Papendal SX, the race is on Options

[FaithBMX]

I just got back from the time trials in Papendal. The track is mental! I will withhold judgement until I see eight riders racing on it tomorrow. The time trial was a mixed bag with the less skilled riders making the track look like Mission Impossible and the top guys making it look like a walk in the park. It's interesting that the track is in Arnhem; the scene of WW II's A Bridge Too Far, because this might be A Track Too Far. I've defended SX tracks to this point and like I said we'll see how it races tomorow, but at this point it is a zero mistake scenario.

Men's TT Superfinal:
Jelle van Gorkom
Raymond van der Biezen
Joris Daudet
Sam Willoughby
Corben Sharrah
Luke Madill
Edzus Treimanis
Andres Jiminez
Remi Riccardi
Josh Meyers
Mike Day
Nic Long
Damien Godet
Andre Aguiluz
Tory Nyhaug
Marc Willers (who came unclipped out of the gate)

Women's TT Superfinal
Romana Labounkova
Sarah Walker
Magalie Pottier
Marianna Pajon
Arielle Martin
Caroline Buchanan
Jana Horakova
Anita Hladikova
Amanda Carr
Rachel Bracken
Joyce Seesing
Gabriella Diaz
Brooke Crain
Amielle Despeaux
Melinda Mcleod
Laura Smulders

Look for photos on BMXNews.com in a little while.

[MikeCarruth]

(IMG:http://www.bmxnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/jvgorkam_papendal_tt.jpg)

With Carl's help, posted a re-cap of the Time Trial day in Papendal, and a photo gallery.

http://bmxurl.com/papendalttf2n


Thanks for your reporting and photos, Carl!


Best,

M

[NMKY]

Here's the scoop, Carl had a few beers on the ferry over to Holland. He then proceeded to heckle the house band, singing songs and making requests, loudly, from the back of the room. All this took place before the band actually started singing...

We love him, he's so much fun..!  He's becoming more English by the day..

[Deanna]

Nothing on Alise yet?

[EMCDenmom]

and Johnny Woodmansee was the only USA rider who got a DNS (unsure what happened, but will try to find out and report tomorrow).

Johnny was hit by a gust of wind in practice and crashed. He had to get stitches in his elbow, and had possible tendon damage in his hand, so he couldn't grip the bar. Otherwise he would have ridden.
I talked to him for about an hour. He actually liked the track, but said a lot of riders do not. His main concern was the fact that they were being forced to ride in such windy conditions. Not much you can do when a 40 mph gust hits you from the side. He said the crosswinds were horrible. I checked wunderground.com and on Thursday they had wind speeds of 25mph w/gusts to 40, so he wasn't exagerating. He did say it was pretty intense though as far as builds go.
I think the combination of an intense track, plus the weather is what led to the high number of DNF's and DNS.
It was very frustrating for both him and me. We have been trying to help get him to races the last year, and it's not cheap. So to crash out before you even get started is a big bummer. But he'll be at Worlds as long as the tendon damage in his hand isn't too severe.


oh and apparently rumor around the track is that London may have a WALL RIDE??! Ohh lets hope that's just it- a rumor!

[NMKY]

I had it on VERY good authority today that London may have a bridge/tunnel section. The guys will go over it and the girls will go under. Be interesting to see how that one pans out!!

[EMCDenmom]

I heard that Alise was not hurt in a crash, but not sure the details of the DNS.

[chase2wheels]

Didn't expect to see Mikey Day up that high in the standings as his first SX race back - good for him.

Jelle's TT run was excellent, you could see he was using all the backsides really well to generate speed. Of course home track advantage doesn't hurt to bad either.

Should be an interesting race tomorrow. The split first straight will be interesting when 8 guys are going full bore.

[justride]

and Johnny Woodmansee was the only USA rider who got a DNS (unsure what happened, but will try to find out and report tomorrow).

Johnny was hit by a gust of wind in practice and crashed. He had to get stitches in his elbow, and had possible tendon damage in his hand, so he couldn't grip the bar. Otherwise he would have ridden.
I talked to him for about an hour. He actually liked the track, but said a lot of riders do not. His main concern was the fact that they were being forced to ride in such windy conditions. Not much you can do when a 40 mph gust hits you from the side. He said the crosswinds were horrible. I checked wunderground.com and on Thursday they had wind speeds of 25mph w/gusts to 40, so he wasn't exagerating. He did say it was pretty intense though as far as builds go.
I think the combination of an intense track, plus the weather is what led to the high number of DNF's and DNS.
It was very frustrating for both him and me. We have been trying to help get him to races the last year, and it's not cheap. So to crash out before you even get started is a big bummer. But he'll be at Worlds as long as the tendon damage in his hand isn't too severe.


oh and apparently rumor around the track is that London may have a WALL RIDE??! Ohh lets hope that's just it- a rumor!

This is all starting to get me to rethink my position on SX entirely. It's too over the top and tries to be too big. It's unsafe and you might as well have the guys ride a section of trails and time them. That's all it is.

[toothbrush]

This is all starting to get me to rethink my position on SX entirely. It's too over the top and tries to be too big. It's unsafe and you might as well have the guys ride a section of trails and time them. That's all it is.

SMH

[reedhamilton]

I thought the TT SuperFinal was an entertaining new discipline - lots of potential on future broadcasts to increase the hype for this type of comp.

Not sure what can be done about the wind. Dealing with the elements is part of BMX racing - and it would not be feasible to postpone the event. Hopefully the weather will cooperate for the competition on Saturday.

From a spectator standpoint, I think the track is awesome. Watching the guys whipping their bikes throught the hip jumps was full-on moto. And the peak-like jumps on the second straight make the guys look like they are launching off a rocket pad. Fun to watch.

In terms of safety, there are certainly legitimate concerns. From watching the time trials, this track is built for the most-skilled riders. I guess that's why there were a lot of DNS's in the time trial - self preservation kicked in.

Let's see what type of racing occurs on Saturday, and then we will have a better take on this new level of SX. I personally am all for it in terms of sport entertainment, but I also don't have to risk myself launching those big gaps.

If we can see lead changes/passing and close finishes throughout qualifying and into the finals, with a minimal amount of injuries, that would be a huge step forward for BMX SX.

Fingers are crossed tonight for an awesome show tomorrow.

And I hope the promoters for the London and Sarasota stops are taking notes - the Dutch promoters have set a new gold standard for a BMX World Cup event.

[MikeCarruth]

^^^Post of the day. Well done, Reed!

[justride]

SMH

Say what you want, but I find this type of thing to be too much. There is a point where enough is enough and rider safety has to become more of a priority than simply being entertaining.

I don't think putting people out there with the most ridiculous and extreme possible obstacles is a good thing to do. It's getting to be too much IMO. Disagree with me if you want, but...there it is.

This post has been edited by justride: May 27 2011, 07:53 PM

[tazbmx]

I also think we need to wait and see how the racing is. The track looks to be a lot of fun when your running solo but eight wide might be a different story. My only complaint is the purse. I think the UCI needs to step up the payout. You win the race and you dont even make back what it costs to get there.

[justride]

I also think we need to wait and see how the racing is. The track looks to be a lot of fun when your running solo but eight wide might be a different story. My only complaint is the purse. I think the UCI needs to step up the payout. You win the race and you dont even make back what it costs to get there.

That's another issue with it, there seems to be little else than bragging rights which is enough for some people. However, there are those who aren't funded.