Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Bringing it Back to Dirt

Ok, so the Tour de France is in full swing, but let's not forget our dirt loving bikes. The videos below contain highlights from last weekend's National Mountain Biking Championships at Sol Vista....just up the road from me in Granby, Colorado. Shaun Palmer even makes an appearance. Think of it as a little pep talk/encouragement for all of you BCC'ers racing at Crabtree's Huck-A-Buck this weekend.

Pro DH Jumps & MTX Practice - 2009 U.S. National Champs from Litter Mag on Vimeo.


Pro Downhill Slowmo - 2009 U.S. National Championships from Litter Mag on Vimeo.


I hope you all make those fresh new kits shine!!

2 comments:

DukePirate said...

The second video is pretty interesting to watch. For instance, in the first two jumps you get to see just how much the suspension is working for the riders, as both seem to case the jump, hanging the back when up on the landing, but the long travel bails them out. When I first watched it my hardtail-riding mind immediately thought that they were going over the bars, but the bike sucked up the mistake and they rolled right along.

On the other hand, as the video goes along you get a better sense of the remarkable skill that these riders have, especially the technique that they show in the air. I really like the clip of the rider turning his bike sideways to stretch the jump, and then the one where you get to see him correcting his line in the air. Very impressive.

Style note: spandex on a DH run? I thought they dipped those guys in RedBull and made them drink bong water or something.

Good luck at the Huck-a-Buck guys -- I'm really sorry that I'll miss it. Ride hard, and remember that fifth gets a fifth!

Unknown said...

Yes.....suspension is a lot like alcohol. A little is a lotta fun, but a lot can get you in some serious trouble. In other words it can convince you that you can ride at high rate of speed over things you should not be!