The course, Stonewall to Rocky, is one of this rider's favorite in Auburn -- and I plan on getting more practice on Rocky this coming year, especially after watching a few gnarly crashes that left me sort of nauseated for the poor riders that went down hard -- one being carted away by ambulance with a VISIBLY broken wrist and probably nasty concussion.
We spoke to race officials and found out that one pro female rider, Joanna Petterson, was supposed to be at the World Cup in Schladming, Austria and her and her sponsor chose for her to compete in Auburn's race because the purse was bigger -- she came in with a winning time of 2:52 which is amazing! We don't have all the names or race times yet, but below are photos of some riders that literally went flying past us!
It was great to see pro bike handling skills up close and live in our own back yard. (The crappy camera I used didn't do justice for capturing action shots).
A group of local riders coming down during timed trials (which ended up not being timed due to some kind of mechanical failure to much of the riders' displeasure).
Hanging on, keeping speed, and having keen agility on your bike is key to getting through the aptly named "Rocky" trail.
Most riders chose the clearest line. This rider bounced out of that line and managed to choose another on the fly and impressively stayed with it to a clean finish.
Others were not so lucky.
Some flatted out and got passed. Flats -- the bummer of the mtb race.
Looked like this young rider might not have children one day after he got thrashed around so hard he broke his seat clean off (check out the seat area -- gone!). The male dominated crowd responded as audibly as he did. He limped off the course nearly in tears during trials and came back on his friend's bike to race. Nice job man. (Pretty much confirming that he still will be one).
Remnants of his seat on the side of the trail.
One of the pro women lifting up the front end to fly over the very last section to the finish.
One of the men doing the same.
Although it was an unpredicted overcast day, the sun shone through sporadically highlighting the first annual Mammoth Bar DH race . . . can't wait to race it next year!
kd
Auburn, already the endurance capital of the world, will soon be the downhill thrill seeking bad-ass capital of the world. Just try and stop us! This was some great reportage (photos included) of an event I missed. I feel like I was there. Nice.
ReplyDeletePS~ I always post as myself. I have never--EVER commented anonymously on any blog or any other format of communication.