Tahoe DH Race Report & Update

The weekend at Northstar was awesome as usual, I
think some of the other summer time resorts in the
region could learn a thing or two by watching how well
Northstar takes care of their trails, and how well the
whole place seems to be organized. I was most
impressed by the irrigation systems put in place on
their more popular trails to keep the dust down and
improve the overall quality of the ride. Mammoth
Mountain, take note of this!












The course at Northstar was even more brutal than
the last one, and my bike has the scars to prove it.
The weekend cost me a derraileur hanger, an X.0
derrailuer, a Hayes 8" rotor, and finished off what
was left of my rear wheel (which now resembles an
octagon). With trail names like; Vietnam, Dog Bone
Slabs, and Karpiel, it couldnt have been anything less
than the roughest of the rough. After a few practice
runs and doing my best to destroy my equipment, I had
an urge to drink lots of Mountain Dew and scream
"EXTREME" every time I passed someone. Hopefully your
guys can relate to the feeling, I guess it was just
one of those courses. But even with all this carnage
and some awesome rim dents, I didnt suffer a single
flat tire the entire 3 days of riding.











I wound up racing in the Open-Pro class this time
after a friend threatened me with great bodily injury
if I raced anything less than Pro. My race run went
off without any major mistakes, and landed me in 6th
place out of about 20 riders. I didnt make it to the
podium, but I was thrilled to be that close to the top
5, in the Pro class, and at one heck of a rough course
that claimed many innocent rims, tires, and bodies
over the week.
And.... Being the Rhoades Scholar and MENSA member
that I am, I once again forgot my camera in my haste
to get the hell outa Riverside and leave for Tahoe
this weekend. No new pictures, sorry Cap'n Chris!

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Hey Chris,
I looked at the Northstar web page, looks like I
actually placed 7th in that race, and not 6th. Just
wanted to make sure you get the correct info on the
blog page! There must have been a protest or a late
racer cause I was deffinately in 6th when my class
finished Sunday.