Possible Venue For The DownHill Billies Slalom Event

[Marion Karr]

One of the long term goals of the DownHill Billies is to host a slalom race here in North Carolina. So far our informal jams have been great because they have combined slalom and longboarding in one venue. The majority of our membership are longboarders and downhillers but our slalom numbers are increasing. We hope to find a site where we can combine the two however we have come up with an idea I want to run past you slalom gurus out there. Within 35 minutes drive of Statesville, near the much larger Winston-Salem is a park called Hobby Park. It has a killer mountain bike trail where I used to race and events are still held. It also has a remote control airplane and car area. The most exiting feature for us though is the Soap Box Derby hill! From what we can tell the surface has been maintained well and it has what appears to be a great run out. I am planning on riding over there tomorrow to check it out and hopefully run some cones on it. I have called the Parks and Rec Dept to begin exploring the possibility of using it for an event. Here is a couple of picture I downloaded off the net:






What do you guys think of this idea? I need as much information as I can get about what it would take to put an event together.

Please email or post any suggestions you may have!

Marion Karr
North Carolina Longboarder
Proud Member of DownHill Billies

"Fueling the Stoke One Hillbilly at a Time!"

[Wesley Tucker]

Marion,

Fabulous. All I can say is that as skateboarders we'd have to determine which is the better run: starting at the top of the Soap Box Hill (with the starting blocks,) or heading the other way. Plus, if it's a public park of some kind, I guess we could run there any weekend the soap boxers aren't using it?

[Marion Karr]

Tucker,
I am driving over in the morning to check it out and will give you the scoop on Sunday. I have also called the Parks and Recs Dept in Winstion to talk to someone about....

I will let you know.

I am thinking we could run tight one direction, then hybrid, and GS the other...but I will know more tomorrow. Dude, this is only about 30 minutes from the I-77/I-40 interchange East.

[Marty Schaub]

That looks like a great hill, smooth & fast. When are you thinking of holding an event?

[Wesley Tucker]

Marion,

I forget to ask. When you go tomorrow and talk to the honcho in charge, find out exactly how the hill "works" year round.

• Are there Soap Boxers on it all the time or is it vacant 50 weekends a year?
• You make it sound like a public park, so are there costs involved in using it?
• Is there a reservation system for events?
• Finally, check how close we can PARK to the hill.

See, I know you want to hold a race there and that's great. Personally, though, I'd like to find out if this hill could be the SPOT we've been looking for to hold regular monthly OUTLAW races? I've always said the thing that has helped the DC crowd grow so fast and have so much enthusiasm is the Park & Ride. If this hill could be our P&R, we might see kids and grown ups coming out of the woodwork every three weeks to run cones in W-S. THAT'S what we need to aim for to make slalom really grow in the Southeast.

Hey, I'm just being a pest. Talk at you Sunday. By the way, the weather for this weekend is looking MAH-VELOUS. The rain is gone and it's supposed to be sunny tomorrow and Sunday.

[Marion Karr]

Marty,
I am not sure at the moment....we are newbies to putting on such shindigs but I am sure we can pull it together. The DownHill Billies crew is all about working. I am thinking it would be a late Fall thing after all of the major races are over.

[Marion Karr]

Tucker,
Here is what I know so far....unless things have changed dramatically since I was mountain bike racing this hill is only used for Soap Box three or four times a year. It is used as part of the mountain bike race course (the start is around the corner and goes up that hill...it hurts your legs about the 5th time you climb it) and they hold about three or four events a year...
My gut tells me this would be a perfect spot for an Outlaw series....and man, is it pretty easy to get to from I-40...only 5 to 6 miles if I remember correctly. Look at a map and find the Clemmons exit on I-40 west of Winston-Salem for a perspective.

This is heavily ridden mountain bike trail so there would be riders there every weekend but I doubt very seriously there would be much conflict as long as we were able to leave one side open for bikes to ride up (outlaw days I am talking about).

Parking is real close to the top of the hill (starting gates).

I will look to decipher as much of this info as possible. I am definitely going to ride it tomorrow outlaw.

[John Dillon]

Yea, Definitely check this place out...you may have stumbled upon something great, Marion!Let me know what W-S Pks & Rec says...what we do is recreation too....and the hill looks awesome! I believe Mollica practicd on a soap box derby hill somewhere in OH to get in shape for The Worlds a couple yrs ago.

[Marty Schaub]

If you are looking for a guy, semi locally, that could tell you how to produce a race, I would pick on Red Clay Rick. He was talking at the Trade Street practice about arranging the port-a-potties for the hill. I think he could school you on ALL of the details.....Like where racers and spectators can pee, etc. I would wait till after his race though, I imagine his stress level right now is probably 101+.....