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#USDH going strong in junior men. Asa, Bode, Gavin, Ryder and Lucas all qualify top 20. Three of them top ten. Two of them podium quali times. Legit!

Sugarloaf is close to Mt St Anne though. So maybe the stars will align with schedules to make that work well.

Sugarloaf is a couple hr drive from Portland Maine which is already a long drive from anywhere not in the northeast and not exactly a large airport. Snowshoe is a pretty doable drive from se and mid Atlantic, is a couple hrs from Pittsburgh and three from dc (a large and a major airport). Again nothing against the area. I visited and it’s pretty incredible. Type of place I’d love to see a World Cup (where budget/time for travel is much less an issue). And I plan to go up there for an esc sometime. But I’d be worried that...

Define elite. If a privateer qualifies to race in the elite category doesn't that make them an elite rider? If they get down the track faster than someone with a factory ride haven't they earned the right to race? There are numerous team riders that rarely qualify for finals.

Why? Asa is the national champ. Why should someone else wear what is his

Every loss should be tragic to anyody but it feels harder when that's someone I've been shuttling and practicing with for the last few days. Just doing our things together brings a sense of brotherhood, Unlike some other sports, I really feel a strong bond and sense of community in DH racing, especially in this field of the cat1 19 to 70+. All these guys are true heroes, dedicated racers only doing it for true passion. The pros are cool but the cat1 is truly the core of the sport, we are the guys buying gears, supporting local events and...

Neko (junior) and Logan Bingelli (elite) at Beech Mountain in 2012. Lots of drama. Lots of intrigue. Lots of USAC bungling. Seems USAC did a much better job of knowing the rules this time around, which is nice. Shoutout to Matilda Melton, Aletha Ostgaard, and Lucas Dedora who also had incredible runs in juniors, with times that would put them on an elite podium. The future is looking bright! Wearing my Vital "USDH" shirt with pride today. And sadness, too

I wonder if it has to being outside of UCI legal racing age? Meaning I dont think you can race a World Cup in Juniors until 17. Please correct me if I am wrong. While it is a national championship and put on by USAC, it is regulated by UCI rules.

My $0.02... Yesterday was a tough day for a lot of people. The absolute most unfortunate event that we could imagine, happened. Rumors spread like wildfire once the course hold went into effect. At one point I think most people thought that the event was going to be canceled. I am thankful that it wasn't. I met Scott at the US Open two years ago and I absolutely know that he would want racing to go on despite what happened. He was a great soul and a true racer. Ironically, my son got to know Scott pretty well the past...

National Champs DH course preview

I don't know what the consensus is regarding the Paris XCO track, but two things to say: 1. It's rad that MTB is represented in the Olympics 2. XC is becoming bad ass - this is such a sick shot!

Speaking of hubs, looks like OneUp entered the chat. Pretty impressive price point too. https://can.oneupcomponents.com/collections/hubs

After this weekend, I don't want to hear anyone talk about making tracks faster and higher average speed to get the times closer together. Especially with the conditions, it was a gnarly and difficult track where the best were able to prove their mettle and stand out from the rest. If you want to build the sport up you need to build the stars of the sport and you can't do that if the top 10 riders are separated by 3.8 seconds like Lenzerheide last year. The runs Pierron & the rest of the podium guys were on another level...

Man I was ready for some VDS race talk and instead I'm greeted with Vital's most notorious gangster starting a conspiracy theory where he's really super bummed that DH MTBing isn't like Supercross where we have Monster girls in every shot at all times lol So super duper weird when a race video is about racing and a male dominated sport has videos full of a 'buncha dudes' ugh so lame where are the eye candy bimbos to make the vid better... -_-

Race day interviews from Jack Rice. Photo blast will be coming soon too. 0:00 - Loic Bruni 4:52 - Anna Newkirk 7:49 - Neko Mulally 10:52 - Vali Holl 11:54 - Max Alran 13:28 - Erice van Leuven 14:41 - Ellie Hulsebosch 16:18 - Finn Iles 18:37 - Myriam Nicole 21:50 - Lachie Stevens-Mcnab 23:14 - Oisin O'Callaghan 24:25 - Lisa Baumann 25:33 - Benoit Coulanges 29:11 - Marine Cabirou 30:32 - Lucas Dedora 32:49 - Andreas Kolb

Big up to Asa for a mature interview and owning up to this. The kid has class

Race Replay video is up!

photo blast from ben wilson is up https://www.vitalmtb.com/photo-blast-monster-pro-downhill-mountain-creek