Rich Houseman gives us a rider's perspective on the NORBA National #3
Mt. Snow, VT
We arrived early Tuesday morning in Mt. Snow, after a 16 hr. drive from North Carolina. It was a pretty long trip in the ol’ Yeti rig, and we were pretty stoked to get in and relax at our condo. After a few hours of sleep, we decided to drop the trailer in the pits. For the first time ever Factory YETI was set up before anyone else! Maybe it’s because we’re under new management, I don’t know? Ha ha.
Wednesday we pretty much just chilled out at the condo, and got all our stuff ready for Thursday’s practice. Thursday we had DH practice all day and some slalom practice later in the afternoon. The DH course was bit different than in years past. The infamous “yardsale” rock garden was no longer in it, and there were a few new sections. It definitely still had all the speed, all the square edge rocks, and all the mud-bogs! I’ve always liked Mt. Snow’s course, so I was pretty stoked to race. After a few runs, it was pretty evident that we were going to go through some wheels! I beat my rims up pretty bad and we were bending the sidewalls back with wrenches all day. I felt pretty fast though, and I set a goal of being in the top 10 for the weekend in DH.
Hendershot 3rd at NORBA National 24 hour Solo Championships
“So, Roberta and I were at the Super Walmart the night before the race buying half a dozen cheapo styrofoam coolers and a half ton of ice in anticipation of race temps in the mid 90’s. At home we never shop at Walmart (or buy styrofoam), but hours before a race in an unfamiliar town the Supercenter is a veritable oasis. It occurred to us that we hadn’t heard from our mechanic, wonder if he’s coming. I phoned him, no answer. Well, guess we better pick up a bucket and some Simple Green to wash the bikes.”
This was yet another wacky way for Mark Hendershot (Santa Cruz Syndicate) to start a race. “Goofy things happen the day before I race. I’ve had my wallet stolen, been rousted out of bed by vandals pulling fire alarms and by a competitor’s crew chief breaking into my motel to scatter gay porn playing cards and other “toys” about the room.”
