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True to tradition, the day was all about schedule changes. Pro "downhill" practice was originally scheduled to kick off at 11:30am (giving riders 2 hours of practice), but instead was pushed back until 3pm and relegated the riders to only one hour of practice. Although the track was pretty straight forward, an hours worth of practice is pretty shady in my opinion.
Since I missed the previous day's downhill practice, I was a bit anxious to see the track, even though I knew there wouldn't be much to it.
With 100+ degree temperatures, and no where to turn for comfort, most riders simply passed out in the shade of their pits, or anywhere they could find shade. Being in the middle of nowhere, there isn't much to do here, or anywhere to go.
When we finally got the pro downhill practice going, I was extremely disappointed to see what was laid out to ride. This was by far one of the simplest, disappointing tracks I've seen put together for a "national" caliber event. In my opinion, it took the worst parts of Sea Otter, Fontana, and Sonoma and made a race track. To make matters worse, there were wooden bridges, thrown in throughout the track - the largest being a over-under bridge (where the XC guys raced underneath while the downhillers rode over top. I think all 10 rocks on the entire property were brought in & placed into the "rock garden" at the top of the course.
Anyhow, with that said, a short travel bike track was definitely the ticket here. I'll let the photos speak for the rest of the "northshore / super-d" report, since I'm just over it. A few of the tree sections in the gully at the bottom of the track was alright... but with the addition of the wooden bridges, I was over it!
Pro Slalom finals were suppose to start at 7pm, but instead ran a bit late (big surprise)
Rich Houseman must have had a Monster Energy drink before the race because he put the power down! His snap out of the gate was impressive to watch. He laid down the power and torched the berms!
It was great seeing Chris Powell in the finals, but unfortunately this will probably be his last race of the season (other than probably the Jeep King of the Mountain Series coming up later in the year). Chris hasn't found the support from sponsors so had decided to concentrate on his schooling (which he graduates from San Diego State on Monday! Congrats man!)
EC was lookin smooth as ever... man, the guy just knows how to ride! There were a good number of guys hitting the quad, many of them cased the hell out of it though. I don't think I ever heard EC land.... smooth!
It was also great seeing Mike Haderer in the small finals. Mikey has been lookin good all weekend. He qualified well and followed it up with a stellar finish!
In the women's field, Melissa Buhl dominited, but the story of the weekend was the return of Leigh Donovan. As I mentioned earlier, Leigh's basically on vacation, so don't expect to see a comeback to professional racing (although she would probably do extreme well). Leigh had a blast and made it to the finals to race against Buhly. With a advantage in the final, Buhly just needed to ride smart to take the victory. Leigh unfortunately gave Buhly a bigger gift as she got snagged at the gate and took a digger right as the last run started. As Leigh rode down, the crowd erupted and sent Leigh off in style. Good times!
Men's Pro Final
1 Rich Houseman
2 Chris Powell
3 Eric Carter
4 Mike Haderer
Women Pro Final
1 Melissa Buhl
2 Leigh Donovan
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