SX of Paris

I happened to be working in Germany this week and had the chance to go to Paris SX. I had a blast and would recommend it to anyone. Thought I'd share some notes in case anyone considers it.

- The event is held in the La Defense area of Paris, which is amazing and something to see. It's the financial district with modern high rise buildings, nice shopping malls, and a huge arch (man the French love their arcs). I've done the tourist trap vacation in Paris before and this isn't that. I'm sure some tourists go there, but it's not a historical sector or any of that.

- The people were all badass. The French speak less English than most European countries, but they were always helpful and I had no problems figuring out what I needed to. The French moto family is just like the US minus about 15 lbs (everybody is thin). Everybody wears some kind of moto/factory team jacket and about 1 in every 1 hundred people is on crutches. The stadium was pretty full. There was more drinking than US SX. The crowd was more like what you'd have at a basketball or soccer game. It's kind of setup as US vs France, so they really cheer hard for the hometeam, but were gracious and appreciative of the US riders. There were no casual fans, it was all enthusiasts and they appreciated and understood what good riding looked like. The guys next to me were regular motoheads and they kept freaking out about the way Anderson would hit the whoops and the way he would perfectly downside the huge FMX jump, which was hard for everybody else.

- The show was amazing. It's a mix of a club, a circus, and Supercross. I say Circus because they have 3 shows happening and a couple of announcers moderating it all. There's the FMX, the supercross and then this guy flying around the stadium on a damn jetpack. That alone was worth seeing (Frankie Zapata (?). Maybe sounds cheesy, but it wasn't. And you hvae to remember that it's an exhibition not a championship race. Anyway, I felt like I was in Back to the Future or Tron or something. Also, Diana Dahlgren made an appearance riding a KLX around the track with her fun bags hanging out. She actually knows how to ride and those things look like they'd make a great crash device. They also brought the French MXDN team out for a parade lap. They had a cool video edit of the race and then the whole stadium lit up in the French national anthem. It was pretty moving and really cool.

- The track was alright and bigger than I expected. I think it had 6 lanes. You can see for yourself in the video I'm sure. It was hard pack as hell. They did a full prep after every set of races and they even steamrolled the damn whoops. Literally steamrolled them. So that made sure there weren't any ruts, which they probably do to help the French riders.

- The racing. At the front it wasn't the most exciting. There wasn't much passing for the lead after lap 1. Behind the top 4 though, it was really good. The Euro riders hang it out and they battle hard without being dirty. There was some good racing at the front but much better in the 5-10 range.

- The afterparty was bumping. Most people take the train, so there not driving. The stadium opens up into La Defense and there were some bars right outside the doors. Everybody had been drinking all day anyway, so they just kept going. I'm sure there were some clubs around, but I didn't bother. I had been drinking for most of the race and working all week, so I had a couple beers to take in the scene and walked back to the hotel.

I didn't go on Sunday, but I'm sure it was just as good. Well worth the trip, eased some of the off-season withdrawals and got me pumped for next year.

Any videos from todays races?