stoked to be at windrock for the tennessee national. lots of hitters in attendance. i'll try to blast pics and news here as best possible. our insta will have stuff too.
please post things you find, as well! #USDH
i'd never been to a buccee's before and HOLY CRAP. a new level of "america" there's a second row of gas pumps equally as big behind these. salaries are compelling LOL
had a fun casual day roaming the mountain today. the first actual practice day isn't until friday, but riders were shredding laps. i mucked about with some pans, so there's not a lot of variety, but i threw in some randoms for fun.
where's boris?
bridges from the days of butch and profro
griz and jack rice rollin' deep
if you know the riders, let us know.
one of the jewetts
henri kiefer (pretty sure)
TFR
was hyped to see this line up. a 20-25-year old skinny rotting away below the new monolithic beast of today.
will post some pics of the track next - a couple new sections and some mods to existing ones. it should be really fast.
luca shaw BOOTING for fun
sacha earnest's new TFR bike getting the detailing with frameworks getting background props.
Those are not my underwear.
If you like jerky, next time you're near a Buc-ees try theirs. Get the "fresh" jerky rather than the stuff in bags. Kind of pricey, but worth it (my opinion, of course).
you mean this? my jaw dropped at this wall of meat.
some clips and pics of the track via insta. the work they've done should make it rideable no matter the conditions, there is a fresh section that should have a couple lines develop. the gnarly sidehill off-camber before the rock slabs has been groomed out. was bummed to see this as it was a real decider of who had skill, but can also see that in the wet, it was almost too tough for a lot of riders. there is a super hateful compression at the bottom of the highway for anyone carrying speed. and another compression dug in after the on-off bridge following the slabs. today is track walk and rider's meeting, so stay tuned.
@profro Earnhardt Drop right? So many newbies got that thing so horribly wrong.
@sspomer that is indeed a relic. Thanks for the pic.
First race the WindRock crew had there, we lost half the people new to DH. There was no way to get a beginner down the mountain.
Damn you Tennessee Nationals! We are on family vacation in Oaxaca riding amazing trails, eating insane food, and experiencing one of my favorite cultural desinations, and my son and I are both experiencing FOMO for T-Nats. 😂
just put up some pit bits from this morn
https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/pit-bits-2025-tennessee-national
Wow! Commencal is representing here! I saw a younger Pierron on the shuttle last Sunday, but...looks like Amaurry is at TN Nationals as well?! This is gonna be as close to a World Cup as America gets! Just kidding, Lake Placid is gonna be rad too.
Can't make it either. I've got residual surgical glue catching on my boxer briefs.
Probably my lamest excuse for missing awkward Spomer hugs and kisses ever.
Actually, no. They have a deli section where the "fresh" jerky is. It's like the deli section in a regular grocery store but it has a selection of various flavors of jerky. You just tell them how much you want of each kind, the same as if you were ordering some cold cuts in a grocery store. I can't remember how much it is per pound, but it's pretty easy to get carried away and be shocked by how much it all costs..... but boy, is it some delicious jerky. Better to have more than you think you'll need right away, because it's a long way to the next Buc-ees!
some non-track schralping in the park via instagram from today (edit - don't know why it looks like a postage stamp on site...won't shoot vertical for the sake of insta though)
full entry list
https://www.bikereg.com/Confirmed/68826
Some big names on track walk today. Track looks good, can’t wait to see how it shapes up over the weekend. We are hugely disappointed that there is no seeding for Cat 1 riders outside of 17-18. $155 doesn’t get you a seed anymore.
Hopefully they base the start order on something. There are HUGE differences in speed in that younger category with a lot of them going as fast as the 17-18 class and a lot of them being really new to racing. Could see a lot of overtakes happening in that category without something to base it on.
Well that Buckees pic made me feel like crap, 125K for an Asst. Manager job with 6% match on 401K and 3 weeks paid vacation? Geez, I have 2 masters degrees and work in medicine and am not making anything close to that! Thanks a lot mom and dad for pushing the whole college route, what a freakin scam.
Excited for the race! We will be there tomorrow around lunch for the weekend. We're probably going to Aspire tomorrow evening too.
is 3 weeks paid leave alot in the US?
4 weeks min in NZ, I get 5 weeks of must use* + 5 days rollable/cashable, I have no School Qualy's But i make Nearly that equivalent(125kUSD)
Factory floor worker when i started on decent income but 8 years later Im lead advisor/Production ( + a team i lead that They made recently called 'FTR' meaning future) The company started looking at employee's for ideas and rewarded with PAL or Fast tracked promotion(had lots of *** next to it)
I had several idea's and They loved them, was asked to lead it and we cut costs by nearly 10% and upped through put by 35% in one year.
being a thinker and idea's person has seen more quick success than many's 'already done, education'
as a side note, something i figured out was if you want something done quicker, ask a lazy person how.
Had no idea that there were that many riders from Waterloo Wisconsin?? Must be the new place for DH racers to develop?? Look out Arkansas!!!!
Update* now all cat 1 racers seed. Good move by organizers!
I probably missed something, somewhere, but i'm shocked to not see Asa in the entry list
Did anyone else notice that Asa isnt' on this list? Hope he isn't hurt or something 🙏
raw is uploading right now (internet was fast, then slowed down, so it may be a bit). it was a killer day out there. weather was mint, track is FAST and definitely dusty. the world cuppers are nuts and so are the youngsters. their "normal" is at such a high level. walking the track, it felt like it had been sanitized a bit, but it sure doesn't seem that way with racers on track. the track has everything to it really, not to mention so many awesome, hateful compressions. what used to be the sketchy off-camber/sidehill into the slabby area was turned into a "sidewalk" but it's the sickest sidewalk. everyone comes in super hot and tries to slow down a drop into a pile of rocks (if you carry any real speed). it's a completely different challenge than what existed before, but still a real challenge. speeds are mental and the world cuppers ride with no regard for the sanctity of their bikes...none. horrible sounds, run over anything at 50mph, don't care...someone will fix it for them LOL. on flat corners, the top riders have so much more lean to their bikes and aggression in how they tell the bike where to go. a really fascinating experience to see and can't wait as they pick up even more speed. oh, and sam pilgrim is here...hanging on the DH track without a hitch, too!
vital raw is up
course POV from gwin before the race weekend
Awesome footage. Really cool to see a bunch of international riders at an event like this in TN. Agree with the assessment that the bikes are getting smashed hard!
Top 20 Pro seeding results. Aletha's result backs up the way she looked on track compared to the other women. She was PINNED. And I swear everytime I saw Pinkterton go by, his rims were pinging the grossest rocks in the way, ha!
see more - https://www.tnnational.com/results
Crazy top 20! Mini WC for sure. Sat/rad shows rain overnight Uncle Gordo? And who the heck is Cloe Suetos?!? 😳
Post a reply to: 2025 Tennessee National DH at Windrock