First off the last thing I want to do is start a flame war between East and West. I am trying to figure out if the problems Ive experienced racing this year are due to a change of venue, or just a crappy rider (myself), heh.
Note: Im ONLY talking amateur fields here, not pros. The EC has tons of sicko riders, from young guns like Neko Mulally to Chris Herndon and on and on.
So last year (08) I raced Sport (weekend warrior) at the Snowshoe series. It was the first time Id raced DH in over 6 years I used to race in CO back in the late 90s/early 00s. I only ever raced Beginner and Sport back then. Wound up doing pretty well at Snowshoe, took 2nd for the season in my class. That included two races in which I got 2nd place with a crash in my run. So without a crash Im sure I wouldve been close to winning. Fields were large 18-22 riders in my class, so I felt pretty validated. This also meant I was required to bump up to Expert for the following season at Snowshoe.
Wound up moving back west this spring and jumped into the Utah DH Series races and moved up to Cat 1 due to my Snowshoe results the year before. Its been a disaster. I did actually race a Utah series race last season and finished mid-back in Sport. This year, I am just getting crushed. Not racing well, and thats its own issue, but even when I have a clean run my times are just awful compared to the rest of the field. And those times are still mid to low in the Sport (Cat 2) fields in Utah.
So just trying to figure out are western amateur riders just that much faster? Am I that much slower this season I dont think so honestly. I really feel like the Utah series is seriously competitive and its honestly kinda demoralized me on the whole race thing. I know its all for fun, but the fact is if we race, we have some competitiveness and want to do well. Looking forward to hearing some input from riders whove raced on both coasts!
Note: Im ONLY talking amateur fields here, not pros. The EC has tons of sicko riders, from young guns like Neko Mulally to Chris Herndon and on and on.
So last year (08) I raced Sport (weekend warrior) at the Snowshoe series. It was the first time Id raced DH in over 6 years I used to race in CO back in the late 90s/early 00s. I only ever raced Beginner and Sport back then. Wound up doing pretty well at Snowshoe, took 2nd for the season in my class. That included two races in which I got 2nd place with a crash in my run. So without a crash Im sure I wouldve been close to winning. Fields were large 18-22 riders in my class, so I felt pretty validated. This also meant I was required to bump up to Expert for the following season at Snowshoe.
Wound up moving back west this spring and jumped into the Utah DH Series races and moved up to Cat 1 due to my Snowshoe results the year before. Its been a disaster. I did actually race a Utah series race last season and finished mid-back in Sport. This year, I am just getting crushed. Not racing well, and thats its own issue, but even when I have a clean run my times are just awful compared to the rest of the field. And those times are still mid to low in the Sport (Cat 2) fields in Utah.
So just trying to figure out are western amateur riders just that much faster? Am I that much slower this season I dont think so honestly. I really feel like the Utah series is seriously competitive and its honestly kinda demoralized me on the whole race thing. I know its all for fun, but the fact is if we race, we have some competitiveness and want to do well. Looking forward to hearing some input from riders whove raced on both coasts!