DH, XC, DS #1 Big Bear Lake, CA: May 14-16, 1999
Last year, we witnessed Tinker Juarez, at 37, take a career turn with Cannondale and catch the title. This year he's looking for another Olympic slot in Sydney, and if you're not cheering on this Californian veteran, there's definitely something wrong with you. Steve Larsen, whose tragic mechanical kept him from the '98 crown, will be looking to leave his mark at this weekend's NORBA opener. The World Cup also blows out from Great Britain this weekend leaving a large field of competitors overseas. The likes of Ruthie Matthes, Alison Sydor and Alison Dunlap will all be speaking the queens English at the World Cup this weekend. Tammy Jacques, always an American firecracker will not be with uas this season due to her premature retirement since her osteo perosis diagnosis. Paola Pezzo has threatened to race NORBA, but we think she was just teasing us. For the women, my money is on Rene Marshman to podium and my eyes are on last year's winner Golden Brainard. But we must remember the World Cup downhill doesn't start for another couple weeks so we don't know who might show off their new paint job this weekend. Word on the single track is that Cedric Gracia will be dropping some French style to keep the Americans in their place. Of course, our German brethren Jurgen Beneke will be in dem Haus because he lives in nearby Colorado and is fluent in Californian now.
The Cross-Country (XC) and Dual Slalom (DS) take place on Saturday and the Downhill takes center stage on Sunday. The usual Downhill crossovers, like squirrelly sprinters Tara Llanes and Katrina Miller, will be doing the Dual and clearing the double jumps for the fans, while the men will pull out their BMX-like bikes just for the ride (hopefully, there will be plenty of mud instead of the snow we saw here last year). And lastly, for those of you who didn't realize, Snow Summit also holds the proud title of being the only stop on last year's tour in which Palmer actually had groupies. No, not fans, groupies. We'll try and get a picture to illustrate the difference. So stay tuned for America's mountain bike opener, kickin' down in sunny southern Cal.
Hans Prosl, busting out his pectoral implants for MountainZone.com
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