BME - snowmaas, durango, keystone, moab, crested butte

[beaterdit]

Yo Collin, missed you in DGO. I'm doing the whole points series but not CB. Thanks, pretty psyched on the DGO result, I guess the rougher the better for me.

Good luck in CB, I read more like 5K' per day and upward of thirty miles. Yikes!

[beaterdit]

OK who's in Keystone?!?!

Been riding the stages for two days now and I feel destroyed already. This place is pretty sweet, very raw relative to other bike parks I've ridden. Yesterday I hit two trees and then wrecked again and took a tumble down a rocky slope and over my friend's bike and then got hit by mine. No real damage but it was a good one. Kept it clean today and felt more dialed and fast. Also stepped up to the two features I backed off of yesterday. Got some good rain yesterday and it's been sprinkling this afternoon. Dirt's good.

The last two days have roasted my back tire though, and the front's not looking 100% either. Couldn't find a DHF in 27.5 but I have a spare HR2. Debating making a last minute change to a tire I've never ridden. Prolly not a good idea but if it gets slick I could be fucked with what I'm on.

If any of you are around, say hi. I'm riding a black Intense T275, in a green POC Cortex with a white Leatt and a neon green jersey, my name's Sam.

[robnow]

Hey, would anybody want to buy my Moab entry for $125 + probably $10 transfer fee? Race is August 23 and regular entry fee is $175.

Thanks guys and open to offers.

Anybody here doing the Whistler stop of the EWS?

[shirk]

Anybody here doing the Whistler stop of the EWS?

Yes. Did you end up doing it last year? I forget if you rode it. Looking forward to it.

[WaistDeepGroomers]

Did any mags make it to the ultra enduro at CB? Would love to work up to that next year, looks totally insane! Would be curious what the survivability factor in general was like...

[mbizzles]

Anyone doing the BME this summer? Specifically talking about the Snowmass one.

Couldn't find a thread on it for this year.

Was it $200 last year?!? Seems expensive, but I guess these race series have to stay afloat somehow. Good cause to support.

I read on BME's Facebook page that they are changing up the course pretty significantly from last year for the Snowmass leg. My bike would have been perfect for last year's event. Wondering if my 140mm (Fox 32) Transition Bandit will hold up if they include some more rocky/rooty/gnar stuff like Bonzai. Most of the enduro bikes are 160 Pikes or Fox 36's it seems. The Bandit is a great bike, but definitely more of a beefy xc bike and not a full on enduro bike. One full-on DH stage would be ok, but if the whole race is heading that way I'm concerned for my poor bike

Don't really feel like spending $200 to break my bike on trails that I can ride on my own (not a race speed and not multiples in one day). Plus this would be my first race :-/

I am wondering if they are just talking about adding the new Snowmass Bike Park trails, which are smaller than Valhalla. Maybe Gov't Trail? Guess we'll find out on Wednesday the 24th.

Does anyone know if they still had room for registration last year after the course announcements came out? Might try to do it that way.


Thanks!

[mbizzles]

ps...it should also be noted that I'm a weeny when it comes to "hurting" my bike. Myself, I don't care. I'll throw myself between my bike and the ground to protect it (odd sense of self-preservation). They're just soooooo expensive!! So, I could certainly be over-reacting to my "little" bike. It took my forever to get good at the Trestle DH track because I was more afraid of falling and breaking my bike (DH). But when I realized it's a DH bike and you can just go over those bike rock without worry, I got better. Suspension is there to be used

[Shredhead]

Do you know Piglet? Pretty sure she podiumed @ Snowmass last year.

[grskier]

Been a lot of talk around about the Snowmass stages this winter, don't know what's out yet, and what's been approved. I emailed someone in the know, they'll likely post or pump out a little info.

[simple]

Interested to hear that beta. Haven't ridden a trail at snowmass that i didn't like. Nitro is the man.

[grskier]

So, here is what I got back:

can say that there is a lot more of fall line speed, more gnar ( I would say that the Banzai DH is still the most gnar), less pedaling,

6-stages (combination of bike park flow and raw gnar)
3 all new courses
2 existing courses with significant new additions
1 existing course remains unchanged


14k ish vert.. that number is fuzzy.

From what I understand they can't release the courses yet.

[joetron]

Oh buddy! I gotta see where this fits in my calendar.

[westoxified]

I'm doing this. Also just read on ig that Graves is going to be there recovery racing before EWS #4. Middle of the pack is going to be waaayyyy back.

No insight to exactly how gnar the gnar will be.

edit to add: just read above that the gnar will be raw. I guess Banzai is raw gnar?

[beaterdit]

Do it. Sounds like the changes can only be good. I was a little disapointed with all the flatness last year. It was still an awesoem race though. Great intro for me to BME. I was registered for all the races this year but I withdrew due to breaking my back. I'm back on my bike but I've lost a lot of time and am still taking it easy for a while.

BTW the race sold out last year before hand. I have a friend who showed up and couldn't get in.

[alewi11]

beaterdit, I've got a question for you on the Keystone race. I'm planning on hitting it this year, but I will have very limited time for pre-riding. How big of a deal is the lack of pre-riding going to be? I'll probably have 2-3 hours to check out the course on Friday. What should I focus on?

[simple]

Grskier: all i want to know is if we will see the return of the chainless downhill at snowmass?

[beaterdit]

beaterdit, I've got a question for you on the Keystone race. I'm planning on hitting it this year, but I will have very limited time for pre-riding. How big of a deal is the lack of pre-riding going to be? I'll probably have 2-3 hours to check out the course on Friday. What should I focus on?

That's a tough one, I pre-rode for two days and still didn't hit it all, and was already blown by the time race day came around. There are a few trails I'd consider pre-riding to be mandatory. The only name I remember is Cowboy up. Stage 4 was gnar with big gap jumps, one of which I wouldn't hit on the first try. Any of the gnar DH stages really merit pre-riding, and most stages finish on one. Overall, I say go for it though, even if you're lost it's still an awesome race and awesoem experience.

[mbizzles]

So, here is what I got back:


From what I understand they can't release the courses yet.

Nice! A little more info. Just thinking of what's in Snowmass that would be a bit more gnarly than previous years. I don't know the trails super well, but from what I've ridden it's mostly on the mellower side. Maybe they are considering Vapor? I don't think it was included last year because of snow, right? It's more raw gnar than Valhalla. The new trails in the bike park were flowy trails to my understanding... Maybe they'll throw Gov't in somehow...like the more western part?

[beaterdit]

We raced Vapor last year, it was rad.

[Temagami]

If I remember correctly, last year was ~1/3 vapor (snow), valhalla, power to stark's. I thought it was great, but I'd love to see the route from the 2013 master of the mass: full vapor, valhalla, gov't, anaerobic, blake to highline. Up to deadline from there. . .

[beaterdit]

Sweet, that does sounds awesome. Lots of late snow this year though huh?

[grskier]

If I remember correctly, last year was ~1/3 vapor (snow), valhalla, power to stark's. I thought it was great, but I'd love to see the route from the 2013 master of the mass: full vapor, valhalla, gov't, anaerobic, blake to highline. Up to deadline from there. . .

That was the track I labeled uber d... was a fun ride, and super fun to announce. The course reports were absolutely classic.

[mbizzles]

Courses are up Aspen Mountain for Stage 1 ?!?!

[mbizzles]

[Shredhead]

Courses are up Aspen Mountain for Stage 1 ?!?!

Does the course really go down the Face of Bell and the Queen as pictured? If so, that's way steeper than Valhalla or Banzai.
Just riding up summer road kicks my ass and it seems flat in the winter.