2020 gravity season

I'm saddened there will be no mont st anne but dylan and i will hit snoeshoe. Let's get a jersey guy get together down there.
 
I'm still stunned there's no MSA race next year, but my WAG is they couldn't get a solid commitment from the venue and/or the Canadian govt. My next WAG is they are hoping to get a last minute addition of MSA on one of the weekends before or after Snowshoe. The teams tend to not like traveling to North America for only one event.

If it were any other date, I'd be at Snowshoe, but I have a previous commitment for that weekend. Ironically, I'll be in Canada (Nova Scotia).
 
Some things I wanted to note from round 4 that are not spoilers:
- bruni's kit somehow got even uglier
- vergier and tawhnee seagrave have the same kit now i think
- the course was a true throwback and I would have liked it more without the endless middle pedal section
- is it me or is something missing with Rob and claudio?
- were you surprised no one ran an enduro setup for these rounds?
 
-Yeah... Bruni's kit was... eye-catching...
-Both Vergier and Seagrave are Fox riders, so the kit similarity is not surprising. I was kinda surprised she wasn't wearing her new custom kit, but considering it's already sold out I guess there was no reason to.
-Maybe... but that pedal section was so crucial to the race. To win you had to be a complete rider so with that in mind I'm glad it was part of the course.
-I wouldn't be surprised if there is a new color commentator next year. Not that I don't like Claudio, but some new blood is needed.
-No... the tech sections were far too steep and rough to be competitive on an enduro bike. Maybe some sort of "hybrid" bike that ran a 170-180mm travel frame with a 190-200mm travel dual crown fork. But in reality, these guys are so used to racing a particular bike they don't like to change it that drastically
 
Personally I did not mind the double format at all, I think it would be great to se those 6 dates doubled. My opinion. The race was nuts, I almost left and then...I wish I could forget it to watch it all over again!
 
It's always seemed fairly crazy to me that they have an entire WC downhill season with in the neighborhood of 6-8 events. Seems like adding a couple of double-headers to that would be a way to get a bit larger sample size for determining an overall winner while minimizing the additional logistical challenges of adding venues.
 
Ideally, I would like to see each location doubled with the two races having noticeably different characteristics. I think that would really highlight the most complete athlete.

BTW, anyone follows the women's races? In spite of a considerably lower number of top athletes than the men's I enjoy it as much, I'm a big fan of Marine Cabirou.
 
It seems to be a double-edged sword for the teams. I think most of the riders would want more races, but the logistics are nothing to sneeze at. Especially the North American events, which is why I would not be surprised if MSA gets added back to the schedule at the last minute. It costs no small amount of $$ to attend the races and even more when air travel is added to the mix. Many riders not in contention for the overall may skip Snowshoe due to the costs of attending just a single race. They may not if MSA goes on after all.

During interviews, it did seem the two-race format was popular with riders and I'm sure team managers loved it - two races for similar logistical costs.

Yes, I follow the women's as well. Not quite as competitive as the men's race, but it's good right now with 4 women who can pull out a win. Five when Rachel returns, although I get the feeling if 2021 goes reasonably well for her, it'll be her last season. I'm betting she wants to end her career on a high note before getting married and popping out a kid or two. Having followed her IG for awhile, Tracy retiring didn't surprise me at all.
 
NJ-XC-Justin said:
Sorry, you mean 1 when Rachel returns.
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Hmm… Is the desire to win there? Sure. But to lay it all on the line like she used to? That I'm less sure about. I think she'll be competitive, but I don't think she'll dominate like she did in past seasons.
 
serviceguy said:
Strongly disagree. Thanee Seagrave Marine Cabiroi, Miriam Nicole and Nina Hoffman seem to be on the same level, so was Tracey Hanna. I’m not that impressed by Camille Balanche. Let’s not forget Valentina Holl next year.
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Shit. yeah... Vali Holl could really be a force next year.
 
I think
serviceguy said:
Strongly disagree. Thanee Seagrave Marine Cabiroi, Miriam Nicole and Nina Hoffman seem to be on the same level, so was Tracey Hanna. I’m not that impressed by Camille Balanche. Let’s not forget Valentina Holl next year.
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We shall see. Hard seeing Rachel lose when she's been so much better than everyone for so long. But yeah I guess with caribou and nicole really stepping it up (hoffman is not there yet IMO) it could be competitive.

Fingers crossed on vali holl. We really have no idea how that will go.
 
NJ-XC-Justin said:
I think

We shall see. Hard seeing Rachel lose when she's been so much better than everyone for so long. But yeah I guess with caribou and nicole really stepping it up (hoffman is not there yet IMO) it could be competitive.

Fingers crossed on vali holl. We really have no idea how that will go.
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If I remember correctly she was winning Junior races with lower times than the Elites...or at least qualifying times.
 
I can definitely see Vali dominating 2021 if she can stay healthy. As cool as it would be to see Rachel return to her "win every race she enters" form, I just don't think her head will be in it. I'd have to go back and dig through timing results, but I'd swear the women closed the gap a little towards the men's times compared to previous years.

The one Crankworx race Vali did this year with Tracy prior to World Champs, she won by a fair margin.
 
serviceguy said:
If I remember correctly she was winning Junior races with lower times than the Elites...or at least qualifying times.
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In 2018 her times would have placed her (at age 16!) Between 4th and 10th each elite world cup race.

And last year in les gets her time was faster than the elite women. Though that was a weak race with Tracy Hannah winning that day.

But this all assumes her times would have been the same, right? And sure enough she crashed this year as an elite. Push yourself harder and you're on the edge and risk it all (right dak?). Her talent is clear but she's still a big question mark for me whereas caribou is a steady freddy.
 
All booked for snowshoe next September. $177 a night for a junior suite (2 queen beds) at the Allegheny Resort (footstep of the mountain). For those that have been to snowshoe i assume its like MSA and creek where you can ride during throughout the weekend? After missing MSA the past 2 years now we're pretty psyched.
 
Personally, in the women's I think the old guard are all playing hurt, and the young ones are getting faster and more constant every year. Rachel was still fast after the shoulder injury, but not as fast as she had been. Looked to me like instead of going full out all the time, she started going only as hard as she had to to win. I think Pompom is in the same boat as well. Her practice crash definitely impacted her race run on day two, looking much more hesitant, and not constantly hitting her marks. With Vali, Marine, and Nina seemingly willing to put it all on the line to try and win, I'm not sure Rachel's return will be as specatular as one might hope, or think. I feel Tracey sees the writing on the wall, and decided it's smarter not to push herself into another serious injury trying to keep up with them. Better to walk away on top, then not be able to walk at all.
 
NJ-XC-Justin said:
All booked for snowshoe next September. $177 a night for a junior suite (2 queen beds) at the Allegheny Resort (footstep of the mountain). For those that have been to snowshoe i assume its like MSA and creek where you can ride during throughout the weekend? After missing MSA the past 2 years now we're pretty psyched.
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If it's like 2019, yes there is some riding, although it's only on the Basin side. All of the Western Express side trails (where the WC DH course is) were closed. The XC course was on the Basin side, but was mainly on the upper part of the mtn so it didn't seem to affect too many trails. There is also a fun XC trail loop that isn't really on the bike park map. My Strava route here. Flowy woods route that goes to a fire road and then a long tech descent towards the lake, then around the lake to the lift. I had some lift passes that were part of some package I bought (sorry, don't remember specifics).

Couple of notes:

No Verizon service on the mtn. I think it's Sprint only. Fortunately, my condo had WiFi, so I wasn't totally in the dark.

They had the DH finish area completely closed off to general admission spectators. I think you can buy a special pass that can get you in, but I didn't know about it at the time. I was a little miffed about that.

I'm not seeing Allegheny Resort anywhere on the lodging map or on Google. Did you mean Allegheny Springs?

Not sure what you mean by "footstep of the mountain". FWIW, Showshoe is a "summit" resort and most lodging, restaurants and amenities are at the top of the mtn. The start hut for the DH was practically within sight of my condo at Shamrock.

Oh... and the After Party on Sat after the DH race... effing epic. Tracey will be missed for sure. She can drink with the best of them. I had a hilarious conversation with an absolutely plastered Conner Fearon. Pro tip - find Greg Minnaar and wherever he goes, follow. I don't know how I managed to drink so much and make it back to the condo...
 
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mtbiker87 said:
Personally, in the women's I think the old guard are all playing hurt, and the young ones are getting faster and more constant every year. Rachel was still fast after the shoulder injury, but not as fast as she had been. Looked to me like instead of going full out all the time, she started going only as hard as she had to to win. I think Pompom is in the same boat as well. Her practice crash definitely impacted her race run on day two, looking much more hesitant, and not constantly hitting her marks. With Vali, Marine, and Nina seemingly willing to put it all on the line to try and win, I'm not sure Rachel's return will be as specatular as one might hope, or think. I feel Tracey sees the writing on the wall, and decided it's smarter not to push herself into another serious injury trying to keep up with them. Better to walk away on top, then not be able to walk at all.
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I pretty much agree. Even Tawnee basically said she's having a hard time finding that "fire" needed to push for the win when it really counts.

Honestly, I think part of the reason Tracey is retiring is as she gets older she has to train harder every year to stay ahead of her genetics. This being on top of needing to take more chances in order to be competitive.
 
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