This was two weeks after the Red Bull event.

That's because it is.

oh really? ha my bad!

How do you spell "practise? and "tell us about your at champery?" I'm sure there were more bloopers i didn't catch. Not trying to hate, but a little editing goes a long way to make us bikers look intelligent. Amazing photos though!

The xc riders have about a 2 week break mid season which makes some sense. If you'd ever had to train of a racing season you'd know what i mean, but I get the feeling you haven't maybe? You spend a good portion of the off season trying to get into the best shape you can to start the season off and then you spend the rest of the on season racing and working to maintain and sharpen your skills. If you drop out of your peak shape too early its a bitch and half to get it back. and training months for one race and then having to either maintain that speed or break for a while and then rebuild to top shape just sucks. I'm sure there's probably some logistical reason behind the schedule, but to me it just further shows that UCI doesn't give a crap about gravity racing

Any one else notice there is a 3 month break from the first race to the second? Its supposed to be a series? So the athletes are expected to be in top shape for round one and then maintain it all the way through? Thats quite the order. I understand the snow issues at most big resorts, but why not just wait on the first round?

I see what you're saying, but bikes are very different than skateboards, My family has been into skating since the 70's So i actually do remember the boom and bust of all the shops around. But a skateboard has 3 different sized nuts, 8 screws, 8 bearings and a set of trucks, not much to deal with. A trip to the hardware store can fix anything that is repairable. Two of our local shops have gone to internet sales in the last 10 years, one of which has become very successful. both however now have shitty service because the owners care more about the warehouse in the back and less about the actual customer interactions that go on in the show room. To me this is unfortunate, and i never buy from anymore.

And look at iron at iron horse now... that's right they're in she shitter. All the companies that have gone that way have lost a lot of credibility. Take Schwinn for example, complete crap in the big box stores. The actual bikes are the products sold with the smallest margins in a shop, shop's really can't afford to sell for the prices of online stores. If you really think all shops deserve to go out of business, you will be very sad when they do. What happens when you get a flat tire? on a saturday, that means you don't ride again till wednesday at best. If you don't have a tool you need to fix your bike? $350 for a truing stand and a lot of headaches. Bikes shops have there place in the cycling world, and they're doing what they can to keep their jobs, How would you like it if your job got outsourced to the internet? If you don't like them i suppose you don't have to go, but you'll have to be the last to complain when bike shops and every other form of local retail sales is sent to the interwebs and the economy is in the toilet because no one has a job...