Ken Lee, the czar of Blue Ridge Gravity practices the treacherous rock slab section before the fork into either World Cup or All or Nuttin trails.Thanks Cole ! I look fast here :-) A bit concerned.Trey Davis smashes the steep rocky section, but unfortunately crashes and pops his arm out of its socket.Mickey D's face says it.... Trauma.Amateur Ryan Lenz having a tough moment.Roanoke's Ian Bongaard in the background, about to show the old man how to ride.Mickey rips in between announcing this weekend.Ryan Lenz lookin good here.Amateur Jeffrey Anderson on his way to 2nd overall.Tide, for brighter colors and whiter whites...Pro Woman winna ! Robin Clifford !26 ain't dead kid ...2nd Place Pro women, Lynn Childers. boss on the bike, and K9 handler, badass on the streets! Pro Men, 3rd overall, Corey Jackson, stylish and fast all weekend. I noticed him every run, speed and nice flowy style.The JT Racing crew was in full effect at this one. Pro Men Winna! Derek Maiden. The new NORCO is really suiting him. Excited for next season !Matt Hempel. 2nd in Pro end of Saturday. a huge otb Sunday in sent Matt home early with a seperated shoulder. Another racer looking at a big 2019.Roost...I mean Ronnie Vance. Eventual 2nd overall. Stylish on the bike, and super fun at a party. Bring it Roost !!!Pump action Ian Bongard 4th in Pro Men.Amateur Benjamin Abraham, can't contain himself, BOOST! Jr Men winner Tyler Troisi, ATTACK position..The kid is cool!2nd Jr, Drew Carlson. rocks, bike, lacrosse ? Kid is clearly a good athlete !like my shoes ?yeah, eva foam is the best ! the kid was rocking these kicks.3rd Jrs, Corey Troxler looking good !Flat out ! yeah boiii4th Jr Travis Stevens, and the nicest kid !!! Nice meeting ya this weekend Travis !old man, crazy lines...Phil Downell rips on his Intense M29Fast Phil ! Earns that moniker every weekend !3rd Amatuer Brady Strain ! blitzing the 24" rear Bighit ! 4th Amatuer Christopher Robbins , probably smiling under there !Yuo, see, he's smiling !!5th Am Thomas Walsh 1st race, having a great time !Amatuer Winna Mason Cherrix with the correct line.Mason ! what happened here?...lol just playin.Robin Clifford finally "recovered" (never really recover fully) from a 2nd serious concussion. SO glad to have her back in the action!Reavers cant catch Robin on Serenity.don't be in Lynns way when she looks like this.Later that day, Lynn suited up the Lycra for a casual 3 hour training ride....wha ???Corey Jackson Derek Maiden! I think Derek ended his college career with 7 individual medals ? Solid !Another athlete, Derek was a star high school soccer and basketball player.Matt Hempel, clinic in perfect form. Matt grew up playing ice hockey , so we cool.Centered, head and eyes up.Roost....Ronnie playin bikes!Always prepared....flat kit ready.Ian Bongaard !5th Pro, Jason Harris Nice exit Jason !Andrew Issem tackles the All or Nuttin drop and for a solid lead in stage one. Unfortunately a crash on day 2 would land him in the hospital and a DNF for this race.another Lacross player smashing rocks !
Day 2: Bryce Bike Park, Basye VA
Stages
Pickleback (routed around the wood toilet bowl berm)
Copperhead
Around the campfire (table + beers) at the Blue Ridge Gravity condo, the evening after day 1, concerns of the weather and the amount of wood at Bryce began to surface. Three riders in the pro class were less than thrilled to race the infamous Bryce toilet bowl in the wet. This feature lives in infamy for the crashes that occur on it in the bone dry, much less wet race speed. It could be a speed check, it could be an oversight while building, but the fact of the matter is, it goes from berm to flat at the sharpest part of the turn and is difficult not to brake in.
We typed up a strongly (politely) worded email to the Bryce Park Bike/Ski Patrol director (and event director), he obliged by routing the course away from the feature in question.
40+ winna Phillipp Downell can JUMP , Son !!!!Ohhh Snap ! so can Corey Jackson ! On the Stepup. aaaaand Tyler Troisi !! Flys !!
The morning at Bryce was miserable, cold, wet, muddy, miserable. We were soaked in the irony that it was after all the first day of Autumn, but none of us were prepared for the conditions bestowed upon us. Practice started late, riders arrived late, race runs got pushed back, but everyone was still hungry. The energy was still there.
My Tranny posted up looking thirsty.yikes !This is a very forgiving step up.
The motif of this weekend was carnage. Multiple crashes happened in front of me and I managed to get exactly none captured on bits and bytes! This jump would claim yet another victim. Matt Hempel (above and below), a fierce rider in the pro category, would land off camber after this jump and dislocate his shoulder, walking his bike down the slope towards the hospital.
Scoping out the toilet bowl re-route.
Speaking of carnage, as I rode the lift up to the top to get some of my “scouting runs” in, Ken Lee (above) and Andrew Issem came in to the final big tabletop jump. Ken got bucked forward and had his second hard crash in 2 days. Unfortunately, Andrew being close behind bailed as well, separating his shoulder and landing himself in the hospital.