#USDH Windrock Carnage and RACE DAY - Vital RAW 11

The camera and editing seems a step up this year. Nice work as always. Thanks for putting these out!

agreed! Gave me a nice DH fix on youtube this weekend. Thanks, Vital!

Now if the industry had given a shit about the event. Not one major manufacturer offered any neutral support to riders. Specialized sent a giant trailer with sales reps for e-bikes, Trek hid in a corner with a black cover, Giant was no where to be found, SRAM & Shimano didn't show, RockShox & Fox didn't come. 600 racers on their own with each other to depend on. Felt pretty ungrateful for an industry that had no races in their home country last year. Not an ounce of help from the big brands this weekend.
Luckily the pits were full of WONDERFUL PEOPLE HELPING ONE ANOTHER. That put a big smile on my face.

That’s because many of the brands you mentioned above are still on strict lock downs at this moment.

@chrisjohnson22 if that were the excuse, then they would make their paid employees( riders, mechanics & "concierge" tent crew) stay home. Willingly chose to let the riders go and said screw the other 600+ riders and racers. Specialized had a fully decked out truck there with ZERO technical assistance for riders. I'm not trying to call them out singularly, just using them as an example.
And the economic "downturn" thing....not buying that either. If you care about your customer base, you show it.
There were 2 suspension tuning tents I saw that were private businesses that scrambled hard to help people all weekend and I hope they made their money for pit space plus income. But they never should have been having to bear the full brunt of the workload after the year riders have had & how much money those riders have POURED into bikes is massive

The very least the big brands could do is show gratitude by showing up and supporting those who support them.

@bizutch, I think you are missing a core concept. Having 600+ riders cycle through a service area is a different risk profile than supporting a few select athletes. There is also a tone of entitlement in your post. Companies don't owe you anything just because you show up for a race.

@dsmdan18 Companies don't owe racers, riders or fans anything? Any company out there that takes that approach to the sport, they need to die an immediate death right now.
And thanks for the entitlement comment. I bet you're some worker in tech, not sales or a business owner.

Loving the racing! Look at the size of the crowd! On a cold wet day in the middle of a pandemic! Excited for the future of US DH racing.

yeah, I guess the pandemic is over...

wait, it's not.
as much as I want to get back to normal, watch downhill (or any) racing, and ride with others...it's kinda dumb to let your guard down this close to the what looks like the end.
trying to find a mask in the crowd is like playing "where's waldo"

Agreed. Tripping right before the finish line...

I'm happy that you can make your own choice to stay home and we can make our own choice to move about intelligently and respectfully without unrealistic fear.
I was supposed to stay with a pair of guys who got a stomach flu and couldn't leave their room so I chose to stay elsewhere. It's a free world.