Timed Training Results: Fort William Pro Men and Women

 Anyone else notice Micayla Gattos speed in run one? Shit she was booking it!

 Fort William. .. Danny must be determine than ever...came in 2nd place in 2 world cup isn't a joke... cmon Danny!!!!

 Gwin-- Thats what happens when you switch to Specialized.....

 Stevie - 5th! Nice job. Gwin - 31st.. Dafuq.

 Gwin never goes all out in practice. It's pointless to take the risk where you've got at least two runs you've got to fully commit to coming up.

 Gwin doesnt bring it until race day.

 Sam Hill 8th that is pretty sweet

 You can recommend whatever daft ideas you like... but I won't be doing it.

 Lets all be serious here... Stevie is taking the win at Fort William

 no way, we're going to have a Brit winner this year

 let's be honest here its not his type of track. Gwin, Hannah, Danny, or Gee

 FISCHI...!!!
solid 20th place for him!

 So stoked for the live stream! There are so many good riders stepping it up and I can't wait to see them all try to take the podium. Stevie, gwinn, hart, hill, gee, etc... and everyone else I forgot to mention. The competition on the DH world cup tour is insane!

 at the BDS earlier in the year hart won with a time faster than gwins race run last year

 They changed the track w/ the wood jump over the flat rocky section, so times should be faster all around.

 SAM HILL IS COMING BACK!! Solid 8th, really hope he does a lot better than last season with the new bike and team. It'd be so cool to see him have a serious comeback this year. Here's to you Sam

 Its Protour^^^^^^^

 ^and his comment isn't under threshold, what is this sorcery? In all seriousness though I think the Australians could dominate this weekend or year pick your own.

 ^ Couldn't agree more.

 that's a given

 Kitner has had some pretty good early results, should be interesting to see how she does race day.

 Love her.

 She is amazing!!!!! I love her too Johnny!

 As much as I respect all of the American women who are racing out there and doing what they're doing, the US just doesn't have a national DH race series that prepares its women to be serious contenders on an international basis. The ProGRT stops are paltry in comparison to the UCI and other than that, there are far too many conflicting series to have a competitive roster. Just my opinion, but it's going to be Rach or one of the other Euro women who take it again this year. Love Kitner and Harmony to death and respect the hell out of them though -- best of luck to everyone!

 Doesn't Kintner do the Aussie National series? I thought she did it last year.

 Uhhh... ambatt.... the US national series seems to prepare men just fine? Why, in your opinion, are the US women not as prepared? They are racing the same races.

 What men regularly race the ProGRT from the US that also are on the top rosters of the UCI? Gwin didn't even take the overall title last year because he didn't make all of the ProGRT stops. The men are prepared because they're doing something right. Alison, you and I have both seen the ProGRT courses. A professional, national DH race that can be won on a 29er XC bike (aka, Fontana) is not preparation for these UCI courses. Neither is Sea Otter, yet it was still a stop. If you read through my comment, you'll realize that I also said: "The ProGRT stops are paltry in comparison to the UCI and other than that, there are far too many conflicting series to have a competitive roster." A: The ProGRT stops are paltry in comparison to the UCI courses (which they ARE). B: There are far too many conflicting series on the calendars to actually host a competitive roster of committed, national riders at every race because the series haven't been consolidated because of the way they are run. There's the NW Cup series (a huge draw, but not a national race series), the Eastern States Cup (also not national) and of course, the other big-time races such a the Crankworx races regional and grassroots race series and other things that all happen to take place on the same weekends. FOR EXAMPLE: This weekend, there was my local race series (the Utah DH Series) racing here. There was also a ProGRT race in Angel Fire that, while riders are expected to attend, was also scheduled the same weekend as the first WC DH race? How much sense does that make? What's the next race here on the west coast for the next four weeks that's part of a national series? When was the last one? Sea Otter? Really? As for the men... Where is Mitch? Where is Logan Bingelli? Where are any of the other American men (outside of Gwin, who works his ASS off) in the rankings from today's race or even yesterday's qualifier?

 In my opinion, as stated above and as a professional women's DH racer with multiple calendar conflicts as well as outspoken feelings about the so-called 'DH' nature of our national professional gravity tour stops, THIS is why Americans are not doing extremely well internationally. The Canadians are. In fact, there are many Canadians who are not only doing well, but consistently at the top of their rosters at every race, be it internationally or nationally. I'm not quite sure where all of this denial and naysaying is coming from, but until the racers start asking (nay, demanding) better courses, we will not (we cannot) dominate in the international races.

 ambatt Australia hasn't got that many good tracks and we lack in vertical metres but still there are consistently Australian racers in the top 10. Its not about the races but the racer. Nathan Rennie, Sam Hill, Troy Brosnan, Mick Hannah and Bryn Atkinson have never had the big mountains to bomb down. Sam Hill and Troy Brosnan especially (Perth and Adelaide have got an alright XC and dirt jump scene but crap DH). They have just worked their arse off and gotten to a point where they could dominate. There are riders from South Australia (Connor Fearon) who have raced the Victorian Series because there is nothing in South Australia. It is not about the tracks your racing, it is all about your determination. The races can only help you get into the headspace of its go time, time to pedal hard.

 ambatt.... whew. Lot's of words.... FYI the next national race on the west coast is China Peak, the weekend after next, which is a ProGRT. As far as conflicting race dates go, I don't organize races or race series and don't actually really give a shit about conflicting race dates, but if I DID and wanted to be competitive on a world class level it would make sense to target the ones that are the most effective for training, finances, exposure, competition, etc and forget the rest. I'm not going to argue with you that Sea Otter isn't a lame DH race, but although Fontana is extremely short, most of the pro women (and some of the pro men) had problems riding the technical upper section. Maybe we need some gnarlier ProGRTs? OK. I don't know if I'm being called the naysayer or denial-ist or whatever here, but my point is.... how is ranting on PB helping your cause? I mean, your reaching out with your voice to the same 150 people that read these forums, and most of them aren't American anyway so how is your ranting and raving and bitching helping your cause? It's funny that the people who are racing at the US national events and actually doing well aren't on here complaining.

 And ambatt... as Grieve99 states, it's not about the races, it's the racer. Jackie and Jill seem to be doing pretty damn well... I am friends with them both and I can tell you that Jill (WA) and Jackie (AZ) are most definitely training the majority of the year in the U.S. Another example would be my friend Greg Minaar, who is from South Africa, which doesn't have a ton of great tracks but he seems to also be doing just fine for himself. Actually, he lives in the Bay Area, California most of the year and rides his road bike a lot. As for the other American men besides Gwin at Ft. William, Niko Mullaly did well for himself. Oh, and guess what.... Aaron Gwin isn't the only person on the WC who works his "ASS" off... they all do. If your goal is to become a world-class racer, then stop TALKING and start winning the races (or at least placing if it's an actual decent-sized field) that are "not good enough to prep racers for World Cups" and then maybe consider moving somewhere for better training opportunities? All this complaining on Pinkbike forums is exhausting and not functionally progressive.

 Alison, my first comment wasn't a complaint -- it was an opinion. My second and third comments were in response both to your statement in defense of my own opinion (which I'm fully entitled to have) and your continued aggression towards a woman you've never had the courage to approach face to face for an introduction, to get to know me, to stop the nonsense that you oddly started last summer over the Internet. Ever. So, for someone who does so much talking, you sure are adamantly screaming and yelling. I'm not complaining, I'm simply stating something that needs to be fixed based upon my observations of a cause/effect scenario. Now, before you get all defensive and hateful again and question where my time is going, I'll just tell you: I log onto pink bike to try and become a productive member of the biking community by getting a feel for what's going on out there with riders, watchers, etc. It's another aspect of my commitment to my goals (that you obviously don't understand) to really get to know the guys and girls who post comments; it's not, however, feasible to answer every stupid comment or every nonsense statement, so I won't even address yours. Yes, it's the rider and not the track. That's besides the point. My point was, and still is, if America has such a broad spanse of truly amazing terrain and training opportunities, why are Americans not winning? That is all. Have a great day.

 To address your point, I would like to point out that DH isn't nearly the same level of sport here in the U.S. as it is in Europe, Canada and Australia. The European market is much larger, and there is a lot more energy dedicated to bike park development and races over there then here. Also, our country is much larger and so it is more difficult to have a national series that is spread throughout the country and that all racers can make it to on what I am sure you know are usually very tight budgets. So if you want to grow a national series, then you need to focus on growing the sport financially, and making it more accessible for promising young athletes, such as yourself, to attend more races of higher caliber. We are also a lot more cautious here in the U.S., being such a litigation friendly country... and a lot of the features or tracks that you find in Europe or elsewhere may not fly with the general public in this country. So this is also a perception that needs to be impressed upon. These are, of course, my own opinions (which I am fully entitled to have). To address your personal attacks.... I'm not "screaming and yelling". You don't know me either, by the way. I'm just challenging your opinion... and you seem to have a hard time dealing with that, and not just from me, but from countless people I see you write your own aggressive and condescending remarks too on these forums. I keep encountering you on social media because you are an omnipresent force and you seem to pop up everywhere... you have "friend-ed" a lot of my friends on FB and such and you are very active on the internet. I don't know what type of job you have that allows you to spend so much time on social media but you must be very efficient with your time, which I applaud because I am not. Next time, if I do run into you I will be sure to introduce myself so this weird internet vibe we have going on will be put to bed. Anyway, keep at your goals and spreading positivity.

 BRANNIGAN George - 83.773 km/h, fastest of all. pretty insane!

 I guess they don't call it the motorway for nothing. Well, US motorway speeds anyway...

 But are these speeds correct? I think is not possible to hit the 80 Km/h barrier in mountain, i mean, it is difficult to achieve even with a road bike on the steepest concrete road.

I find this mindblowing

 Mindblowing but true , would love to watch this insanity in person.

 I've got a verified 83KPH at Bromont's old fire road to bridge jump. Witnessed by several people. I used to have a speedometer on my bike, and if I look through my old hard drives I'm sure I can find the pic. It's not hard if you're strong and just mash the pedals down a fire road.

 Definitely. I can get my road bike above 100 without too much trouble on a longer hill, and I've broken 140 on skis so 80 on a DH bike seems pretty reasonable. I mean, it's hauling balls but still, far from impossible.

 80 feels bloody quick on a road bike so I can imagine what it feels like with rock flying past..

 done 56mph or 90kph on a roadbike going downhill. ... was pretty scary.

 Was at the Tour of California this year. Pros were going downhill at 62.5 mph (115kph) as per the Officials. It was insane.....but exciting!

 Yeah I have hit 50mph on a DH bike, I had a speedo on - it does feel fucking fast!

 ^ a speedo, not speedos, you understand

 as someone who has done 88kph on a road bike (smooth tarmac) and 81kph on a dh bike (gravel fire road), both speeds were gps tracked . i honestly think the dh bike feels more planted and stable at speed so its not that hard to believe.

 I hit 45mph on my trail bike and was still pushing the pedals round, but I ran out of mountain. Totally possible. Couldn't do it now though, I had to use my third ring and I took it off shortly after.

 Ok, so i've learned something today, you can go downhill a lot much faster than i thought. If i see a downhiller going at that speed i would gone totally nuts. Thanks for the replies, now i should train to hit the 50kph barrier, i'm totally noob.

 @psyick, you did 50mph in speedos? You're a brave man! haha

GekoES, I don't know if they have them in Spain, but here we have random 'speed traps' that are just unmanned radars/lasers that cops set up along the road to show drivers what speed they are traveling at. Out on street rides we used to find them and race each other through the traps. We'd regularly hit the high 50s on flat ground riding dirt jumpers. Granted we'd be hammering as hard as we could, but I'm certain you can hit those speeds very easily going down a hill. Throw a speedometer on your bike and you'll be surprised how quick you're actually traveling.

 When you say 50s... That's km/h, right? Because I can't imagine riding 50mph on the flat on a DJ bike :p

 Yea, Kph. 50MPH would be pretty hard on a DJ bike. A road bike with a tail wind on the other hand....

 or brendan fairclough!?!?

 Well we would like to think he will. A lot has happened over the off season. And I'm assuming a lot of riders have stepped up their training. Plus, let's not forget, he's on a new steed. Sure he looks fast in promo videos, but only time (literally) will tell.

Don't get me wrong, I hope he turns around and sees "the green" as he says in Strength In Numbers, but let's all be honest, pretty much anyone can win and we'll all 1be happy.

 Yeah where is Manon??????

 Mich Hannah was faster than that in both his laps and Danny Hart and Matt Simmonds were on their fastest laps. Granted, its never exactly the same track with erosion and weather conditions but still, the field is getting faster. Faster and Faster every year. Nuts.

 From the info I'm gathering from friends at fort bill Manon has food poisoning and will be back on the bike tomorrow

 Thanks for the update, not good, hope she is ok

 www.redbull.com/bike
It should also be shown on the main PB page on race day.

 thanks

 Or you can watch the replay if you value sleep.

 George Brannigan almost 84 km/h,that's insane

 If its in miles per hour it would be crazy

 I'm pretty confident my team will pull some good results

 He was faster on his first run 82.222 km/h

 The fastest mustache guy on the mountain!

 www.dirtfantasyleague.com

 Peaty and Minnar aren't on the list.. Bryceland is 171st though.

 Peaty is 193, Minnaar 144.