH from my condo. Maybe a 3 min walk. For the race on Sat, I'll take the lift to the bottom and watch at the finish line, which is where I prefer to watch a race like this. Not sure what I'll do tomorrow other than wanting to be back in the village to watch the XC Short Track race.
 
Ian F

Ian F

Well-Known Member
NJ-XC-Justin said:
Saw him at msa last year and he was a lot taller than anticipated. And this was pre-fedora phase. But what a tool.
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He has always been pleasant during my interactions with him. I think a lot of riders have difficulty being "personalities" and it can be tough to catch them on a bad day. MSA might have been around the time he was finding out he wasn't going to be working for Scott anymore.

Yeah... I heard about Neko last night. Big bummer. I've saw a few riders limping around and in slings yesterday after practice. The course is brutal. Very "East Coast".
 
serviceguy

serviceguy

Well-Known Member
Ian F said:
He has always been pleasant during my interactions with him. I think a lot of riders have difficulty being "personalities" and it can be tough to catch them on a bad day. MSA might have been around the time he was finding out he wasn't going to be working for Scott anymore.

Yeah... I heard about Neko last night. Big bummer. I've saw a few riders limping around and in slings yesterday after practice. The course is brutal. Very "East Coast".
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Any sighting of the denim destroyer? He appeared to have done well on timed practice...
 
NJ-XC-Justin

NJ-XC-Justin

KY-DH-Freddy
Last race of the year! Qualies are in and 4 americans qualify on the top 10! Nice. Hart bruni charlie Harrison and brosnan are top 4. Shaw norton and bruce Klein also in the top 10. Very cool. Please lets get just one podium this year.

Were track conditions bad or something? Pierron 7 seconds back in 15th is weird. Gee 40th, gwin 44th 12 seconds back ugh. Psyched for tomorrow!

https://m.vitalmtb.com/news/news/RESULTS-Snowshoe-World-Cup-Downhill-Qualifying,1286
 
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