Fontucky Winter Series 2014

Discussion in 'Racing and Training' started by gigerrider, Jan 5, 2014.

  1. Formu1fan

    Formu1fan Slow Down, Slower Up

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    So what is the difference between the expert/pro and beginner courses? If I get a DH bike soon, I might head out there and I was wondering how difficult the beginner course is.
     
  2. gigerrider

    gigerrider New Member

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    [​IMG]
    Imporved my time nearly 5 minutes over the first race and battled Nick for the top step
    [​IMG]
     
  3. monstertiki

    monstertiki New Member

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    Expert/pro course usually has a split from the beginner/sport course which is more technical. You can come out and practice and if you feel its worth your while give it a go. Just dont take fontucky lightly. I've seen really good riders get injured in spots you wouldnt think nothing of.
     
  4. thomaswildchild

    thomaswildchild Active Member

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    I would almost PAY to see you ride a dh bike in Fontucky! ha ha ha ha.
     
  5. bing!

    bing! Active Member

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    Hmmm, I wanna race.
     
  6. Fearless Fly

    Fearless Fly anachronistic and impulsi

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  7. herzalot

    herzalot Well-Known Member

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    Are you referring to me? I am sad you don't remember. If so, go back two years and get out your results sheet. I was riding my Yeti 303RDH out there with you. I believe our times were pretty close a few times, and other times, well let's just say age defeated beauty!

    Here's an example. I believe I got you by a whopping .03 that day. Kyle spanked us both. (Probably spanked you literally :lol:)

    http://www.southridgeusa.com/results_dh_1_22_12.php

    and here's another with a slightly bigger separation

    http://www.southridgeusa.com/results_dh_2_19_12.php
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 30, 2014
  8. herzalot

    herzalot Well-Known Member

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  9. herzalot

    herzalot Well-Known Member

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    You don't need a DH bike for most Fontucky courses - your Process 150 will be fine. You will even have an advantage on the long straight sprint called "the wall." Every course is different, but usually there are a few places where the courses split and the Pro/Ex line contends with some steeper, chunkier stuff while the Sport/Beginner courses stay more mellow. If you can handle the drops on 5-Oaks and like to fly on Lynx and Rock-it (responsibly, of course) then you should have fun on the Sport/Beginner courses at Fontana. Go out on a Saturday and give it a try. I do recommend a full-face helmet however. Those loose turns can bite you.

    Doo eeeet :bang:
     
  10. herzalot

    herzalot Well-Known Member

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    Any STR peeps out at Fontana yesterday (Feb 8) for Super D or XC? Reports?

    Anybody out there for DH? Course reviews/previews? Talent report?

    Fontana weekends used to light up STR. :?:

    On a related note, I saw video of Bode Miller wearing a Denver Broncos jacket yesterday...
     
  11. Old School

    Old School Member

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    I was out there yesterday for my first race at Fontana. I've only raced XC before, but I started thinking about trying the Super D in the afternoon after the XC race. That thought quickly disappeared after the XC course kicked my a$$. I stuck around to cheer people on at a rock garden section toward the bottom of the Super D course and check it out a bit, but my legs were done after the XC race.

    For any XC racers who haven't tried Fontana, it's a really cool course and very different from other most other races I've done. There was a decent fire road/paved climb toward the beginning, but it turns off pretty quickly onto some winding rocky singletrack to keep climbing. About 100 yards into the singletrack climb on the first lap, the guy in front of me couldn't hold his line and went tumbling off the trail. There were a bunch of little punchy technical climbs in this first part of the course that really separated the people who could clean them from those that got stuck or had to hop off. Then came the downhill. There was some really fun downhill single track on this course, so for an XC course it wasn't all just about the good climbers. That single track really kept you on your toes ... fast flowy sections, come around a corner into some technical rocky stuff, then come around another corner into a sudden 50 ft climb. Something about this course made it feel a lot tougher than the miles or elevation change would make you think. I think it was all of the random climbs spread throughout the course. My group started with another age group, so I had no idea how I was doing during the race. I was surprised and stoked to get 4th out of 12 for my age group in Sport ... my best sport finish yet!

    Watching the Super D was pretty cool. I saw a little bit of the practice and people walking the rock garden to try to find their line, then the racers started coming through. It was crazy how fast and smooth the early riders came flying through that section! The only thing cooler was seeing riders of all levels having fun racing Super D out there, from people flying through like it was nothing, to people carefully picking their way though it, to a couple of people walking it. It was cool seeing people pushing themselves and trying something new. I saw probably 4 or 5 crashes in that rock garden, but everyone got back up to finish the race ... even one girl who took a really bad OTB and hit her head on one of the big rocks. It looked like the helmet took the brunt of it, but it might have gotten her ear too. A couple of people right by where she landed helped check her out, and after she gathered herself for a minute, she got back on the bike determined to finish the race! That is one tough girl! If anyone on here knows her, I hope she's okay after that crash.

    Well, that was it for my first day of racing Fontana. Great weather, great dirt after last week's rain, and a really fun course. Judging by truck after truck after truck shuttling downhill bikes to the top all day, there should be a lot of people having fun racing downhill today.

    Who else was out there? How did your races go?
     
  12. surlygal

    surlygal Bad Girl of DH

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    Dh

    Pro/expert course is a national style course, super fun pretty tech, tons to keep you on your toes, well at least it was for me :). Donny knew the Trek World Racing team was coming out and wanted to make sure they had a good course. beg/sport riders got shafted - hardest rock garden is the lower rock garden. Although I did hear it was fast, flowy and still fun

    Pretty sure in the above rr he's talking about Megan (cashier at The Path Bike Shop) this was her 1st race of anything competitive EVER, she raced women's open Super D, took a spill landing on her face, got up finished her race and still got 3rd!

    The Vibe at Fontana is second to none! Everyone should get out there and try racing whatever it is they enjoy at least once :)
     
  13. Old School

    Old School Member

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    Nah, it wasn't anyone we recognized. I was with the Path cheering section and we got to watch her make it successfully through the rock garden cheering her on. That's awesome that she got 3rd even with a crash!
     
  14. surlygal

    surlygal Bad Girl of DH

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    So you were with my daughter (Maddie) and the signs? Cool!


    Glad that one wasn't Megan :) although Meg did end up scraping her face up in her crash too.

    Never the less good fun for everyone!
     

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  15. gigerrider

    gigerrider New Member

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  16. Albacore

    Albacore 34x18

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  17. skyungjae

    skyungjae Member

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  18. DH GLORY

    DH GLORY New Member

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    Aaron Gwin taking the win

    Aaron Gwin taking the win at the Fontana Round #3 KMC Chain Winter Series Feb 9,2014

    To check out all race photos go to 1DKPIX.COM
     

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  19. mustangmikey

    mustangmikey New Member

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    I raced downhill my first time at round #3! Expert class! So much fun!
     
  20. herzalot

    herzalot Well-Known Member

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    So who's going out there tomorrow? There was a time in the not-too-distant past that STR was filled with Fontana talk before and after the race weekends. 4 or 5 pages from each race weekend. XC, Super D and DH - especially DH. Attendance at the races is not down, so I can surmise that STR members don't do Fontana anymore, or Fontana racers don't do STR anymore.

    :?:
     

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