RR: Mammoth STR/OTB Invasion, 2008-08-30

[dstepper]

A few pics as promised:

Sprockethead on Flow drop, I have picture of the ending but he has paid me not to post it.

Slowspokes on Shotgun

Sprockethead on Shotgun

Kanga with new bike

Kanga on Chainsmoke

Sprockhead same drop

El Presidente on Chain smoke

And yes Vic you got to get some new "wide" tires and join us. I have 2.5's on my porch if they will fit your frame.

Dean

[Pain Freak]

weather looks a little better today.

How much did Andy pay you? We might be able to come up with a counter offer.

[dstepper]

Originally Posted by Pain Freak

How much did Andy pay you? We might be able to come up with a counter offer.

OK his check bounced.....

[Piranha]

Nice RR & pics guys. I am bummed that I missed it. I hope Ed is OK after his crash?
Viva STR and OTB!

[kanga]

Labor Day ended up being a great day. Hardly anyone on the mountain, never a lift line. At six in the morning the temp at the top with windchill was -6, and not having any cold weather gear, we opted to pass on the early morning jaunt. I missed the OTB crew's XC ride, and instead rode with MTB_Prodigy most of the day.

By 9 the wind had died down to a reasonable 20-30, and the temps were up around 38 or so, but sunny and warm if you were out of the wind.

We stopped and shot video in a few strategic places. I wished I had a way to attach my helmet cam setup to the FF helmet (no vent holes) and will definitely have to work on that for next time.

I added one more crash to my list for the weekend on the very last turn at the bottom of Bullet, the very last run of the day at 5 o'clock. Let's just say if it wasn't for body armor (thank you Dainese) I'd have a broken arm/elbow right now.

In the vid you'll see a clean run on the second Chainsmoke rock garden, on which I crashed twice with cameras rolling, and cleaned twice on Saturday. I'm still wondering where those compromising pictures of me are... Funny thing is I have a bruise on my left thigh in the shape of a left grip/brake lever, and I don't bruise easily.

Thanks MTB_prodigy for a great day.... and for stepping it up a few notches.

Not as good as the pro crew's video being shot at Mammoth, but here's the fruits of our day:

Hi Res: http://www.viddler.com/explore/kanga/videos/26/

[DBD]

Sweet vid Steve!!! Watching made me want to head up there even more but it is still a no go this year

I liked that shot of Nick coming down the ridge atop SkidMark.

[mtbski]

Riding at Mammoth this weekend was great! Your video captures the thrills that this place has to offer! Steve they should be paying you for this fine work!

I hadn't been on this mountain in about 3 years, way too long! The bike was dialed in and it was a rush ripping down this mountain. Mammoth is as fun as ever, if you haven't been there or like me haven't been in a while, you owe it to yourself to get up there. This place rocks!

later

[Sprockethead]

Wait a minute, that's not from the Flow drop. It was from Flow but it's the tree stump jump.

Originally Posted by dstepper

OK his check bounced.....

[dstepper]

Originally Posted by Sprockethead

Wait a minute, that's not from the Flow drop. It was from Flow but it's the tree stump jump.

Nope I did not get that one. You are confusing your biffs. Would you like me to recap for ya.

[kanga]

Originally Posted by dstepper

You are confusing your biffs.

Andy isn't the only one... I lost count! I'm not sure which one that bruise came from.

[El Presidente]

Originally Posted by dstepper

I will post some pics up when I get home. I am having to go to the coffee shop for internet access. Wind seems to be stronger today. After riding the bike park most of the day we took Paper Route to Juniper to Lake and came back to town on Mammoth Rock Trail...highly recommend for the x-Country riders like me.

Dean

That is a great loop! We did that loop on Sunday afternoon and then again on Monday morning!

Great riding with you and the rest of the STR group!

[Happy_Gilmore]

Mammoth Labor Day Weekend 2008
This was an Epic four day weekend of pure DH riding

Friday: Arrived 11am geared up and rode to 5pm, conditions were great a little windy at the top, hit Off the top, Beach Cruiser (xc warm up), Bullet, Follow Me, Flow. During the Gondola ride up We spotted a large Coyote looking for tourists on upper Velocity.

Saturday: We hooked up with the OTB crew, I can’t say enough good about these guys, some of the coolest mountain biking people I have ever met (aside from STR brothers and sisters), and with some really mad skills, not only can these guys bomb downhill, but they can pedal back up and do it again. Later the same day We hooked up with STR Andy (Sprokethead), Dean (Desteper), Anne, and Lynne. We hit Chain Smoke, Twighlight Zone, Bullet, Flow, DC-10, Upper and Lower Shock Treatment. Watched Mark (Stinkyrider) take a nice over the bars on DC-10, I thought he was down for the count, but he jumps up and says how’s my bike, how’s my bike.

Sunday: Blown out 90+ mph at the top, 40-50 + at the bottom, We got one ride up before the Gondola shut down for the day, and what a swinging ride it was. The wind was blowing so hard that the cable safety sensors where triggered automatically shutting down during Gondola operation until winds dropped to a safe level. Needless to say it was a very slow and wild ride to Mid Station. Operators were allowing people up to the Top "at your own risk" there were not takers in our group, and can I say it was the fastest I have ever seen eight grown men get out of a Gondola. We later heard there were tourists trapped at the top of the mountain and that they required a shuttle bus ride down. What a ride that must have been, driving down Kamikaze in a Bus in 90 mph winds. We rode Uptown to Bullet and Flow most of the day. The Uptown part was not my idea of fun, way to many tourists on Wal-Mart bikes on that trail, in addition to Downhillers desperate for a ride. We still had a blast on Bullet bridge jump OTB Ed was getting some really big jumps in, until a big gust of wind caught him in mid-air.

Monday: Calm winds, Sunshine, We rode with Andy (Jfishes brother), Andy (Sprokethead) Anne and Lynn. Andy (Jfishes brother) was trying out his new Kona Stinky he just purchased from the Mountain Main Lodge. He was a dam good rider for only his second time it on a mountain bike. We hit Velocity, Shotgun, and Flow and called it quits for the weekend. Interesting wind fact on Saturday the mid mountain transition from Skid marks to Bullet was a deep and steep pumice slide on Monday. The day after the wind storm it was solid hard pack all the loose materials had been blown clean off.

It was a pleasure meeting & riding with everyone this weekend, Thanks to Stinkyrider for setting up this ride.
Hans OTB “El Presidente”
Steve OTB STR “Kanga”
Mark OTB
Paul OTB
Martin OTB
Triple OTB
Hugh OTB
Dean STR Dsteper
Lynn STR
Mark STR Stinkyrider
Andy STR Sprokethead
Anne STR
Nick MTB Prodigy

[kanga]

Chuck, thanks for the props Glad to share the love and meet new people.
In the photo above I'm sitting down on the ground below the big turn shooting video. Unfortunately, I spent the day shooting low-res postage stamp size vid by mistake. Maybe I'll throw it up on youtube anyway...

Fortunately I realized the camera settings had been changed before I started shooting on Monday with MTB_Prodigy. That is how it should have looked.