Deer Valley NORBA

The Deer Valley NORBA bike race was held this weekend and unfortunately we only had time to make it up for the last part of the races. I don’t know if there was as much excitement as there was last year, but we did make it up to our favorite viewing spot which is a five or six foot drop where the more advanced riders take at speed. The landing is not an easy one either as it is most technical with plenty of options for impaling yourself on logs, crushing your skull on rocks or entangling yourself in trees or shrubs lining both sides of the narrow trail.

Some folks of course do eat it at this spot, but I am not one to criticize as there is no way that I would even attempt this jump, particularly with the cross-country bike I currently have. Current downhill bikes have incredibly sophisticated suspension systems with valving that likely costs as much as my automobile, not to mention disc brakes and heavier duty frames.

Cannondale, my favorite bike company was certainly present as illustrated in the introductory image, but given that I am a member of a community of unabashed appreciators of gearhead gnarlyness, I had to post a picture of Honda‘s new downhill mountain bike with internal transmission. Yes, you heard that correctly, I said transmission. It was hard to get a shot of one down in the pits as Honda ushered these rides into their trailers as soon as they returned from a run, but I was able to grab this shot just after the huck at my favorite spot. It was made nominally easier to grab this shot because these bikes make a unique noise when moving, sounding somewhat like a turbo whine and you can hear ’em coming.