Lost in the Woods; the Chris Davidson diary

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Hi Cyclingnews.com readers, I have returned from five days in the woods of Vermont and I have the insect bites to prove it. I had difficulty getting online at this venue again, so I have summarized the three days of racing with some other tidbits.

Friday

We are pitted in the tech area right next to the big Specialized trailer. I feel a little funny as we have the Genius bikes onboard our trailer - Specialized has the patent on the rear end of the bikes so Scott can't sell them in the US; we end up speaking to them very little anyway. The Specialized European-based team is here in preparation for the WC next week in Canada. Their riders Christophe Sauser and Liam Killen add world cup class to field.

The Specialized bikes were worth noting. Sauser's bike weighs less than 21 pounds, for a dual suspension! There are lots of dual suspension bikes being ridden here as the downhills are rocky and rooty. Kelli Emmett (Ford Cycling) will ride the dual suspension Genius bike tomorrow to see if it would be the best choice for the course.

Mike West and Ariel Lindsey (Maverick) blew by me on the downhill during the pre-ride of the XC course over a really rough section. That certainly lent weight to the dual suspension choice. I felt like I was track-standing trying to get safely down some of the sections. By and large the pro riders really like this course; I have heard it described by many of the pro riders as the best on this year's NORBA circuit.

They have changed the start times for the Super D. At the last two events the Super D has been scheduled two hours before the start of the XC, making it all but impossible for the pro XC riders to make both events. Here at Mt Snow, they moved the Super D to 8:00am on Saturday and moved the XC back to 3:00pm, so there were plenty of XC pros trying on the goggles and the six-inch bikes.

Read the entire Chris Davidson diary here.