|   NORBA Natl. Alpine Valley - The pits (Part 1 of 2) | Steve-O
Jun 17, 2002 6:07 AM | | Got to go to my first NORBA National on Saturday at Alpine Valley. I thought I would share a few picts with everyone. First off, our venue Alpine Valley Ski Resort in Southern Wisconsin (Passionites from CO, CA, AZ, NM, AK and other states with actual mountains please refrain for flaming!)
Truck & tractor pulls are still popular in the Midwest. I couldn't resist taking this picture of two industry giants lining up for battle.
Just for "fp" The Cannondale pit (Hmm..Not too many Jeyklls here!)
The Santa Cruz Pit. Lots of VPP10's but no Blurs.
I had to bribe a mechanic to let me take this pict of the not yet released Klein Palomino. Look like Klein jumped on that Mavrick bandwagon.
The mandatory trials trick show to please the masses.
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| NORBA Natl. Alpine Valley - racing (Part 2 of 2) | Steve-O
Jun 17, 2002 6:09 AM | | Now for some racing.I was able to watch the amateur downhillers and the Woman's short track events before hay fever and a crying newborn drove me off to the confines of my car.
A young downhiller tearing it up on the course.
Woman's Short track.
While other competitors were drinking Hansens and Red Bull I saw Allison Dunlap opening up a can of "Whup Ass" before the race. Later on in the short track she lapped half the field and opened up an amazing lead on everyone else in the race.
Magen Long of the Specialized team. I think
Allison Sydor chasing a long gone Allison Dunlap
All and all it was a very cool event. I can't wait until they bring the NORBA nationals back to the Midwest. |
| Cool! | kristian
Jun 17, 2002 6:18 AM | | How did the downhill course look? Did you see any OLN crews covering the race? Thanks for the pictures! |
| Well... | Steve-O
Jun 17, 2002 6:41 AM | | I didn't see any of the OLN crew but I hung out by some of the MBA photo crew at the start of the mens short track XC race. I kept looking at their ear lobes to determine which one was Zap but he was nowhere to be found. Other highlights...
- I heard Marla Streb complaining about how her VPP10 bike was much heavier then here prior downhill bikes (She said 40 lbs.). Interestingly she crashed on the bike the next day.
- There was a guy racing downhill in the +65 age bracket. Not fast but very inspirational (at +65 probably half his friends are playing bridge or golfing).
- Trek prototypes were everywhere due to the close proximity to the factory. I saw a fuel with a carbon fiber front triangle, the new long travel Fuel, and of course the Klein / Mavrick product.
- Shaums March was saying hello to everyone while hanging out in the ChumbaWumba pits. What a friendly guy!
As for the downhill course, I didn't hike up to the top because I was carrying around a 5 week old newborn (gotta break 'em in early). From what I understand what it lacked in elevation they made up for in rocks and tight turns. |
| Wow, a 65yo DHer.... | Dirt Pilot
Jun 17, 2002 7:13 AM | | ...At 43 most friends my age are golfing or riding Harleys, they don't EVEN understand my obsession with bicycles:o)
Had a good ride at Palos Sun. w/Stine, Dirtsurfer and Stines neice Sara. Dirtsurfer gave us a tour of some stuff on the other side of 171 that we'd never seen...pretty cool.
Just a heads up... Thorton Sat. morning...long range weather outlook looks good. |
| Hey! | Steve-O
Jun 17, 2002 7:15 AM | | I might actually be able to make it this time! I was just trading e-mails with a friend of mine who is pumped to go riding on Saturday AM! I e-mail you later this week to work out the details... |
| Cool! nm | Dirt Oplot hehe fatfinger!
Jun 17, 2002 8:28 AM | | |
| I raced with him at the Deer Valley NCS | kristian
Jun 17, 2002 7:50 AM | | He did the King of the Hill class with me which involved a point-to-point XC, short track XC and the DH. Since he was the only one in his class, he naturally won everything. You should have heard the cheers he got every time he was called up to the podium. I hope I'm still riding like that at his age! |
| dunno for sure about OLN but... | Nonny
Jun 17, 2002 3:25 PM | | ...there were more than a few camera crews out there filming the races so i'd be willing to bet OLN's ppl were among the crowd. And as for the downhill course, well i thought it was quite interesting (rode one section of it and was rather amazed to still be alive afterwards), and definitely was rather challenging according to the comments i heard from more than a few of the racers. Despite that there were not too many serious injuries over the weekend thankfully. We had to evac one head/neck injury from the upper section of the downhill course while a compound fracture and a broken collarbone were the tally for the mountain cross course. Considering the sloppy conditions that prevailed over much of the weekend I was pretty pleased that there wasn't quite a bit more work for the medical staff to deal with.
Took a few pix myself (forgot to pack the charger for the digital camera's battery so once it died i was done shutterbugging) and i'll see about checking them out and getting them up soon.
Non. |
| Yep...OLN was in full effect. | LDF
Jun 18, 2002 12:09 AM | | I saw them filming here and there. I believe Greg Herbold was serving as commentator. It was really interesting watching them do the filming at the dreaded "Liquid Launch" during the pro race. Herbold had to wear big ol' rubber boots as he stood at the bottom in the mud.
Hey Nonny got a new car!
I was following you and D. for a while on the highway, until you two turned off. Thanks for the pull! |
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