The Rumble in USNWC's Concrete Jungle
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Just three years ago, the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC held their inaugural "Rumble in the Concrete Jungle." With two years of lessons learned and development under their belt, it's a new classic to look forward to each year in the cold weather months. Even with the schedule overlap of USA Cycling's Cyclo-cross Nationals in Asheville just over 2 hours away, they posted up good numbers and attendance growth over the two previous years with 177 overall entries.
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 More Than Just Water - Whitewater shares the same off-season as DH/MTB and that means for the USNWC staff, it's time to drain the 12 with six zeros and two commas after it gallons of water to clean and service their primary money maker. For those of us MTB enthusiasts, it's also the opportunity to lay down two runs in just under one minute's time through the concrete gauntlet of wave generating obstacles. Something different and different is good! |
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| Your Marching Orders - Adam Bratton, of USNWC, briefing the riders before the 11:00 a.m. start time. The staff actually had to pull the day's schedule of events forward an hour to try and beat the impending rain that was forecast to come in at about 3:00 p.m. The Southeast has been getting hammered in waves of unseasonably warm weather and lots of precip since about October 2015. Riders were treated with a rain-free morning. |
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| They Must Be Doing Something Right - Three Years of increased attendance, 117 in 2014, 153 in 2015 and 177 in 2016. The 200 entry barrier would have likely been breached as we didn't see much of the Asheville contingent present with the events ongoing at the Biltmore Estate. Thanks to the dude in the plaid shirt for the photo bomb, enjoy your 15 minutes of fame! |
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| The Start Gate - The official start gate is about 20 or 30 yards from the pictured start ramp which is about 6 feet high, plenty high enough to give you a few mph before your time starts. NOTE: We can't take creative credit for this image, that belongs to Duncan Philpott followed shortly thereafter by Paris Gore a few years back in 2013. We've always liked the shot and wanted to give it a go. Not plagiarism, but inspiration! |
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| The Uppers - The Upper Pond is the second largest holding tank at the center and is your start for the Rumble. Even with the slightest amount of rain, still tends to hold water... not to mention its uber slick with all the residue that builds up over the months it's covered with water. The crew at the center gave riders a ladder bridge of sorts before you drop a few feet into the Competition Channel. Two-wheeled rubber without the wooden feature would be totally entertaining and at the same time, totally unsafe. |
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| The Friendly Rival - Jason Sherril was looking pinned during the early practice. The question would be (and has always been), would he beat his best buddy Will Murray. He only had one thing to do on this Saturday, ONE THING! Such a letdown! |
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| Reflections of the Upper Pond - There is one good thing for the upper bowl retaining a wee bit of water... REFLECTIONS. One is the Headless Horseman and the other, yes, you are seeing the image right side up. It hasn't been rotated. |
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| Water and Concrete Don't Mix - Surrounded by rain on Friday and rain impending about four hours after the start, the crew at the center's primary objective was to attempt to dry things out. They did a great job to try to keep things safe, as water and slick concrete aren't much a good combo for a two wheel tire patch. Just traces of moisture were left during the 9:30 practice session. |
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| Up and Down - We didn't count how many rights and lefts there were, but riders were forced to zig zag several times up and down the sides of the competition channel between the start and finish. |
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| The Spectating Spot - The most popular spot to spectate was the pedestrian crossover bridge. A few times the question crossed my mind, "I sure hope that thing is rated for all the body weight?" |
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| Silver in Juniors - Camron Mason was only two one-hundredths off the pace in Juniors. Good enough for the second spot in the Young Guns Category. |
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| Carnage Corner - Yep, that's the name and it wasn't given by the MTB crew... though it started to earn its namesake as there were quite a few folks that did slide out here (note: the tread tracks pictured). Not sure who this is, but he's got it down pat. |
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| One of the Youngest - David Breedlove was one of the younger GROM that made up the field of 30. He settled for 23rd in a field that was a lot older than him. |
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| Gettin' Some - James Thomas didn't fare so well in the quite large field of Open Men, but he was one of the very few that did make it look good. |
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| The Wharf - This corner named "Tourist Trap" could almost double as a dock or fisherman's wharf. It's very interesting when you think about the engineering that goes into it to generate the water features during whitewater season. MTBers must go around. |
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| The Ghost of Washam - We were lucky enough to catch a rare glimpse of Will Washam on two wheels. It's like seeing Bigfoot, as usually Will is behind the mic at 90pct of the MTB events in the Carolinas. |
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| William Swofford - 7th in Juniors in a stacked class of 30 Juniors. |
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| The Silver in Women's Open - Allie Adelson is a regular at grassroots events in the Carolinas. There were only four women in the open class (likely also a function of the CXNats in ASHVL). Allie stood second on the podium being Caroline Washam just three one-hundredths back. |
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| "I Gotcha a Dollar. Oh, You Almost Had It. You Gotta Be Quicker Than That" - Nathan St Clair didn't get the dollar, but quicker wasn't a problem for him. He took the top spot in Juniors. |
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| Do You Recognize the Name? - Mike King? You should. I know those of us in our late 30s and early 40s do. That's right, the one and only... now calling Charlotte, NC home. (The millennials will have to google him). Mike pulled the two-peat taking the top spot both in 2015 and this year with a best of two runs at 0.436. |
Juniors:
1. Nathan St. Clair, 0.472
2. Camron Mason, 0.490
3. Mason Calderhead, 0.500
Male Beginner:
1. Kelly Fillhart, 0.522
2. Robert Moreton, 0.525
3. Christopher Poitinger, 0.531
Women's Open:
1. Caroline Washam, 0.532
2. Allie Adelson, 0.562
3. Meredith Bendl, 1.213
Men's Open:
1. Mike King, 0.436
2. Will Murray, 0.477
3. Jason Sherill, 0.453
Results:
Full Results - PDF File
Results by Category - PDF File
Short Track Race Results
Interested in other events that the Whitewater Center has planned for the rest of the year, from trail running, SUP boarding, kayaking, Tri, MTB, Bouldering, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc....... etc. Check their 2016 Line Up.
Sponsors:
- Novant Health
- Noda Brewing
- Recover Brands
- Sun and Ski
- Bike Source
- Boco Gear
- The North Face
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Still, nice to see Troy Polamalu at the event. Haven't heard much from him since he retired from the Steelers.
Oh, and nice HAIRCUT! I didn't think he'd ever cut that mop
youtu.be/hjJVxHm0FEk