HYLAND MTB PARK
NORTHFIELD, NH
Today was completely different to our previous practice days,,, real wet, slippery, slower and more challenging to stay upright. I had a few spills, sliding in all different directions. Learned to keep my front end light over that stuff, but rocks facing the opposite way or polished roots are tricky to manuver. Saved em all pretty good to not really have done any damage to myself or bike, but I think most people struggled with traction on the rocks. East coast has unique terrain, I kept dry tires on as did most everyone, for grip. Lars modified some cut spikes and said they worked good too. The trick was to kind of ride it like it was dry, but to be smart in places where it could go sour. Worked out, pulled off a win!! $1,500 richer too!! THx Hyland.
So we had a couple practice runs, then quali, a break, and finals. Over that time it went from wet, to monsoon wet. Downpours non stop all afternoon.Kept the bugs away, which was kinda nice I guess.
Good practice to go through the motions of changing weather, terrain, tear off pulling (which was successful this time), and finding traction.
I had a pretty good quali time , with a fall. Then my final felt better but was slower. Ground was of course way more saturated, but I was happy to make my final fairly mistake free. It's a tough call to push too hard in these conditions, just kinda have to let it unfold however sometimes. 1.Jill 2.Jo Peterson 3.Lauren D.
In men's class, Lars, my teammate, did really good, 5th in quali, 7th overall for the day. Trek dominated though, Gwin- fresh off a world cup win in RSA killed quali with a 2.18. In the end though Neko, his teammate, and east coast l0cal won the final with a 2.20, gwin 2nd, Leov 3rd. Curtis Keen, pulled some consistency with 4th, Cody warren 5th, Richie Rude 6th, lars 7.
The people who own and operate Hyland Bike Park were great hosts. THis mountain has a lot of variety, worth checking out, and is the only Bike specific chair lift operated park.
