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This is just perfect, and 100% true of USAC
With that said, Although Windham may have had a World Cup round which solidifies its "legitness", its CERTAINLY not the only track in the country which is worthy of making Worlds nominations or holding Nationals.
I've always heard great things about Schweitzer, never been there... On the topic of Idaho, what about that Tamarack venue that was on the schedule for the final year of the NMBS? again never been there
Northstar has trails that are definitely worthy of this level of competition. Not to mention the outstanding infrastructure beyond the riding that could support such an event.
just to play devil's advocate, here's some places i haven't heard mentioned already.
highland
brian head
keystone
crested butte (heard the new dh is fun, still never been there)
Oregon somewhere? mt hood? Ashland?( not sure if that's possible but it sounds like a lot of fun)
Or just anywhere new for that matter, i'd love to see a completely new venue with some trails built just for the race by some known build crews. Sol Vista Crew for example.
This would be a great opportunity for any aspiring or start up bike park...
Any other venue ideas? By expanding to a new venue we can do a part in slowly expanding the presence of the sport...
I did hear rumors earlier this season about Durango having a pressence in the Mountain States Cup for 2011. These rumors didn't sound very factual, but its an entertaining thought none the less..
Or Vail's old World champs track, That definitely looks worthy of choosing Worlds riders, and a lot of fun. Can anyone find a video of that on the internet... I think its in an old sprung or something...
Great course! That one gets my vote for sure!
Actually, I don't even mind where it's held, as long as it's run properly. A well run race on a shitty track is much better than a shitty run race on an awesome track. I hope the promoters/USAC are reading this:
-No stopwatch timing ala Sea Otter. We invest way too much time and money for that level of inaccuracy.
-No skipping practice days. This year there wasn't going to be a Saturday practice at nationals until enough people bitched. We were then given one hour. and started late.
-Start practices on time. We should NEVER have to wait at the top of the course for 45 minutes after practice is supposed to start in our 2 hour practice block while course officials try to be located.
-Offer enough practice time. Sol Vista was set up great with a short course and high speed quad that went from the bottom of the course straight to the top. You cold get a lot of runs in a short amount of time. If the race is at a place like Angelfire or Mt Hood, that amount of practice time we had at Sol Vista will NOT be sufficient due to a slower lift, no bike trays, having to ride a while to the start of the course etc.
-Don't tape the course the day before the race (Northstar GRT cough**) Tape it early, tape it completely, and don't change the tape. If you don't tape a section and someone finds a new line, it needs to stay there. Only fix it if someone blows through it.
-Trust good builders/the trail. If be features are in the trail and have been ridden successfully by numerous riders, don't try and remove them from the race.
(please note: these are just common issues I've seen at races over the years. not all of these apply to every race or even national champs. It's just a set of wishes I hope can happen at every race.)
-KT
Northstar would be cool but they would need to cut a new trail giving the Northstar kids something new to learn.
Angel Fire is an awesome race.
Hire the Sol Vista crew to help build and or design the tracks to keep pushing the athletes and making it challenging. Tell ABC sports to get their ass out there and broadcast it Live instead of televising golf/bowling/billiards or strongest man contest for once.
keep it coming, everyone!
Granted the CO racers will have more of a home course advantage, but I think we can all agree that by having major events on one coast or the other presents a serious travel delimma to the majority of racers.
Yea, there are plenty of venue-based objections to this idea, but its far past time to establish some type of scheduling that does not favor those with sponsor-funded travel arrangements.
There could be around 1000 other people that want a fun race, that are nowhere close to thinking about Switzerland. 4X needs to be spectator friendly, DH fun for all classes. That's about it other than the nuts and bolts of timing and scheduling. Make it fun and people will talk about it and get excited for more DH and next year's event. That's what the sport really needs, more excitement and fun for everyone doing it.
In any case choosing where to have nationals just to support roughly 10 riders world Team bids in the US is a little bit silly. But not all together a wrong thing to do, given that if the track is challenging enough for these crazy kids then we'll all probably enjoy it.
Bstens, bootleg would be incredible!!! resurrect that old 4x track and it could be a fun weekend! Armageddon to reaper!!
I know it doesn't work like this but what if we could just petition USA cycling to have a vote, Get a list of venues that would be interested in hosting the event and let the people who will be doing the actual racing decide, rather then office meetings in colo springs. JDD your thoughts? no offense USAC guys but it would make sense after all. And plus then you USAC folks will be off the hook from our relentless criticism, you can just say,.... "well you guys picked the venue!!"
4 min closer to 5 min race runs.... its a proving ground...
High speed detachable lift and lots of accomodations
-KT
The NORBA Nats were brought there for three years by local USAC promoter Round and Round Productions. They supplied the logistics/course layout/volunteers/knowledge of the mountain, etc. from having run the Schweitzer Dirt & Rock Tour NORBA races there for years as part of their WIM Series.
For the third year, Frosty, Blue Wolf and Harbor Properties (Schweitzer's owner at the time) rewarded all of RandR's hard groundwork of the two previous years by screwing them out of promoting the third year. Schweitzer had to handle all of the prep and it turned into a cluster-**** to say the least.
I'm not saying this to dampen anyone's enthusiasm for the venue. It's awesome. The old NORBA course is gone (although Altar Boy and the Bowling Alley can be found and ridden); but they built a new Pro/Cat 1 course this year that's every bit as gnarly (if not moreso) as the old one. It even has a nice-size compression much like Altar Boy in it. I just hope if they are making a bid that they partner with a promoter that knows what they're doing.
Hopefully this answers your question...
first off, by no means am i defending USAC's & their history with gravity. however, since i have worked a little with them (in regards to the Pro GRT & attending th promoters summit), it does seem that there is a tiny area where they are getting better. whether it's them trying to change/expand & become more open with gravity... or just by letting me (& other promoters handle DH & not become so involved.
However, national champs is their baby & they have some stricter requirements on things (than say the Pro GRT). be it fees, or criteria in order to host the event, etc
There have been a number of venues who have been interested in hosting the national champs (some have already been named earlier), but many feel that they cannot either afford or aren't equipped to host the event this year. Remember, they would have to meet the requirements & hold both DH & 4X events. Out of those who were interested, only a tiny few actually have contacted USAC regarding hosting the event. out of those few, only a couple actually have made a bid.
It's not that USAC doesn't care necessarily about what venue host the event. They've actually contacted me on number of occasions to find a good proper venue that would be interested & the gravity community would be happy about. I gave some feedback, but i'm limited on what i can do since i don't work for them & have my hands already full with the Pro GRT.
Not to shoot you down, but it honestly wouldn't do much to petition USAC. I'd say get people to petition their own resorts to get them to make a bid for the National champs. Show them that it's worth the investment. That's what i have to do with the Pro GRT. USAC can't pull a venue out of their ass, so they need places to be interested first, then are able to choose from what's available to them.
hope this answers some questions... if not, hit me up & i'll try to respond as best as i can.
Just out of curiosity, what does USAC charge a resort to host National Champs, and what is included with that?
The only reason I can think of that a resort wouldn't want to host this race is because USAC wants to charge an extrodinary amount of money. Maybe I'm missing something, but I fail to see why a resort wouldn't want 500 racers to show up and fill their condos/hotesl and spend money in their off season
-KT
http://www.usacycling.org/forms/events/bid/Mountain%20Bike%20GravityBid…
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