Report from Angel Fire trip to the Nationals

Discussion in 'Ride Reports' started by McG715, Jun 24, 2014.

  1. McG715

    McG715 Active Member

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    What a killer trip we had. Spent 4 days riding the bike park and doing practice sessions with Ryan for the USA Cycling Gravity Nationals.. flew into Albuquerque then drove 3 hrs so it was a bit of a haul to get there but totally worth it!

    I was pleasantly surprised by Angel Fire bike park and will definitely go back again to ride.. it's not huge but was big enough (32 trails and a couple of skills centers) and is serviced by a single chairlift (albeit a quite long one) that climbs from 8,600 ft to over 10,600 in elevation, but has a great variety of very challenging trails.. a few of their Blue trails would be comparable to some Blacks we've ridden in Whistler, and a couple of Double Blacks were quite gnarly.. the other brutal part of this bike park is how much of the riding is taking place between 9,000 and 10,000 feet.. we were exhausted all the time

    We did practice runs Thurs through Saturday during specific sessions for his age group then killed in the park during the rest of the time.. saw a lot of pros riding and in the lift line.. Gwin, Aiello, Ropelato to name a few.. Ryan even got to ride the lift with Kyle Strait and later posed with him for a photo op (see pic below)..

    The course dropped over 1,700 feet in elevation in 2.8 miles.. it was long and grueling with some very tough sections. It was the same course for all, so Ryan got to ride the same one the pros raced.. just a tad bit slower :)

    Come Sunday he raced, he killed it and won! He was very excited to get his gold medal and his Stars and Bars jersey.. I have included a few pics below, as well as helmet camera footage of his final practice run (no cameras were allowed during racing). I also included a couple of short vids of a couple of the trails we hit over and over. One called Ziggy which was a fun twisty and tight trail we took each run to the start of the race course and the other called Chutes and Ladders, which had a lot of wooden features, jumps and berms..

    Chairlift.jpg Ryan and Kyle.jpg Ryan Finish Line.jpg Ryan Medal.jpg Ryan Podium.jpg

    [video=youtube;pM5LL3oBiWY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM5LL3oBiWY[/video]

    [video=youtube;-1Ys3lV4V-M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1Ys3lV4V-M[/video]

    [video=youtube;WnJe-taga2I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnJe-taga2I[/video]
     
  2. dcrfx

    dcrfx Member

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    Awesome job Ryan! (and Jim too). Priceless stuff for kid and dad.
     
  3. herzalot

    herzalot Well-Known Member

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    Dammmit - now how am I supposed to call him slow! #-o

    GREAT job Ryan! Quite a feat to be national champion in any group - holy cow. Very impressive!!! And so it begins...

    :clap: :bang:
     
  4. ridinrox

    ridinrox Well-Known Member

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    Nice work and congrats kiddo!!

    Gotta get that autograph soon before you become famous!!!!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 24, 2014
  5. McG715

    McG715 Active Member

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    Rox I tried getting through there faster.. almost killed myself twice nearly clipping trees with my bars and a couple of rock digs into the pedals when trying to pedal more.. believe me he could have passed me easily if he had the room.. he only rode behind me to allow me to film him, not because he couldn't keep up with the old man :)
     
  6. herzalot

    herzalot Well-Known Member

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    But did you notice how plush that extra linkage made his rear wheel?

    BTW - what's with all of the boulders on the side of the trail covering the ski runs. Gnarly!
     
  7. McG715

    McG715 Active Member

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    :beer: Like butter!!! and yes very gnarly!!
     
  8. Skid Row

    Skid Row Member

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    That is pretty darn awesome ! Congrats to the both of you !
     
  9. dssgaffler

    dssgaffler Complete Sellout

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    Ryan was flying towards the end of his practice run. Looks really fun. Congrats on the title & thanks for sharing!
     

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