View Full Version : Snowshoe?
This is just a quick note to find out if anyone made it down to Snowshoe for this year's 24 hour race? I was unable to make it. How was it? Who won? Did anyone make it to the Valhalla Beer Tent? My friend is the brewer there, and he went down with a bunch of kegs. So, in general, how was the overall "experience"?:)
DirtRagArt
07-03-2002, 06:26 PM
I had a blast, myself, but I don't have the full lowdown. I bet www.grannygear.com does, though. I basically went to hang out, see people who I've met on the road here or there, cheer on my friends who were racing. I had a bit of an adventure of my own... story forthcoming...
Subscription Guy
07-04-2002, 08:10 PM
While Jeff is working on his full-blown report, you can check out my personal saga at: Brain Fart (http://www.dirtragmag.com/articles/page-farts.php?ID=32)
Peace,
Jeff, sounds like you had a great time. I look forward to reading your future article. It would be cool to view any attached photos, if you have them. I went to granny gear, as results were coming in, but I guess I should go back and check it out. As for Karl, well done my man! Your brainfart article was great. Riding with 3 men in a 4 man 24 hour race is nothing but punk rock!! Congradulations. I wanted to make it down, but couldn't. Any other local teams that did well? ----------Max.
thanita
07-10-2002, 04:42 PM
Team Dirt Rag also did really well - they came in 12th overall of the 5 person open, and that's after they were penalized an entire lap for some wierd screw up . . . (note their laps times - all around 1:30 with a 4+ hour lap listed).
David1013
07-12-2002, 11:53 PM
I raced Snowshoe this year for the first time and I have to admit , it was more fun when we were done... In the middle of the night when I was carrying my bike in knee deep mud I actually considered selling all my bike junk and buying a quad...LOL. I think it was just sleep deprivation though because we are going to do it again next year.
davis
07-15-2002, 10:07 AM
I worked the race as a Granny Gear "volunteer" and did campground check-in and campground patrol. Campground patrol involved receiving lots of free beer and tequila, so needless to say I spent some time with the Valhalla group. Met your buddy the brew-meister. Posted a bunch of pics from my weekend on www.mtbr.com (under the same name screenname "davis"). They're on the "Passion" board, but you'll have to scroll back to find them. PS- If Barry from DH sees this....my Float RC did not have the lockout reset properly when TJ rebuilt it a few weeks ago. I don't know if the Switchblade will ever return to PGH, but its not big enough of a deal to put it out of commission for a few days. Give me a shout if you want to come down to Pocahontas County for some riding....
David1013
07-15-2002, 06:24 PM
Hey Davis... I was one of the guys in the big yellow tent. Everyone kept asking who we knew to get such a good campsite... I said when we got here we didn't know anyone but by the time the tent was up we knew everyone.
pmweller
07-29-2002, 04:14 PM
This year was my second time racing the 24 Hours of Snowshoe. This year I was on a women's sport team. (Last year I was on a 5-person open.)
I don't think I'm going back.
Last year was pretty bad. So I thought I'd give it another chance this year.
When I arrived on Wednesday, I was excited to discover that they had had a dry couple of weeks. The course was in fair condition even after a short shower on Wednesday afternoon. But then Thursday night it rained all night long! That was all it took to turn this already difficult course to one with many impossible to ride sections.
I perfer to ride my bike, not haul it through miles of mud.
Any mountain bike race course should be rideable by at least the Pros. If I cannot ride sections, that is fine. But if the Pros cannot ride the entire course, then there is something wrong.
I realize that Granny Gear put in a lot of effort to fix up the trails. I don't blame them. They cannot control the weather. Moving the race to later in June was a good move. But until they move the race to another location where the trail is not so suseptible to a little rain, I won't be returning.
That all said, I pushed myself harder than I've ever pushed myself physically. I reached my goals: ride better than last year, ride the power line the whole way, ride on an all women team. I made many sections I didn't make last year. I was very proud of my team mates, two of which had never raced anything, ever! We all survived and no one got hurt. Not too many mechanicals either.
But I'm still not going back. If I find myself getting the urge to do another 24 hour race, I think I'll try some other smaller race, like that one in New Jersey, or maybe one of the Adrenalin races. It's just not worth all the money, time, and aggrevation.
(Or maybe I won't race at all and check out the Jim Thorpe Mountain Bike Weekend....)