I went and did something I haven't done for years ... spent a couple of nights under canvas at the East Coast Round of the US National Mountain Bike Series at Windham Mountain, NY.
Taking place just a few days before the national championships at Mt Snow, VT, it seemed a good time for riders to either show their hand ... or perhaps just keep a straight face.Anyway, the cross-country course was a fairly typical, although rather short alpine type affair. That is, a rather savage climb up the side of the mountain, followed by a mile or two following the contours, then a white-knuckle descent.
Stand out athlete was Georgia Gould, a US pick for the Olympics, and who is to say, given the margin of her victory here, isn't on track for gold.Conversely, the men saw their Olympic hopes beaten on the line by Canadian Mathieu Toulouse. Whether the US guys thought they'd get maximum points anyway and weren't going to exert themselves before the Olympics I don't know, but I think it was a bit of a shock for them.
The downhill course was heroic. The main problem being that the best bits were towards the top of the mountain so only the hardiest spectators made it up that far.For results click here.
I've also posted a collection of images here. Please feel free to use them for your blog or club magazine. For commercial use, please contact me.
Posts
