[FCR 2003] Elsinore on Saturday

North American Slalom Races & Results

Moderators: Jonathan Harms, Lynn Kramer, Chris Cousineau, Maria Carrasco, Russel Cantor

Post Reply
Adam Trahan
Phoenix, AZ, USA
Phoenix, AZ, USA
Posts: 795
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2002 2:00 am

[FCR 2003] Elsinore on Saturday

Post by Adam Trahan » Mon Mar 31, 2003 5:47 am

Hello all.

I will do a brief personal account on FCR Elsinore as a RACER! I am however writing a story with pictures and mpeg on this event so this will be brief.

I only attended Saturday's race and I don't know what they did on Sunday so here goes.

I read somewhere that this hill was steep and fast. Steep and fast are scary terms for some people with loose trucks on short wheelbase skateboards. I thought the hill was quite reasonable. I decided to film M.Dong with my digital camera while he shot a practice run. Pushing once ahead of him going straight downhill, I was quickly over taken by Michael and my speed built quickly to a point where I needed to drag my foot about half way down. The gist being that it was fast, yes, but turning around cones is more stable and faster than shooting straight downhill for a prescribed track length on a short board. Pumping downhill, accelerating seems to be more stable than simply stand up straight pointed down shooting the hill on a slalom skateboard.

The wind was a factor too!

The hill was in the lee of a ridge and as it swirled over the top, gusts would hit you, particularly about half way down the course. These gusts would slow you down quite noticably but not enough to throw you off balance.

But the hill was fast and the course was set appropriately for it. The surface was smooth and I used the softer of Avalons and many others chose this wheel as well.

I asked Ed E who set the course and he stated names like a "who's who" of slalom skateboard racers. Apparently it was set by no less than a few racers dropping cones and then a discussion on placement. I would call it a hybrid, tight (7' or so) placed cones and then a rythm breaker or an off set here and there. The hill was about a six or seven foot stack of Turner cones, maybee more.

I had only practiced twice since Morro so I was quite shaky and a bit in need of some confidence. The first run I hit a couple of cones half way down and foot dragged to a stop without finishing the course. Walk back up, next run, one cone whole course, next run clean. I practiced running it about 10 or so times. Granted, I am slow compared to racers who practice. Decent times were something like sub 25's for Open at the point of when I checked after qualification. I ran a 27 point something and a 29 same.

Slow I am, fun no less.

Seeded, I pulled Ravitch, a friend who I have practiced with in Arizona. I like John and we raced. When I raced John, my time dropped to like 25 something and John was 4-6 cones ahead of me at the finish. Man, racing, RACING makes you faster. I ran the course clean both races with John but was eliminated so ending my first FCR race.

I watched some other guys, Chicken, Hackett, Olsen, PD, Attila, Cross but they no longer had my attention, they are now distractions. I had my own things to think about, I am a racer now and I can do this and if I practice, I may even be able to compete and one day place in the Open class.

What a blast.

To all of you who I talked with and those of you who I didn't, thanks for being VERY cool and letting me be a part of the scene.

...more to come.

P.S. To Lynn.

I tried to respond to you at http://www.ncdsa.com but my post was quickly deleted so I will say it here.

Congratulations on your first FCR race!

Now you are a racer and not a spectator.

I can't make the next race but I will definately make LaCosta.

See you there.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Adam Trahan on 2003-03-30 23:41 ]</font>

Chris Eggers
Germany
Germany
Posts: 503
Joined: Mon Sep 09, 2002 2:00 am
Location: Germany
Contact:

Post by Chris Eggers » Mon Mar 31, 2003 3:56 pm

So now we have something in common Adam. John eliminated me in Morro. He was so fast, I had to work so hard that I fell!

Thanks for the warm up to your full report.

Can´t wait.

Adam Trahan
Phoenix, AZ, USA
Phoenix, AZ, USA
Posts: 795
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2002 2:00 am

Post by Adam Trahan » Mon Mar 31, 2003 4:11 pm

I can think of only one thing that is more amazing than being "pulled" by a faster racer...

It is so cool when you go through a course faster than you think you can.

Eggers, we have way more in common (I know you know) than being eliminated by Ravitch.

I am going to practice for La Costa, then I will have no excuses.

BTW, I am really stoked on my board set up. It's nice to get used to good equipment on a course that it was designed for. Now I can't wait to run a race on the Deck Barret made for me.

Dan Hughes
Dan Hughes
Dan Hughes
Posts: 44
Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2002 2:00 am
Location: Renton, WA
Contact:

Post by Dan Hughes » Mon Mar 31, 2003 6:50 pm

Can you explain why your message was removed from NCDSA? I don't understand. Is it because you run a competing forum?

Gary Fluitt
asphaltplayground.com
asphaltplayground.com
Posts: 328
Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2002 2:00 am
Location: Colorado, USA
Contact:

Post by Gary Fluitt » Mon Mar 31, 2003 7:30 pm

Adam,
Good for you man, racing in your first FCR race. Hope to see you in many more.

The phenomenon of racing so much faster in head-to-head racing proves that slalom is so much more mental than we give it credit. When you can drop your time 10% because there is another guy pushing you (or pulling you), it brings up an important point about qualifying.

You want to have a fast racer to qualify with if it's dual qualifying. This will improve your qualifying time and give you better bracket position.

TIP- If you are the rare odd man out and you don't have another racer, or if for some reason you didn't get a time in one of your qualifying runs and you have to go again, find yourself a "rabbit". A rabbit is somebody for you to chase down (a la dog racing). Almost any of the really fast guys will be happy to be your rabbit because they get a timed practice run.

Very lame that your post got pulled from ncdsa, becuase you have another forum over here. Very "Redmondesq" of ncdsa.
G

David Baker
David Baker
David Baker
Posts: 39
Joined: Sat Nov 30, 2002 1:00 am
Location: Winston, Oregon

Post by David Baker » Sun Apr 06, 2003 8:19 am

Well my first race in 20 years was a blast! Git to hang out with my friends and make some new ones. I didn't go splash and I improved my times every trip down the hill. I returned home sunburned and tired, I can hardly wait till the next race! Does life get any better?

Post Reply