Posts
464
Joined
2/10/2020
Location
Fayetteville, AR
US
Edited Date/Time
1/9/2023 12:31pm
They STILL haven't named venues (or firm dates) for XC or DH/Enduro/DS for 2023 National Championships. WTF is going on with USAC? We're trying to plan out our race schedule, and we're going to just have to move forward and not worry about making it at this point. I know people who run teams/clubs with 50+ racers split between gravity and XC, and they're in absolute disbelief that we're at this point in January of the year of the races. They should be announcing venues and dates for 2024 right now, not still trying to finalize 2023.
Wish I could help ya out... From what I've heard there has been a problem with getting venues that desire to host the event. My speculation is that's one of the reasons it was split in the first place for 2023 is that a venue could not be secured that had a UCI caliber DH track and the ability to host UCI caliber XC races along with Enduro championships at the same location.
@hogfly judging by your location you should be pretty close to where XC nationals ends up after the recent Walton Family Foundation/USAC national team press release.
I literally have no clue where DH national championships could be. I haven't necessarily been snooping for info but it's been crickets on my end, and I've announced every DH/DS national championship for USAC since 2017 snowshoe
@TrillWill I imagined that Fayetteville/Centennial would end up as the XC venue for possibly even this year and that was one of the big reasons for separating XC out from the gravity events as well as the delay in the announcement. Unfortunately, my son is on the gravity side of things, so we won't get to stay close to home.
With Snow Summit (Big Bear) being back up and running for a few years and the former home decades ago of many championship races, I'd love to see that happen.
I think fayetteville being the XC Nats venue makes sense but with the UScup already going there I'm not sure if it will be this year. I heard a rumor it would be at Windham in New York
It is also a very small venue so maybe not the best for so many people, but obviously USAC had no problem shoving all those people into winter park
I mean...the venue itself isn't that small (no smaller than Winter Park base for sure), and has plenty of room for the pits, but the spectator/participant parking can definitely be an issue. In past really large events (USCup and CX), they've run shuttles from nearby University of Arkansas parking lots, which has worked fine. You can also bike in pretty easily.
The other big rumor floating around among the Arkansas contingent at Nats last year was that the Wilhelmina trails project was being designed with housing MTB champs (both XC and Gravity) in the future. No clue of the feasibility, but as others have noted... there have certainly been underwhelming DH courses in the past at Nats.
https://www.arkansasoutside.com/proposed-mena-trails-project/
And then the followup article:
https://www.arkansasoutside.com/new-trails-in-mena-move-forward/
" The approximately 8000 combined acres of Arkansas State Park, National Forest, and city property designated for the project includes Rich Mountain, the second-highest peak in the state. This will open the possibility of trails with the greatest vertical relief in the state, around 1400 feet."
Anyone have any insight on this? I can't believe USAC is silent about a national championship that is happening within 6 months....
nothing new about MTB. they announced esports national champs last week though, so there's that.
I thought the plan for 2023 was Killington. Everyone was talking about it at winter park last year.
I've heard either Killington or Angel Fire
Yeah, Angelfire and Killington were definitely the buzz at last year's Nats.
Angel Fire might actually be possible if they're only hosting the gravity side of things. Infrastructure there is freaking minimal, though. It would be awesome for us, though, as it's only a 10 hour drive, and we usually go 1-2 times a year anyway.
Cross Country dates and venue announced:
"USA Cycling is excited to announce that the 2023 USA Cycling Cross-Country Mountain Bike National Championship will take place July 5-9 at Bear Creek Mountain Resort in Macungie, Pennsylvania."
Probably means Killington for gravity. I imagine they'll try to keep it all on the East Coast.
I’m excited for Angel Fire now. I’m not driving to Vermont from California.
32 hour drive from Grand Junction, CO to Killington. Not going to happen!
I can't wait for the USAC Gravity Nationals event venue announcement. It's almost as good as team rumors
Lots of wheels still in motion, and from what I'm hearing it's still anyone guess as to where we will be racing for the DF stars and stripes jersey in 2023. At this point it would shock me if any of the popular speculative venues folks have been throwing around since Winter Park last year actually ends up hosting the race
What a disgrace!!
Not only are we a long way from having an established domestic racing series to prepare our athletes for the world cup stage, but while the sport is at an all-time high in terms of participation (there were 40+ middle schoolers racing our local enduro! , the governing bodies and infrastructure to support competitive cycling are sorely lacking.
I've been trying to get a response from USAC since October about Nationals, and while they started off answering me politely, they no longer bother replying.
It's no wonder our top American athletes aren't showing up to compete in these conditions.
At the same time other nations like the french are thriving and it's not a surprise. When I lived there, it was easy to find support for racing - every town and village had a cycling club, and the French federation was heavily involved in both grassroots and elite events.
In the early 90's, my regional club would support a little nobody like me to go race regionals, nationals, European championships and world cups.
Meanwhile, here in the US, I'm left feeling completely helpless. I would like to be part of the solution instead of complaining for the last 20 years but I'm not sure where to start. How could we make USAC better?
Too much to unpack bro, lol. I thought we were going to have a fun next week of speculating about venues, not diving into the inner workings of why USAC has failed DH racing
Next prediction to add to the speculation... Mountain Creek Bike Park. Why not? Proven race venue from hosting USAC sanctioned nationals/GRTs, baller trail crew to whip up a DS track, plenty of trail/terrain for an Enduro.
You're all optimistic they're gonna pick somewhere cool like Angel Fire, Killington, or Mountain Creek. Deep inside, we all know USAC is going to run it at Winter Park for the next 5 years. You know it to be true. #NORBAstillhatesyou
At this point, I will take anything especially not too far from the west coast.. I don't feel like driving to Arkansas to race a flow trail..
@TEAMROBOT Now we're talking! I didn't mind the venue, but talking on a microphone isn't impacted by the altitude. Just needed a little more chapstick...
Bryce Bike Park in VA would be a crowd pleaser for the CA and CO folks in this thread
. A huge 500' of elevation drop on a GL flow trail #Pickleback
I actually don't mind Winter Park (selfishly). Good vacation spot for the week for the whole family while the kid races. Lots of good hikes around, and I get to ride Trestle. Also, Trestle is large enough that the park isn't that affected by the event, which might not be the case for somewhere like Angelfire, which has only one lift and not as many trails (even though I prefer the riding at Angelfire).
I could do Winter Park again also. Like you said it’s a great area. It would definitely be a lot less crowded and more laid back without the XC crowd.
Bear Creek was the first venue for USAC enduro national championships. Shitty little ski hill, but incredibly close to East Coast population centers.
It’s hard to imagine an economically viable ski-industry owned bikepark wanting to run stand alone gravity nationals… if you can’t rent bikes to tourists for a week, that would put you in a world of hurt.
I think that's the reason Trestle makes sense, because they can maintain regular operations while Gravity Nationals is happening. Angelfire would be a lot tougher. It was slammed just for the Team Trail Party race they had there with a huge lift line. Trails didn't feel that crowded, but the single lift is tough.
Killington would have no issues running regular operations while hosting a gravity nationals...
I think it would be a long shot for Mountain Creek that time of year. Most nationals hosted by Creek take place before the water park opens. National champs and the water park would be a nightmare.
@sevenz Or would the water park being open and gravity nationals taking place at the same time be amazing?!? Hundreds of adrenaline junky mtbers descending upon unsuspecting waterpark guests
Mountain Creek or Winter Park are my picks since the drive from the airport is less than 2 hours, Angel Fire is more than 3 hours. Since we are in SoCal, Winter Park would be my first choice and I really like the resort. But I am sure that Winter Park is not my son's first choice since he has to sprint his bike at 10,000' of elevation.
Burlington is an Hour and Forty to Killington and Albany is 2 Hours. But Windrock is hosting ProGRT stop #1, Creek #2, Killington #3 (US Open). So hear me out.....Snowshoe...
@ark09050 Interesting... With the Snowshoe round of the WC not scheduled until the very end of September that could be a possibility. Could get our US racers more track time out there to help our showing at the WC, especially if Snowshoe is building a new track for the WC this year...
Really thought we would hear something by the end of this week since XC Nationals venue has been taken care of.
I can't believe that we still don't have any details. Someone has to know something.
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