U.S. National Championships - Gwin Defends Title

Aug 4, 2013 at 18:36
by Mike Kazimer  
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  All bark, but not much bite. Well, at least not until the Junior X, who happened to run last. Thunder clouds and lightning strikes in the surrounding area shut the lift down shortly after the women finished racing, causing a two hour delay. The rains held off for the first five of the juniors, then it came down hard with hail at the top.

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  Happy Birthday Ben Furbee. Nice whip buddy!

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  Lear Miller just oozes style, and he's pretty quick too.

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  Aaron Gwin retains his title. While Gwin has not had the best start to the season, he looks like he is back on track. Here's to hoping he can bring that momentum to the World Cup.

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  Jill, fresh off the Andorra World Cup track came to Nationals prepared. Jill missed Nationals last year due to injury, but she came and dominated this weekend.


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  Walker Shaw suffered a flat in Qualies yesterday and was the first man down the hill. Five riders after Shaw, the weather kicked in, and none could go quick enough to oust Shaw from the hot seat.


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  It's a bit cold out here all of a sudden. Rain drops the size of dimes, and hail at the top. The weather sure did throw a curve ball today.


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  Women's Pro Podium- 1. Jill Kintner 6:06.208 2. Jacqueline Harmony 6:36.672 3. Anne Galyean 6:38.768


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  Men's Pro Podium- 1. Aaron Gwin 5:14.017 2. Logan Binggeli 5:25.759 3. Mitch Ropelato 5:25.821

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  Luca Shaw congratulating Walker after Walker's victory. Good things have been going on for the Shaws this year, and these boys are happy to put in the hard work and push each other to achieve their goals.

Elite Men's Results
1. Aaron Gwin 5:14.017
2. Logan Binggeli 5:25.759
3. Mitch Ropelato 5:25.821
4. Kevin Aiello 5:26.623
5. Cody Warren 5:33.959
6. Graeme Pitts 5:35.708
7. Treyvn Newpher 5:36.094
8. Austin Hackett 5:38.140
9. Chris Higgerson 5:38.672
10. Ryan Condrashoff 5:41.377

Elite Women's Results
1. Jill Kintner 6:06.208
2. Jacqueline Harmony 6:36.672
3. Anne Galyean 6:38.768
4. Amanda Batty 7:01.281
6. Christen Boyer 7:17.804


Photos: Matt DeLorme

Author Info:
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Member since Feb 1, 2009
1,716 articles

174 Comments
  • 118 9
 Is it the bike or the rider?
  • 32 26
 Its Protour^!!!!
  • 72 5
 I've missed you Protour.
  • 9 3
 the chicken or the egg?
  • 8 15
flag cikudh (Aug 4, 2013 at 19:20) (Below Threshold)
 Protour had pointed 2 things, chainstay length and fsr weakness for long travel bike... imo
  • 35 1
 Jill Kintner smashed it by 30 seconds...
  • 6 5
 If I say bike, do I get a new bike?
  • 3 3
 Many people pointed out the dated geo haha
  • 57 4
 Rider 60%
Bike 10%
Being comfortable on your bike 30%
  • 23 4
 That question was a joke about RC's poll earlier this week, but I don't think you can break it down with percentages, it depends on the situation. Rider deserves the most credit though, and Gwin earned this one.
  • 11 1
 Or... Is it the wheel size?
  • 5 3
 It is the competition. We will see that again next weekend when the fast boys are racing. Or is Jill that fast now too, watch out Rach.
  • 2 1
 Because a lot of the top names are from the USA...
  • 4 0
 Aren't*
  • 3 2
 I think that fat chick is enjoying herself a little too much holding an umbrella for gwin
  • 2 0
 Wait, Gwin won by over ten seconds!?!?!?
  • 1 0
 who exactly did he beat?
  • 1 0
 Logan Binggeli, who has beat Gwin on multiple occasions, and I believe was even a former US National Champ, and has placed consistently at the top in Rampage (last year 3rd), and helped pioneer the 650b mountain bike revolution. Mitch Ropelato is just a badass rider. US doesn't have the same depth as overseas, but Gwin winning by that much over them two is kind of shocking.
  • 1 0
 Just found out that Binggeli dropped his chain with a third of the course still left to ride. Reckon if he could have pedaled that would be at least seconds, if not more.
  • 43 2
 I staggers me how shallow the depth of quality is over in the US. Where do the athletes go that could be top downhillers? Motorbike sports I guess. Canadian, NZ, Aust and UK nationals are fully stacked with top riders.
  • 23 8
 I've thought about this before but then I realized that in the US you can compete in ANY sport you please. And if you look all professional sports you'll see that collectively the US has the most top athletes. Refer to almost any Olympics (summer or winter). We don't grow up in cities where one particular sport is THE sport therefore it takes us a few years to give a few sports a try and decide what we REALLY want to do with our lives.
P.S. I was simply being candid, not trying to start an internet war.
  • 23 1
 True, plus you can get paid $100 million plus playing NFL and NBL so why ride a push bike.
  • 4 0
 On top of that, there is so much restriction if you are trying to ride a dirt bike in Australia, it just makes mountain biking an easier sport to get into. I am just guessing, but prehaps there is more places you can ride your moto in the states so more people end up riding moto.
  • 39 5
 @skier - Not really the most top athletes per capita though. Using the 2012 Olympics the US won 46 gold medals and had an approx. pop. of 314 million. That's roughly 1 gold medalist for every 6.83 million people. In the same Olympics the UK won 29 gold medals and had an approx. pop. of 63 million which means about one gold medal for every 2.17 million people.

Again, like yourself, not trying to start any battles but just throwing in a few facts.
  • 4 1
 Well done.
  • 29 2
 Yes, and NZ got 6 Golds from our 4.5 million people, plus the worlds best Rugby team and loads of top League players, and we still have more top DHers than USA by a long way on population. Yet we are the 3rd most obese country in the world, work that out....
  • 51 4
 Rachel Atherton would have probably been on the Podium in the mens event ......... Just sayin'
  • 7 13
flag coastsidesuspension (Aug 4, 2013 at 23:54) (Below Threshold)
 Did anyone in the field but gwin qualify for a WC this year?
  • 6 0
 Equatorial Guinea is the best sporting nation everyone knows that.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Moussambani
  • 8 5
 In the uk when it comes to medals, we are great at finding a distant relative and then paying an athlete. Looks at the English cricket, rugby teams for a start. Then look at the tour de france winner this year.... born in Kenya, raised in south Africa, turned pro in 2007, started racing under a British licence in 2008. If he is so British he would have raced under a British licence since a school boy. Andy Murray is clearly a Scot though. Haha
  • 7 1
 h82crash: using your method Yorkshire (a county in England) was top of the medal table per capita at the last olympics with 7 gold medals, 2 silver and 2 bronze . Population is aobut 5.5million so 1 medal per 500,000. Owned.
  • 7 0
 "We don't grow up in cities where one particular sport is THE sport"

I have never been to one of those cities... Razz
  • 8 5
 That's because the UK fills their sports teams from any ex colony, that they can adopt, so really the UK is pulling from more like 1.5billion?
  • 5 3
 @Stinkyzappa Were all forgetting that mountain sports (ski, snowboard, mt biking especially DH) are participated by those typically coming from wealthier backgrounds. If you were to take athletes from the NBA, NFL, or professional soccer (football) and give them the means to participate in activities that include 2-8 thousand dollar bikes (not including helmet/ equipment / transportation cost ) lets just say the USA DH podium would have a drastically different look. These guys are playing basketball where all you need are sneakers, a ball and a court, or school-provided helmets, pads, and fields. Simply watch this clip . The strength, agility, and coordination to decimate the current DH talent in most of the world. www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSZdntRnQVg
  • 7 1
 ^Being that bulked isn't really advantageous in DH, if it was, all the top guys would look like that.
  • 4 1
 *palm to face* Looks like I still started a war haha
  • 4 0
 @dingus .... i think you missed my main point that the socioeconomic limitations inherent to our sport have much to do with the lack of depth to the USA DH field as anything else ... @skierdud89 sorry I had to , the thought of the masses having the same access to mountain biking as the rest of us interests me a great deal . If I didnt have to work, I'd like to run some program that introduces urban / low income youth to the sport .
  • 1 0
 Superfly282, stinkyzappa, paulfarley, etc. Try reading 'soccernomics' by Simon Kuper or 'bounce' by Matthew Syed. They will tell you who are the best and worst sporting nations in the world ......... And it 'aint the USA, or Canada or the UK for that matter.
  • 5 1
 The best and brightest in the US definitely don't ride DH and never will. This era is more likely DH's swan song than anything else as economic change and rising energy costs make travel, construction, and spinning the lifts more and more expensive.
  • 2 3
 @superfly, I didn't miss it, I was just addressing your last claim which was priddy wack.

"socioeconomic limitations inherent to our sport have much to do with the lack of depth to the USA DH field as anything else"

Why is it that the number of level of talent coming out of the UK, Australia or NZ is much higher than that coming out of the US? America has a much higher population than all of those countries combined, I really doubt that there are less people that can afford to get into downhill in the US.

I'm not saying that there aren't socio-economic limitations to the sport, but I can't imagine them being that much more of a factor in the US than in other first world countries.
  • 5 0
 Geography and trends can play a big part. Kids are very monkey see, monkey do. In Canada, obviously, many kids play hockey and get into it because all their friends play, and because of the exposure to the sport. It's all over tv (including endless commercials), radio, papers (national and local) etc. Kids like to feel like they belong - be part of whatever is viewed as cool. With so many friends playing hockey and so much hockey media thrown at them, that's a scene they're likely to gravitate towards.
Very few kids will ever see this kind of exposure to DH or mountain biking in general unless you live in an area where it's common. If you grow up in Whistler chances are you will ski/board and or bike.

If your going to DH it helps to live somewhere near a mountain. Needless to say we don't produce a lot of top dh racers from somewhere like Saskatchewan.
  • 3 1
 my USA boner is bigger than your xyz countries boner
  • 2 0
 @digthemlows - yes but the doping tests showed that you were using 'performance enhancing' substances so your DQ'ed!
  • 1 0
 Any body know why Logan doesn't race in Europe? Too much money?$$
  • 1 0
 h82crash, can you show me a country where MTB and DH in particular gets any where near the coverage of mainstream sports in the media so that it would account for a higher than average percentage of top racers? Yes if you live near big mountains maybe you do DH, if you live somewhere flat maybe XC is your bag, but MTB just ain't in the media much, even when we get 3 Kiwis in the top 10, you'd be lucky if it got a mention while the press worry about a drunk All Black or Cricketer.
  • 1 0
 My point is more of a response to others talking about few top athletes getting into MTB as opposed to other sports. Like I said very few people will get into MTB based on mass media exposure because it basically doesn't exist. Growing up in MTBing hotspots is a much more likely draw to get into the sport.

Other reasons some countries may produce more top racers could include weather conditions. By the looks of things you guys have much less severe winters allowing longer riding seasons. Again if you lived in Whistler you have great facilities to ride, but your season is limited. If your an up-and-coming privateer and don't have the funds or sponsorship to go somewhere warm for the winter to practice your going to have a hard time keeping with someone who can ride all/most of the year.
Also you have to be a little on the loose side to be a full-on DH'er and you Kiwi's are a crazy bunch!
  • 2 0
 Good to see some (mostly) intelligent debate here guys, I guess this is why we are mountain bikers and not some fat NFL fans sat in a bar somewhere, after chasing the 'American Dream' of playing NFL, failing and giving up sport alltogether. Fortunately some still people do sport for the love of it and not just to become rich.
  • 22 3
 Interested to see what the win does for Gwin going into MSA.
  • 38 13
 probably nothing. hahah
  • 14 3
 Unfortunately you are prob right, this likely means nothing in terms of upcoming world cups for Gwin. The field for the us champs was what it was, which is very weak compared to that of a World Cup. He should have won by 10 seconds, which he did.
  • 13 7
 I have a feeling Gwin is going to put one together at MSA... his pace has been there, he just hasn't had clean race runs the last couple rounds. He sounded pretty hungry in the last team video, and this result shows that.
  • 2 0
 Idk. Look at the start of the season. 1st at sea otter and look what happened at ft william. Although comparing sea ottter and ft william won't get you too far.
  • 6 4
 He could be starving but he is not competing against an Injured Greg or a puncture prone, not riding a dh bike Gee this year. At the same time some of the young blood have stepped it up. Still.... we all just want to see Sam win again.
  • 4 2
 I think Gwin is actually gonna be back on pace and MSA would be a good spot for him to challenge for a win. Would love to see Hill and Gwin battle it out after a tight qualifier.
  • 7 0
 In all honesty and joking aside.
I think the next 2 tracks suit Gwin more.
He started loosing his dominant position when Chris Ball left for Enduro, tracks are taped narrower this year (not sure if that is a good thing), with far more corners per track and tighter lines.
The only fear I have is that the Gt might be a pedalling weapon, that is stable at speed, piloted by one of the best pedallers out there.
Just look at Rachels split 1 from Andorra, she beat brendog and only just got beaten by willyskin who can pedal pretty hard.
  • 2 1
 at MSA it will be a battle between Gwin (already won there), smith he's already practicing, GEE a machine for winning, Hill already won in MSA, it's his kind of track he knows all the rocks. i'm canadian so i'll put my money and heart for stevie beside i'm going to ride at belu with the devinci team this afternoon !!!!
  • 3 1
 I would put Troy ahead of Gwin just now. Based on results for the last 8 months.
  • 3 0
 ^ also Troy's been riding the same bike all season, whilst beating Gwin. I'd also like to see a battle between Hill, Gwin, and Stevie (cuz it's pretty much his home field despite the distance from BC).
  • 2 1
 It's the curse of Specialized, I tells ya. Lad does good, signs with Specialized, spends next season sucking. Palmer, Hill, Gwin...
  • 2 0
 what about Ned Overend, explain that one Wink
  • 1 0
 steve will have the home crowd cheering for him, saw him last night at bélu and he's damn fast
  • 1 0
 Huh, I had no idea Mitch and Logan were "weak". Looking through their results it seems to me the opposite is true. But eh, facts don't matter here. Let the hate train keep rolling on through. CHOO CHOO!
  • 1 0
 Only a few days and we find out..... well not really, we have to wait until the WC returns to a real dh track in Norway. Motorways are not dh, c-mon the trail smoothers at msa and pmb, we wanna see the best in the world race the gnarliest steepest tracks, not down a grass piste!
  • 27 11
 So many armchair bike wizards on this site it kills me. When any of you win a national champs or qualify for a World Cup then maybe you have a right to spew the shit you do. Until then STFU and enjoy it for what it is!
  • 1 0
 Exactly the people I'm talking about dingus
  • 20 3
 Pinkbike, where a man can win a race, be condemned and called slow! You guys are the best, keep on shredding and being faster than everyone else!
  • 16 1
 There should be an IQ test before people are allowed to post on this site.
  • 15 2
 Solid time gaps to both Kintner and Gwinn. Well deserved National Champs.
  • 3 2
 Good to see Gwin loose some, and now win some again. Thats racing Smile
  • 1 1
 They more than earned it -- the course changed with every run! It was a long, fun, rough, awesome track that definitely was not easy. Smile
  • 10 0
 Graeme Pitts in 6th! Shout out to our local fast guy!!
  • 1 0
 Hell yeah!!!!!!!!
  • 11 1
 Such a close margin between Binggeli and Ropelato
  • 7 5
 So far from Gwin though!!!
  • 3 0
 Really, is this a surprise that he won by blowing away the field? Gwin stands alone amongst his American racers. And it doesn't matter what bike he rides. He comes in 10th place last WC race and everyone is saying "Bike! Bike! Bke!" How come no one shouted "Bike! Bike! Bike!" when Minnaar had a 6th and an 8th?
  • 6 0
 Because Minnaar wasn't beating the field by multiple seconds in races that are usually decided by hundreths the whole season, to then change sponsors and lose easily 10 seconds off his normal pace.
  • 2 0
 When Gwinn left Trek he also lost his fan base. In the history of the sport there probably will only be one rider who jumps ship after winning a WC like he did. It's good to see him win finally but his riding is subpar compared to when he was riding for Trek. Plus according to Gwinn there are no worldcup DH tracks in the US. So this win doesn't count.
  • 5 2
 wonder if Logan Binggeli was on his 26" or his 650B?
(unless I have him confused).
  • 5 7
 650b with 10 second gap. Not a very good choice of wheels.
  • 6 2
 Well, considering Binggeli lost by 17 seconds last year, it probably was a good choice of wheels this year. ;^) And congrats to him for moving up to 2nd.
  • 1 5
flag endurocat (Aug 5, 2013 at 7:13) (Below Threshold)
 Well ,next year he can go back to 26" and come even closer.
  • 2 0
 Um, interesting logic. Considering the level of success he's had on the 27.5 rig the last year, including Rampage, he's probably going to continue to choose 27.5 in the majority of races.
  • 1 3
 That's why he is in second.
  • 1 0
 Bingelli has beat gwin a few times on a 650B. Including at least once that I know of this year- Pro GRT at Bootleg. And 3 years ago he was national champ after beating Gwin. pretty sure it was on his 650B. With that said I've got a brand new 26" frame in the car to build up this week Smile
  • 1 1
 Im sure He would do great on those wheels at the WC circuit . Not really .
  • 2 1
 Wow, pretty narrow minded aren't we? Bet you complain about all the car and truck wheel sizes, all the screen sizes for smartphones and TVs, and probably hate that beer comes with more options than bud light in a 12 oz can as well. Bingelli is a world class pro racer and will ride what ever he thinks will get him down the hill faster. My ego isn't tied to a freaking MTB wheel size. You might enjoy MTB'ing and WC races if yours wasn't either.
  • 1 1
 And still ,the clown wheels can't make the top WC 10 ,not even the top 20.
  • 1 0
 I'm quite sure Atherton, Smith, or Minnar would be where they are if their rigs were designed for and mounted with 27.5 wheels. Per above, the wheel and the bike are a % of the success, the rest is the rider. Bingelli is a good rider, but he's not a WC top ten rider yet and that will be true regardless of wheel size. That and he's riding a freaking KHS, which is a handicap right there. He's talented and like all the pro riders, I only wish them success. Again, let go of the ego tie to wheel size and enjoy having options and that WC DH is so competitive now.
  • 13 12
 Wonder if it would have been a 15-17 second gap if he still was riding his trek? The bike has more to do with his winning then people think. Bet next year he's on a demo that's built identical to his old session.
  • 11 5
 Based on absolutely no evidence.... keep that in mind. Speculation is one of the most useless practices one could exercise.
  • 11 3
 Evidence is in what specialized is doing to try to get him back to winning form. They've already modified the seat and chain stays to extend the bike out to the same wheelbase as the session. Next thing they'll be doing is starting to match geometries. If he was in the same killing form as last season he wouldn't be making so many changes I bet. Speculation is one thing but watching what's currently being done is something more then speculation it's just interpretation at that point.
  • 5 1
 What I want to know is why people think its the bike and not the team chemistry behind the bike.
  • 2 5
 @scotttherider. You kinda contradict yourself on your opinion about the bikes. You made a statement about gwins killing form. This refers to the pilot(gwin) controlling a new machine. It's not the bike, it's the time on the bike, getting used to new tires, mechanic-rider communication, and all new guts on the bike. It's all a mental game and about being comfortable, calm, in the zone, and riding flawless. When will anyone learn, it's not the bike. It's the chemistry between rider and feeling the wheels beneath them.
  • 3 1
 True true chemistry with those around and especially once you throw in the chemistry between a rider and mechanic that knows your riding style ect that'll throw a kink in things. Plus I'm sure specialized is aiming and pushing for that #1 plate and jersey come the end of the year and when your being pushed for a result it never ends well.
  • 1 1
 @andrew if he had killer form on the trek and is having to make drastic changes to his specialized I'm pretty sure there's something more to the is it the bike or rider question. Obviously twin is a badass and could school 99.9% of us on any bike he was on on any given day but when your going for those seconds or fractions of a second that could truly be a difference made up by what machine your on. Chemistry and familiarity are key with riding at the edge of what's possible yes true maybe next season hell come out and kill it again with more saddle time with the specialized.
  • 7 1
 Are we still having the trek vs specialized discussion? Go back to January..
  • 2 0
 I believe the bike does have something to do, having ridden a coupld of different bikes in the last year, when I rode the Demo (same size as the others) never felt comfortable , it just feels weird, something is off (and I am not even on mexican elite level - yet i felt it). Love the Demo looks but something is just ...weird.

On the other hand I totally agree with Andrew-Cuchessi on the team chemistry. I dont remember seeing Sam Hill as happy as he is this year since he started racing for Specialized. I have the impresion Gwin is suffering that same "thing" that threw Sam Hill out of his form (injuries aside). Did you watch the interview from Dirt to the specialized team managers and engineers, they gave some sort of hostiliy feeling in their words. Gwin is an absolute and amazing talent ad a great guy, last weekend in Andorra he made some mistakes he normally didnt make, he was worth a podium on that race, but he threw it out errors.

...could it be he is having some sort of freak pressure from Speci? O_o just sayin.
  • 2 0
 Sam does look super happy on the CRC team. Good boys around him, a team manager that has been there, done that.
In Andorra it was interesting when Troy came down ahead of winger he did not talk to him. Gwin seemed perfectly happy, beaming after his run, it only changed after the rest came down.
They should interview him after his run, before he gets demoted and ask the questions?
How was your run?
How many silly mistakes did you make?
How will your analysis of your run change in the next 30 mins?

He has changed the bike now, the bike is good enough for Troy to do well on, or what would Troy do on Trek!!! Lol
  • 2 0
 I have a Carbon V10, yet I still cannot ride like Peaty, Minnaar, Bryceland or CG (even off the back of an injury!) ... Yes the bike helps, but it's the rider that wins the race.
  • 6 3
 I think his placing will continue to improve the more time on the saddle he gets....
  • 2 2
 Agreed. Just needed to find the right size bike (adjust some pars of it), then get used to it at World Cup pace. Shame it's taken this long for him but I reckon he's back in the game now. As long as he doesn't blow up when he gets to MSA.
  • 7 2
 It's his own fault - he didn't prepare for this World Cup season by his own admission. He wanted to stay home in California during the off season and didn't travel anywhere to train on hard tracks. As for the bike - what were he and Specialized doing all that time? They should have had the bike dialed for the start of the season.
  • 9 5
 Good job Gwin ..

Smile
  • 4 0
 Did Neko Mulally Race?
  • 2 1
 Yeah good question. Where was that guy, I think he definitely could have given Gwin a run for his money, especially with his outing at Andorra!
  • 3 3
 One race doesn't really mean anything...
  • 3 1
 Neko's been solid all season... I would have loved to see how he would have done against Gwin. He's been beating Logan Binggeli pretty easily at most of the US National rounds and is sitting 15th in the WC overall.
  • 6 7
 Gwin is competing on the WC he should be 7seconds faster regardless of bike, probably track as well, probably would won on the Enduro 29er ah I kkd on the wagon wheels, congrats AGwin and JC championship is a championship regardless of who the competition is.
  • 2 1
 Maverick, you ever ridden Angel Fire?
  • 1 0
 he was joking
  • 2 1
 Good for you Gwin... Hopefully this boosts your confidence a bit..... But I want to see Steve Smith win it at MSA.... Go Stevie!!!!
  • 3 1
 Gwin and Jill had a nice little holiday in Disneyland....back to reality this weekend.
  • 5 2
 it'd be ironic if Gwin only won the world champs this year.
  • 8 6
 I miss when Gwin used to destroy WC level talent like that. Glad he got national champ and Sea Otter, though.
  • 4 1
 Nice Photos Matt!
  • 2 0
 Yeah buddie, great to see gwin on top!
  • 5 4
 does bingelli still think those 27.5 wheels are that great? Or are those the only reason he got second?
  • 1 0
 Is this a shock to anyone? Good to see Logan made up some time to take second.
  • 6 5
 Healthy indeed. All is right and proper in the universal order of things.
  • 1 0
 Congratulations to the Shaw boys,holding it down for NC Salute
  • 1 0
 jeeeezz, Kinter won by 30 seconds!
  • 1 0
 What weather delayed the start?… please don't tell me it was rain.
  • 1 0
 It was lightning. There were pretty serious lightning storms all weekend and because of that and DOT restrictions, the resort had to shut down the lift, which kept the racers from going to the top of the course.
  • 1 0
 BIG HIG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • 7 7
 11.6 SECONDS! WHAT THE HELL! , Just like Danny at Champery, Good Job Gwin!
  • 15 24
flag VPPFREEDOM (Aug 4, 2013 at 18:55) (Below Threshold)
 I forgot that winning world champs at Champery and winning the USA national championships were even comparable, if gwin didn't win the by a minimum of 6-9 seconds he coulda just kissed his "career" good by
  • 3 1
 I know, Danny's run was one of the best runs ever, and I'm sure Gwin's run he wasn't going his world cup winning speed, but I just thought it was funny that the time gaps to second place were the same. I just quoted the commentary, not intending to compare Angel Fire to Champery by any means. Sorry if I have offended you.
  • 5 2
 VPPFREEDOM....he beat Logan and Mitch by 11 seconds. That is a huge gap. He also probably pulled back a bit. Both those guys may not be top ten, but they are often top 20 at World Cups. The top 10 guys at Angel Fire, whether you know who they are or not, would probably beat you down the hill backwards. No, the US nationals are not World Cups. However, Gwin is nowhere near kissing his career goodbye. Blows me away how everyone said, "'man, Sam Hill is just in a slump, bad luck, etc, etc", but everyone is yelling doom and gloom while Gwin is in a slump.
  • 1 0
 well said, bman
  • 1 0
 Bingelli lost his chain halfway down.
  • 5 4
 Gwin is a machine.
  • 7 10
 with the wrong parts
  • 5 5
 It s all confidence ladies and gentleman..Not the bike.
  • 3 1
 this is very true, you arent gonna do a jump with second thoughts about your bike, unlless your a 16 year old, they so dupid
  • 2 0
 so much irony in your post markunit
  • 1 1
 its all the handle bars and if the bikes the right size, small bikes are shady in jumps
  • 2 4
 shame gwin lives in america he has no compition he will always win over there then he rides the world cup and everyone puts him in his place!he needs to move to europe
  • 3 1
 yeah but that wouldn't change the fact he's american therefore he couldnt win the british champs and claim that title NATIONAL CHAMPS clue is in the title
  • 2 1
 lol
  • 1 2
 Kitner won by 30 seconds? She is in a league of her own.
  • 7 0
 No, she seems to be in a league a few places down from the women currently winning the WC.
  • 3 1
 In the USA, sadly she hasn´t yet come to form in the WC.
  • 1 1
 Glad for Gwin.
  • 8 11
 GWINNING! Looks like the spesh guys are ripping!
  • 10 4
 yeah ripping their hair out trying to think of a way to put a positive spin on gwinn's terrible season.
  • 7 5
 Yeah, Spesh isnt what he should be on... kinda liked him on the trek more. Gwin has the potential, but not the bike
  • 6 1
 Repeating myself: could it be that Gwin is having some sort of pressure from Specialized? Sam Hill wasn't happy on that team, just look at him now, he even smiles! (and that is per ce a weird thing)
  • 2 1
 Yeah, i think spesh was really looking for gwin to make their lineup more popular... Ropelato loves the setup, but not too many spesh riders outside of the P. Series like those bikes... I really think this was just to increase sales, As they say, Gwin bought a specialzied so I did too.
  • 2 0
 Gwin is not Sam Hill though. Sam sells bikes, you still see Sundays around. Sam is the king of the inside line, drifting flat out and looking pinned.
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