Race Report August 2007
Mad March Racing Pro Camp at Plattekill
I took some time off from racing after Mount Snow to heal up and attend the Mad March Racing Pro Camp at Plattekill. It was hosted by Shaums March and east coast legend Lars Tribus. I have been racing for 7 years now and I have never learned so much in 2 days. Learning basic skills all over again and then applying them to the race course was truly an eye opener. I realized that I had some bad habits to break and could beat the clock by concentrating on proper technique instead of trying to pin-it everywhere. Shaums and Lars explained how these basic techniques translate to your race run and it was great just to talk to them and learn from their years of experience racing at the top level. It was a great weekend and well worth skipping a race to work on my skills. I highly recommend the MMR Camps to anyone that is serious about improving their racing or just wants to have more fun riding. Congratulations to Saums (1st place) and Lars (3rd place) in the Masters Worlds in France. They are both truly great riders and coaches.
Time-out - Let's Just Ride
After the MMR camp I decided to take some time off from racing and concentrate on what I had learned at the MMR camp and ride as much as possible. I not only had some great weekends riding DH with my friends but I also applied the techniques I learned to my cross country riding. I feel like I have made gains and pushed my riding further. My race season should end on a high note.
Plattekill DH Series - Race#4
Back to racing! I'm driving up early since I want to race slalom and DH this weekend and need the time to practice. Unfortunately I get pulled over and get a ticket. This was the first sign of bad things to come. I get to Plattekill, suit-up and get on the mountain. First roll through run goes "OK" and the course is fairly standard. In fact years ago we use to call this course the Ghost Run even though we approached it from the other peak. My second run I'm coming through a shooty twisty section, go up and over some roots and manage to tap my bar on a tree and ping pong down the rest and land flat chested on a stump. I had my armor on but it was a small stump and hit me just on the zipper. I was not able to put much pressure on my bars so I did a few more runs to check lines and called it a day. No slalom racing for me today - I was bummed. I rested and got ready for tomorrow. Race day arrived and I did 3 runs to loosen up and see how I felt. I need the points so I decide that I can manage a 70-80 percent run and maybe if I keep it clean enough I can grab some points. I keep the run tight a clean but only manage an 11th since some of my friends raced with their A-game on. I hang around for awards since my teammates, Al, Donnie and Amy all podium. I get home Sunday night and realize on top of a bruised sternum I now have a cold. A good weekend for SVB Racing, a bad one for me - all I can do is rest and recover in time for Whiteface next weekend. It is that injury time of year and some of my friends were also caught off-guard by this course - heal up quick Jamie and Bill.
That’s it for August. September report to follow the end of the month including a report on the Whiteface 5K downhill race.