Hcor.net | Forums | West Virginia

Hcor · Site Admin

Posted on the main page......

Well I am back from a great 4 days at the Nationals in Snowshoe, West Virginia. IanF hooked me up with space in a condo at Shamrock with Team XXL and crew. We had a great time and made the best out of the rainy weather. The conditions were about as bad as they could get on our expert/pro course, and from what I’m told the Beginner/sport course was about as bad. It would rain, clear up, then rain again a few hours later each day we were there. The breaks in the weather gave us hope for the course to dry a bit, but only made it cake up and get greasy. It was a test of survival for most to get down the mountain. Mud covered and frustrated riders littered the course, while others just made the best of it and just tried to have fun. The course is amazing, and I can see how fast and flowy it is in better conditions. I am really looking forward to riding it dry.
In between practice runs during the day, we spent time hanging with the Evil bike crew who were chilling in the pits with their new Evil-mobile, getting our bikes fixed up and watching and filming Mountain-X. I also took some great footage during Pro DH practice, which I will make available after I get back from Mt.Snow.
The evenings were interesting. We ate pulled pork sandwiches, drank a lot beer, and participated in some random events that just couldn’t be planned for. Some of these events included playing ring the XC rider with a tire and a backwoods trailer park party with some WV natives and the Endless Bike guys.
Saturday was race day for Expert DH and it was rough as the course was a mess. Everyone just wanted to get to the finish in one piece with as little falls as possible. It wasn’t about hitting your lines and railing sections, it was about staying upright as much as possible. For my race run I rode conservatively and just tried to be consistent, I passed a few riders and was held up pretty badly by two guys who were not fairing so well on the course. I just trudged on and ended up with a slow time but managed to finish 6th in Expert 35-39.
Sunday was race day for the Pro’s. The rain started early as I headed out to film the pro riders qualify. The rain was continuous and according to a few pros I spoke to, made the course much better than the previous day as it washed the slime off the rocks. Regardless how much better the rain could have made it…it was gnarly and slick. The pro riders did what they did best and after some tough qualifying runs, they began to come down the mountain for the finals. The top pros were coming down the course as if it were dry. Flying through sections that seemed impossible. I was really impressed with how some of our local pros were riding, Lars Tribus was looking real fast and smooth and still posted a faster time than his qualifier, rolling through the end of the course with a flat rear tire which put him in 31st place at 5:05. I think he would have placed extremely well if it weren’t for the flat. Aaron Chase came in with a 5:03 for 29th, Derrick Nobman finished with a 5:54, and George Ryan flatted out. Chris Kovarik smoked the competition with a mind boggling 4:32 with Greg Minnaar (4:36) and John Waddell (4:39) coming in for 2nd and 3rd. I can’t seem to find the Semi-pro results but The E-man Eric Hudson was on the podium with a 5th place finish, and Stony Tony Watkins for Team Eastern/Dirtworks and Chris Ciaci from SIC both looked smooth on the first section of the course. Result to follow shortly I hope.
Team Hcor had a small showing at Snowshoe due to NORBA scheduling two Nationals only one week apart, but a handful of us made it out there and gave it our best. Colin Lindberg was riding well all weekend but a crash in his race run that bent his handlebars sideways took him out of podium contention as he limped across the line with a 17th place finish. Dom Demaio finished a very respectable 15th place and Chester Brandt (Chuckie) following up for 22nd in the very fast and extremely competitive Jr.X class. Nick Faust pulled a 4th place podium in Jr. Sport in his first National event. I ended up taking a slow 6th place in Expert 35-39. Ian Furqueron of Team XXL was also riding well until a malfunctioning chain guide took him out at the top of the course. Congrats to Steve Van Pelt, and Mike Kulp from Dirt Works/Team Eastern with strong 3rd place finishes in Expert 30-34 and 35-39. Congrats to Heikki Hall with a 4th in 19-24 Expert DH and a 5th in 19-24 Expert Mountain-X, and Chad McWhinney with a 5th place in Mountain-X and a 9th in Downhill Expert 25-29. It was a tough but fun weekend. Thanks to Chad, Adam, and Josh for the parts, and DW and the crew at Evil for all the help. Also thanks to Lama and Leigh for filming my run, and Mike and Steve for all the beers. Great job and congrats to everyone that raced this weekend. See you all at Mt. Snow this weekend!