Adrian Sanders on Dual Slalom Racing
July 29, 2016 by bmxnews.org Editors · Comments Off
Since Collegiate BMX started back in 2012 and BMXers started heading off to colleges with multidiscipline cycling programs, we have been keeping an eye on Dual Slalom. It’s probably the closest thing to BMX that the Mountain Bike world has to offer, now that 4-cross has gone all-but extinct.
We have been seeing BMX friends like Chris Cline and Brian Wick from Ohio doing more DS racing and, back in 2014, News reported on the well-attended weeknight Slalom races in Mount Brighton, Michigan, which had a ton of BMX names on the startlist.
NewsTeam member Adrian Sanders headed out to the USA Cycling Dual Slalom National Championships at Mammoth Mountain, CA earlier this month, and took home the silver medal in the Women’s Pro Class, to Jill Kintner (also a pretty talented BMXer, in case you forgot).
Adrian tells us the story of how she got into DS, and about the race in Mammoth.
>>>>
By Adrian Sanders
I got into racing Dual Slalom my freshman year at Lindsey Wilson, where I originally got a scholarship to race BMX, but a cool part about cycling is all the different disciplines it offers. Our coach’s gave us the opportunity to hop on any kind of bike we wanted and in my freshman year I tried 4 new types of racing, track, dual slalom, downhill and cross country. But it was the gravity events that really caught my attention. Being from Kansas I had never ridden my bike down a mountain before so it was new to me and I instantly fell in love. Last fall, my sophomore year, I raced my way to second place at collegiate nationals in slalom, it was that race that really gave me the confidence to turn pro. I went to Sea Otter in March with no expectations as it was my first pro slalom race and I ended up leaving disappointed that I didn’t make the podium, so I made it my goal to go nationals in Mammoth and stand on the podium at the end of the weekend.
Adrian Sanders with her dad, Ryck at the 2016 USA Cycling Mountain Bike Championships.
In Mammoth we had practice early Thursday morning, then qualifying a few hours later. The start to my race weekend was a little rough, with a few crashes here and there in practice, but nothing major. When qualifying rolled around I had the track down a little better. I was able to qualify 3rd, I was pretty happy with that. Friday was race day, we got to warm up a little before racing and then the show began. My first race was against Joanna Petterson who qualified 3 seconds faster than me, so I knew I had to push it a little bit harder in order to move on. I was able to put down two solid runs and get ahead of Joanna on both courses. That sent me into the final, against Jill Kintner who qualified first.
Going into the final runs I just kept telling myself to have fun and do what you can. I knew I needed a mistake on Kintner’s side to be able to pull anything off, but at that point I was just stoked to be able to get into the gate next to someone like her and make my first pro final. Kintner was able to walk away with the National title, but I was happy to accomplish my goal and walk away with a silver medal.
One thing that I love about the Slalom races is the atmosphere; it’s almost indescribable. It’s so chill, yet so serious at the same time. In your mind you there to do one thing, win, but in the end it’s just a bunch of racers hanging out doing what they love and having a good time. I haven’t been to a race where everyone isn’t smiling all day long.
To any BMXers out there who have thought about trying dual slalom I would highly recommend it. It’s something new to try yet you can use a lot of your BMX skills on the slalom course all while learning new ones for the BMX track. Just go out there and have fun with it!
When it comes to a slalom bike its kind of like a BMX bike, you can start out on a complete bike that wont cost an arm and a leg and as you progress as a rider you can start to build up a bike to fit your riding style. I started out on a KHS complete dirt jumper that my school provided for me and then with the help of Ryan Birk and Blake Sawyer I was able to build up an Ssquared rig that I race on now.
Slalom racing starts out with qualifying. You make a run on both the left and right course and then your times get combined. You’re then ranked against all the other riders’ times and placed into a bracket, fastest against slowest. You then race your way through the bracket until there are 2 riders left, who will then compete in the final. In order to move on in the bracket you have you beat the other rider by time. A split time is started once the first racer crosses the finish line and the second rider to cross stops the clock, after two runs the faster racer moves on.
Slalom racing is both similar yet different from a BMX race. In both types of racing you have to qualify your way into a main event. In slalom there are berms and jumps, but you have 2 identical tracks that are side by side, during racing you have to stay on your side of the track or your DQ’d. Just like in BMX you start in a gate and race the other rider to the finish line.
A big BMX News thanks to Andrea Cleghorn at Cleghorn Photography for use of the top photo of Jill Kintner and Adrian. See below for a link to their photo gallery from Mammoth.
Links
2016 USA Cycling MTB Championships – Results
Cleghorn Photography MTB Nationals Photo Gallery
Adrian Sanders Joins the NewsTeam
June 6, 2016 by bmxnews.org Editors · Comments Off
BMX News is stoked to welcome Adrian Sanders, 19, from Leawood, KS to the #NewsTeam for 2016. She has been traveling the country and racing BMX since 2007, currently riding for Jimmy Buchanan’s Factory Ssquared squad. Oh, and she also recently turned pro in the MTB world.
Adrian received a cycling Read more
Tyler Whitfield Wins Cajun Nats Photo Dash
March 17, 2014 by bmxnews.org Editors · Comments Off
The BMX News Photo Trophy Dash for the 2014 Cajun Nationals is complete. With five full days of voting and over 650 likes on the eight finalists, it was fun watching how the votes were going.
Tyler Whitfield of Ssquared Answer won the dash with 219 likes. That means he gets a 20×30 canvas print of the above photo. Adrian Sanders from Leawood, Kansas was one of the fans who liked the winning photo, and we drew her name at random to receive a $50 Dan’s Comp gift card. Congrats Tyler and Adrian!
Tyler told “News”
“I want to thank all the friends, fans, and family who shared and liked my photo for the Trophy Dash! Big thanks to my mom Delores for tagging every friend on her friends list and Mike Carruth for putting me in the contest! I can’t wait to see how the picture looks on the canvas. Thanks again to everyone.”
About the Photo:
It was captured in the 17-18x Semi on Saturday. Most of the shots that ultimately make it to the Photo Trophy Dash are “Naturals,” meaning I pretty much know as soon as I look at the LCD on the back of the camera that it is one of “those” photos that will either make it in to our race coverage, or the Photo Trophy Dash (if we have one).
Those who know me know I love shooting indoors, and that jump on the last straight was perfect for great action. The shot of Derrick Blackmore in this Trophy Dash was also shot on that jump. I love me some nice motion blur, but the eyes have to be sharp to make the cut. In this case, Tyler’s determined, “eyes-on-the-prize” expression was nice and sharp, with plenty of action blur to tell the story of speed, with or without a caption.
What is a “Trophy Dash?”
Trophy dashes have a long and rich history in BMX Racing. In the early years of the sport, the winners of the pro, top expert and open classes would meet again for one final lap (the last race of the day, usually), and race for the overall title of “Trophy Dash Winner.” This was the “winner among winners.” In fact, the very first BMX Racing World Champion was decided when Anthony Sewell won the 14-Over Trophy Dash at the Jag World Championships in 1978.
Keep an eye out for more Photo Trophy Dashes in the coming months.
—Mike Carruth
Tyler’s Sponsors:
Rennen Design Group, Tioga BMX, Sun Ringlé, Dan’s Comp, SRAM, BMX News, Crit BMX, Stealth Hubs
*Links added by BMX News to highlight companies that are also BMX News advertisers
BMX News 2014 Race Coverage Sponsored by Dan’s Comp
