Madison County Gravity Festival 8

Justin and I in turn two.

I heard a lot about this event and it’s infamous “Crash Corner”.  The road snakes through the outskirts of Munnsville in upstate New York.  With two braking points into two technical corners, two sweepers and a long straightaway where we hit 60+ mph, this road gives a racer what their looking for: a fun road with good racing.

This was my first time at this race and as luck would have it, this was the first year this was a 3 day event.  Friday was wet: not so wet we needed rain wheels, but wet enough to make Crash Corner slippery.  Friday was also supposed to be qualifying with RFID chips.  Unfortunately the qualification system wasn’t working as expected and (at least) the luge classes were seeded randomly.  I never did get a street luge qualifying time, but I did get a classic luge qualifying time of, if I remember correctly, 1:53.49.  I rode as many times as I could, switching between my street luge and classic luge, some runs were drier than others.  At the end of the day we did a parade run, in memory of Smokin’ Joe in the wettest moment of the event.  My equipment was soaked, but I was having a great time.  The forecast promised a dry Saturday and Sunday.

Approaching The Classic Luge "podium" with Justin (2nd)
and Chris (3rd).

Saturday was classic luge day for me, as we would be racing in the afternoon; while most others were riding their street luges because it’s more comfortable.  I found myself able to keep up with, and pass, many street luges and recorded 59 mph on my classic luge, repeatedly.  I was never able to break the 60 mph barrier.  I tried to be as analytical as possible in my strategy: who was fast on a classic luge and where could I pass them?  I quickly determined that corner 2 was the most important and would set the pace through the straight into crash corner, of which you only have to survive.   My main competition came from Justin Crenshaw, who I first encountered in the semifinal.  After pushing out behind him and into 2^nd, I drafted through turn 1, out broke and passed him into turn 2; after which I walked away.  The finals unfolded much the same way and ended with me taking the win with Justin coming in 2^nd, Chris McBride taking 3^rd and Tim Novak finishing 4^th.

Sunday was the day for street luge racing, but it also included one of the scariest moments I’ve ever encountered.  During a practice run with Justin he tried to take me on the outside of the final turn and ran off the road into a water and rock filled ditch.  After seeing Justin disappear into the ditch I immediately stopped, pulled over to the side of the road and attempted to help.  I knew not to touch him or move him and let the EMTs do their job, but I had to make sure he wasn’t seriously injured worse.  When I arrived he was slumped over, head down, missing a shoe and wasn’t moving.  I called out to him and after a couple seconds he started to jostle and respond; the EMTs were there a short time later.  I pulled out his luge and stayed there to help answer any questions: but I mostly just wanted to make sure that a fellow member of the luge family was okay.  He was dazed for quite a while and possibly got a concussion; but his helmet did its job and saved his life.  He returned to riding later in the day, still a bit cloudy but no worse for the wear.

New Trophy!

The street luge race was quick and had a number of very fast riders.  The semifinals were the most important to me as I was sandwiched between David Dean and Bill Smrtic, both accomplished racers.  Luckily I was able to hold on to a transfer spot with David and we met Justin and Chris Hicks in the final.  In the final I pushed into 4^th and drafted Chris and Justin into turn 2.  I elected to hold back a bit and didn’t want to try to go three wide into turn 2.  I exited into the straight with more speed and quickly passed Justin.  I hunted down Chris Hicks and passed into 2^nd just before the breaking point into crash corner.  Unfortunately the corner lived up to its name and I botched my line causing me to crash in the exit.  I could taste my first street luge podium, but lost it all by myself.  David Dean easily walked away with the win, Chris Hicks came in 2^nd, Justin 3^rd and I rolled into 4^th.

I had a great time with some great friends.  I racked up another win in classic luge and had my highest street luge finish to date.  I also made enough of an impression on CHiX wheels to be welcomed into their team.  I would like to thank Tim Novak for hosting me and making me feel welcome in his home.  I would also like to thank Neil “DrNo” Orta and everyone else responsible for putting on such an awesome event.  I would like to thank my sponsors Aurora Silk, RipTide Bushings and Zero Gravity Skate Systems for their support.  I can’t wait to go back next year.