Here is what it boils down to. 90% of the people there this weekend didn't jump the uphill triple even when everything was perfect. As a track owner you build the track the way you want along with being as safe as you can make it. But in the end our sport isn't safe and as a rider only YOU can make the choice to do what's safe for your ability. I've seen 20 different posts on social media about the race weekend. All.of them talked about challenging, none of them complained about the triple being too hard or the track being too rough. It's a choice, Matthew said it himself. To be competitive in his class up front you had to jump it. The front runners aren't complaining because the jump is comfortable for them to do. Why? Because they practice and race in those conditions regularly so they can be up front. Matthew made a choice to push and hang up there Even though HE wasn't comfortable. That's a riders choice, not the track owners. And 90% of the other riders chose not to jump it. Imagine making a track where everyone does all the same jumps and obstacles, it more boring than today's SX tracks we watch every weekend.
They fixed the mud and ruts on the face best they could. When it dried enough, they fixed it better. It was a good weekend. Hone your skills and compete again.
Meister, you've been on the couch for 2 months and how long before that. Your conditioning and lack of seat time were your limiters this weekend, not the track.
I must suck at everything, including clarifying my opinion. Lol.
Let's start this one by saying my opinion here would be the same even if I won. My first post regarding the matter was to encourage stumpy by letting him know he wasn't the only one struggling as he was talking down on himself based on the challenging track. If you reread what I've wrote through all of this, I only had an adverse opinion on two areas of the track that fired people up.
The triple itself is not hard, or dangerous, even with the ruts on the face. It's actually one of those brainless just twist it jumps. My choice to not jump it was based on a couple of reasons. Traffic. I'm not landing on someone if I have anything to do with it. Even last year in traffic I wouldn't jump it around other riders. 4th wide open on a 450 is no joke. Come up quick on someone Infront of you that checks up, bad juju about to happen. Saw a vid on FB of a very talented group of riders come very close to playing out what I'm describing. Currently, with my lack of seat time and conditioning, Simply not worth the risk to me to try those kinda moves. 4th gear going in to the ruts before it was far more intimidating than the jump itself. No excuse tho and I'm definitely aware that lack of seat time, conditioning, among other issues were certainly a contributing limiting factor, and I'm completely ok with my results given the circumstance! Again, not worth the risk, to me. Call me a pussy, a bitch, a whiner.. I don't really gaf.. lol
So, you're definitely right that it was my CHOICE not to jump the triple.
You mentioned that I say more maintenance makes it better. Well, yeah, but let's not twist it in to saying I think the whole track needs prepped 4 times a day so it's a highway or something dumb and exaggerated. That's not what I've meant or said at all. Simply, first two turns don't need to be wall to wall ruts and 4th wide sections don't need peg draggers! Beyond that, I think our opinions are probably alot alike..
Here's a random pic I took of the second turn.