Paul Souders

I

James Jonke

Not the same bump. but same effect. Those 2 bumps in the past 2 weeks launched me too! Bad bumps! Maybe it comes down to scale? These are not MTB Jumps like in a pump track where You (Beginners too!) can go fast, Hit the jump land in a transition and or a berm and fly away without crashing all day.
But, also I think the bumps are a bit sharper this year too.

Jason Crago

While I normally try to stay out of these debates.......
I happened by the crash shortly after it happened and want to point out
a few things from the comments I've seen.
The bump that caused the crash this week wasn't ridden last week so the
comments below are not relevant. The bump from the crash the previous
week was in the course but ridden in the other direction.
An earlier comment mentioned something about first lap, the crash this
week didn't occur on the first lap, it was the second lap. Even if it
was first lap, if you haven't preridden the course, maybe hold back a
little on the first lap.
Even if it was the preferred line (I didn't actually see the accident,
it could have happened while passing in a bad line), it wasn't sending
riders (plural) to the hospital, it was rider (singular). There was a
whole field that made it through there on the first lap, and a good
10-15 who made it through second lap without crashing. Not to mention
an entire previous race.

Nothing I've seen at short track is above someones skill level at their
appropriate speed. Don't handle bumps well, then don't ride them fast.
Just sayin'

On 6/13/2012 8:15 AM, Chris Cortez wrote:
> If taking the preferred line at race pace is sending riders first
> airborne, then to the hospital, a course modification doesn't seem
> entirely unreasonable. At least make a point of telling everybody
> about that section at the reg table, maybe flagging it on the course.
>
> I wasn't there Monday night, but the week before I got pretty good air
> on my MTB on that bump going fairly slow, during the pre-ride. My
> friend on a cross bike right in front of me went airborne, barely
> landed it, and steered himself off-course and into the fence somehow.
> Again, in the pre-ride. Not blazing through it - just surveying the
> course. (He ended up top 20, not a newbie or incompetent.) My friend
> who wasn't able to pre-ride was warned about it before and during the
> race, and still crashed hard in that spot. (He finished pretty high
> too and has a few full seasons of cross. Again, experienced racer.)
> And of course the next race was delayed by several minutes while the
> ambulance assisted someone who fared worse than the rest in that same
> spot.
>
> So, I don't think anyone is talking about indiscriminately "smoothing
> out the bumps." Maybe just that one.
>
> I don't know who is and isn't a "mountain biker". I know that lots of
> folks who ride short track at PIR rarely ride a MTB outside of that
> race. Cross bikes are popular out there too.
>
> Let's make it as safe as it can be. If experienced MTB racers need it
> to be harder or more technical, they can ride it faster. :)
>
>
> On Jun 13, 2012, at 7:20 AM, Mark Emry wrote:
>
>> Smoothing out the bumps? Did I just read that from a mountain
>> biker? Lets flatten it, pave it, and blow dry the mud also, very
>> dangerous. _______________________________________________
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Chris Cortez

If taking the preferred line at race pace is sending riders first
airborne, then to the hospital, a course modification doesn't seem
entirely unreasonable. At least make a point of telling everybody
about that section at the reg table, maybe flagging it on the course.

I wasn't there Monday night, but the week before I got pretty good air
on my MTB on that bump going fairly slow, during the pre-ride. My
friend on a cross bike right in front of me went airborne, barely
landed it, and steered himself off-course and into the fence somehow.
Again, in the pre-ride. Not blazing through it - just surveying the
course. (He ended up top 20, not a newbie or incompetent.) My friend
who wasn't able to pre-ride was warned about it before and during the
race, and still crashed hard in that spot. (He finished pretty high
too and has a few full seasons of cross. Again, experienced racer.)
And of course the next race was delayed by several minutes while the
ambulance assisted someone who fared worse than the rest in that same
spot.

So, I don't think anyone is talking about indiscriminately "smoothing
out the bumps." Maybe just that one.

I don't know who is and isn't a "mountain biker". I know that lots of
folks who ride short track at PIR rarely ride a MTB outside of that
race. Cross bikes are popular out there too.

Let's make it as safe as it can be. If experienced MTB racers need it
to be harder or more technical, they can ride it faster. :)

On Jun 13, 2012, at 7:20 AM, Mark Emry wrote:

> Smoothing out the bumps? Did I just read that from a mountain
> biker? Lets flatten it, pave it, and blow dry the mud also, very
> dangerous. _______________________________________________
> OBRA mailing list
> obra@list.obra.org
> http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra
> Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org

Mark Emry

Smoothing out the bumps? Did I just read that from a mountain biker? Lets
flatten it, pave it, and blow dry the mud also, very dangerous.