Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner

Crash Sequence ...

699 views 6 replies 7 participants last post by  tscheezy 
#1 ·
Had an interesting race run at the state race this last weekend at Fontana, Ca. Practiced on Saturday and got familar with the course. I slowly dialed up the speed each run and started feeling pretty good considering this was my first race back since a wrist injury in January. Returned on Sunday for just 2 more practice runs, again getting a little faster on each one. I had my game plan and I knew what lines I want to take. I'm ready to go.

This is most technical section of the course. Its super loose and there are big embedded rocks all over the place. There are three different lines into this section: 1) around the rocks to the (rider's) right 2) thread down the middle of the rocks or 3) jump off the rock shelf. I chose 3):

(I'm going to respect the photographers copyright and only provide links here)

So far so good ..

okay, whats next?

Ah crap, this pole wasn't here in practice, hit the brakes!

Ain't gunna stop ..

Hello ground

and so on ...

Advil anyone??

Apparently, the line I was planning to take got changed because it was deemed a cheater line and the pole got moved to this location right before the start of the race. The pole was actually in this location for Saturday practice but not for Sunday. You could really enter this section with less brakes and hit the drop faster if you could go to the left of the rock. The problem is, if you're jumping in, you are committed at that speed and can't do much about it after that. People that were taking the middle line could make the adjustment to go right once they saw the new pole location.

I can laugh about it now because my back is finally feeling better but at the time I wasn't so happy about the unannounced course change.

Nonetheless, the mishap made for some good photos.

S
 
See less See more
#3 ·
It's good when you can look on it with some humor and such, but it still hurts. One of my riding buddies and I (we both crash, a lot...) always say: every crash you can walk away from is a good one...It's BS of course, but you gotta laugh, or cry or cuss or all three...

Kraig...
 
#5 ·
:eekster: OUCH! Hopefully there were a few cold beers in that cooler just waiting for you. It's a cool sequence of photos, even if it is a pictorial of your demise. Man I'd purchase all of 'em in glossy and throw them in a custom matte/frame and throw it on the office wall.
 
#6 ·
I won't mention any names, but I was checking lines when the rebar/post was being hammered into place.... the next rider through the chute did EXACTLY what you did. It was about an hour before race time. When practice officially starts Sunday morning, it's my opinion that the course should be in race format and marked accordingly. Sorry about the botched run; at least you got it on film; and can find some humor through the pain.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top