It's really hard to write about Whitney's races when I'm not there to see them. I also don't get the post-race review anymore either.
Last weekend was the first of the Maine Mountain Series BX races. They were held Friday and Sunday at Sugarloaf. Saturday's race was cancelled because of the wind and snow and rescheduled to run on Sunday. Whitney was the only one in the Open Class on Friday but had a competitor on Sunday. She had two teammates from UMF there on Friday, one racing in women's Jam and one in men's Jam, and one teammate on Sunday. Whitney didn't have the best weekend racing. She did well on Friday but fell towards the end of the course and fell hard on her tailbone. She was still really sore on Sunday and didn't race her best. The other problem she had was her wrist. She's had problems with it before where the bones were out of place and when she fell in practice on Thursday she also hurt her wrist again. With a hurt wrist it's hard to get a strong pull out of the start gate.
Today was BX 4 at Sunday River. She said she was feeling better today, still sore but it didn't hamper her racing. She felt good about how she raced today. She was the only one in Open Class again today. She ended the weekend with two firsts and two seconds, not a bad haul.
The course at Sugarloaf was really fast but not super technical. You had to watch your line because of how fast it was but otherwise it wasn't a technical course according to Whitney. Sunday River was pretty chill, a bit narrow which made passing hard.
Whitney may get to one more USASA race next weekend at Ragged Mountain, NH. On tap next for sure is USCSA Nationals at Whiteface, Lake Placid, NY and then USASA Nationals at Copper Mountain, Colorado.
Monday, February 29, 2016
Sunday, February 28, 2016
BX at Massanutten
Last weekend was the BX at Massanutten. While we had no horse in the race this time we still wanted to go down and support Whitney's old team. Bob was helping as a course judge both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning we went to registration so he could connect with Mark and find out where he was going to be working and when he needed to be there. I talked with some friends from the team and found out one family is looking to buy a house near Sugarloaf and spend the winters up there so their son can be on the Carrabassett Valley School team in the weekend program. I'm sure Whitney will be excited to see him at races. I had a great conversation with Chad, Whitney's old coach. I finally had the chance to give him our "thank-you" for helping Whitney out the last few years - a great picture of the two of them in the start gate at Nationals last year. I also had a chance to catch up with Ellen, the Appalachian Series director.
While Bob spent the morning working the course I spent the morning skiing. The conditions were nice, the crowds were pretty low early, and it was so nice to be skiing. In the afternoon I went down to hang out with Bob. He had a good spot to watch the racers go by down the course. The one downside to the day was that it got pretty warm by the end of the races. Because of that when Bob was done we went back to the house instead of skiing more. Another factor was that it was getting super crowded because it was such a nice day. All in all though it was a much better day than Sunday ended up being...it poured rain.
While Bob spent the morning working the course I spent the morning skiing. The conditions were nice, the crowds were pretty low early, and it was so nice to be skiing. In the afternoon I went down to hang out with Bob. He had a good spot to watch the racers go by down the course. The one downside to the day was that it got pretty warm by the end of the races. Because of that when Bob was done we went back to the house instead of skiing more. Another factor was that it was getting super crowded because it was such a nice day. All in all though it was a much better day than Sunday ended up being...it poured rain.
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Stratton Mountain, Part II
Two races, two first place finishes. I still haven't talked to Whitney to hear how things really went. What I do know - time trials went really well and she was excited to finally be racing again. In time trials she was faster than the guys in the Open Class and on Sunday she lowered her time that she posted on Saturday. She was the only Open Class woman racing so two first places for her. The good news about that is that I think it'll give her enough points to rank her first nationally in Open Class when they update tomorrow. She'll be first (only) in the Maine Mountain Series as well since they haven't had any in-series races yet.
I asked her about the course, thinking it'd be harder/bigger/more something than what's she's used to in the South. She said that it wasn't any harder but it was longer than she was used to riding. I made the comment about Massanutten rocking making a bx course and she totally agreed. Too bad she'll have to miss the race there.
In other news reservations have been made for Nationals at Copper Mountain in April. It's going to be a quick trip for us this year. Usually we go out and plan an extra day for fun riding after she competes. Being in college can put the damper on fun though. We'll go out Friday and register, practice day on Saturday, race day on Sunday, then head to Denver to fly home. It will still be awesome to be out there and watch her race.
I asked her about the course, thinking it'd be harder/bigger/more something than what's she's used to in the South. She said that it wasn't any harder but it was longer than she was used to riding. I made the comment about Massanutten rocking making a bx course and she totally agreed. Too bad she'll have to miss the race there.
In other news reservations have been made for Nationals at Copper Mountain in April. It's going to be a quick trip for us this year. Usually we go out and plan an extra day for fun riding after she competes. Being in college can put the damper on fun though. We'll go out Friday and register, practice day on Saturday, race day on Sunday, then head to Denver to fly home. It will still be awesome to be out there and watch her race.
Saturday, February 6, 2016
Stratton Mountain, VT - Part I
So she's finally back on the race course. It seems really weird for me to be sitting here in Virginia and she's racing in Vermont. This is the first time in four years that I've missed one of her races. I'm not sure I like being on the sidelines at home. Although I don't usually see the whole course, at least I can get a pretty good feel for it. I also enjoy being there for moral support. But it is what it is...she's growing up, off to college hundreds of miles away, and at least for this winter will be racing without me there until Nationals. Today she's got her aunt there for moral support (and picture taking).
So today it was off to Stratton Mountain, racing in the Southern Vermont Series. As usual she's the only one in her group, the only Open Class woman. That's nothing new for her. Hopefully like they've done in other races she's been to they'll combine some of the smaller groups and she'll be able to race against someone. Not sure the Open Class men want to race her though, it sounds like she'd clean their clocks. I got a message from her earlier that said during time trials she shattered the open class men's best time. I'm not sure how much faster she was than they were but she said they were shocked. Just goes to show you what a girl from Virginia can do when she puts her mind to it. The actual races are going to start shortly, then it's back again tomorrow for another day of racing. I hope it all goes well!
So today it was off to Stratton Mountain, racing in the Southern Vermont Series. As usual she's the only one in her group, the only Open Class woman. That's nothing new for her. Hopefully like they've done in other races she's been to they'll combine some of the smaller groups and she'll be able to race against someone. Not sure the Open Class men want to race her though, it sounds like she'd clean their clocks. I got a message from her earlier that said during time trials she shattered the open class men's best time. I'm not sure how much faster she was than they were but she said they were shocked. Just goes to show you what a girl from Virginia can do when she puts her mind to it. The actual races are going to start shortly, then it's back again tomorrow for another day of racing. I hope it all goes well!
The Season Begins
Apparently I forgot to post this last month...
So here it is, January 21 and it's looking like the snowboard season, at least on the East Coast is finally getting under way. At the moment our area is under a blizzard warning for tomorrow and Saturday so there's not going to be any snowboarding around here for a while since we won't be able to get out for several days. The good news is that Whitney is in Maine and they're not supposed to be getting any snow from this storm. She should be hitting the slopes this weekend for team practice and probably the local mountain as well. I'm not exactly sure what her practice schedule is, some days they'll be at Titcomb Mountain which is the local one and on the weekends they'll be at Sugarloaf. I think the coach has hooked her up with someone to work with at Sugarloaf, someone who knows boardercross so she can keep improving.
It's been a slow start to the winter and that has meant a slow start to the race season. The original plan was for her to go back to school early and race in a Maine Mountain Series race last weekend. Then she was going to come home for her first "spring" break next month and race at Massanutten. Unfortunately Maine Mountain had to do some schedule shuffling and the bx races were moved to the same weekend as the Massanutten races. They already had races 3 and 4 scheduled for then but now all four races are that weekend. Whitney debated switching back to the Appalachian Series and racing down here but we decided that was kind of risky based on how the winter has gone so far. Of course now we're supposed to be getting 18-24" of snow so I think it's safe to say the Massanutten race will be fine.
She also finally got some information on how the USCSA works. USCSA is the US Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association. Apparently, unlike for the alpine and Nordic skiers, there is no competition schedule for the snowboarders. I guess it's still too new or they don't have someone to coordinate, at least on the East Coast. So for the snowboarders it's up to the college to decide who to send to the USCSA National Championships. There are no USCSA races, no competitions except Nationals. Whitney is pretty confident that her coach will send her; she's been working out hard, knows what she's doing, and will be racing in USASA events. That will be pretty cool for her since the USCSA Nationals are at Whiteface, Lake Placid, NY.
So here it is, January 21 and it's looking like the snowboard season, at least on the East Coast is finally getting under way. At the moment our area is under a blizzard warning for tomorrow and Saturday so there's not going to be any snowboarding around here for a while since we won't be able to get out for several days. The good news is that Whitney is in Maine and they're not supposed to be getting any snow from this storm. She should be hitting the slopes this weekend for team practice and probably the local mountain as well. I'm not exactly sure what her practice schedule is, some days they'll be at Titcomb Mountain which is the local one and on the weekends they'll be at Sugarloaf. I think the coach has hooked her up with someone to work with at Sugarloaf, someone who knows boardercross so she can keep improving.
It's been a slow start to the winter and that has meant a slow start to the race season. The original plan was for her to go back to school early and race in a Maine Mountain Series race last weekend. Then she was going to come home for her first "spring" break next month and race at Massanutten. Unfortunately Maine Mountain had to do some schedule shuffling and the bx races were moved to the same weekend as the Massanutten races. They already had races 3 and 4 scheduled for then but now all four races are that weekend. Whitney debated switching back to the Appalachian Series and racing down here but we decided that was kind of risky based on how the winter has gone so far. Of course now we're supposed to be getting 18-24" of snow so I think it's safe to say the Massanutten race will be fine.
She also finally got some information on how the USCSA works. USCSA is the US Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association. Apparently, unlike for the alpine and Nordic skiers, there is no competition schedule for the snowboarders. I guess it's still too new or they don't have someone to coordinate, at least on the East Coast. So for the snowboarders it's up to the college to decide who to send to the USCSA National Championships. There are no USCSA races, no competitions except Nationals. Whitney is pretty confident that her coach will send her; she's been working out hard, knows what she's doing, and will be racing in USASA events. That will be pretty cool for her since the USCSA Nationals are at Whiteface, Lake Placid, NY.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)