Yesterday I started a new career, this time on 250 West Hard Mode. I know this is going to be a bit tougher than the 250 East career was, but to make matters worse, I reaggravated an old back injury yesterday morning. It made it very hard just to get in and out of my computer chair. None the less, it had been a while since I completed my 250 East walkthrough, so it was time to get into this one. These will be posted two at a time like 250 East was.
250 West Anaheim 1
This track is mostly simple, and getting the holeshot is not of huge importance. In fact I opted to slip in behind the pack and take the apex of the 1st turn, vs trying to clear the pack with a perfectly timed start. This left only one AI in front of me, whom I quickly caught.
After the 1st turn, it starts with a fast, shallow double that lands you into a right turn berm. From there it's a relatively easy single/double to another right turn, which leads you into a bridge jump that has to be taken very slowly to land on it's down slope. Landing this perfectly is not mandatory, but too much speed can make you land unstable on the flat, which in turn can slow you and leave you with a bad landing on the next jump.
From there it's a fairly fast, easy whoop section into a long, big air double (that next jump), which is best taken with a scrub to assure enough distance to land it well. You then rail a big 180 left turn berm that takes you into a semi long rhythm section, which has distanced, medium size jumps that can pretty easily be singled all the way through.
Then you go left under that aforementioned bridge jump, and here is where the track gets a bit tricky. There's another left that takes you into a huge gap jump across the holeshot line, and landing it well requires moderate speed. The combination of two tight left turns one right after the other going into it, can affect how well you take this jump, and also how well you take the one semi tough rhythm section thereafter (as in my final lap after hitting a Tuff Block shown at the 6:07 mark).
The reason that big air single needs to be landed well is there's another big air single right after, which crosses the starting chute part of track just before the 1st turn. The jump you land this 2nd big air single on has an abrupt, steep face to it, so coming up short slows you considerably. It is therefore best to scrub this jump, to set up well for the rhythm section.
You then take a shallow, 90 degree right berm into the rhythm section. To hit it well, you need to single onto a shallow jump, then single 3 more times on small, distanced jumps, the 2nd to last of which involves an on/off landing on a tabletop. This section feels easy when done right, but it is very easy to time that 1st jump wrong, and when you do, it slows you down considerably.
From there it's just a 180 right off a berm into a pretty fast, easy whoop section, then a sharp left off a big berm, a flat straight to a sharp right berm, and a big air very moderate speed single jump across the finish line. This takes you into a sharp left off a big berm, back to that very first shallow, fast double after the holeshot.
At the last time check before the finish line, I had about a 13.7 sec lead, despite hitting that Tuff Block and blowing the rhythm section on the final lap. Several times on prior races however, blowing that rhythm section caused the AI to catch up, so I consider it the one make or break part of this track.
250 West Anaheim 1
250 West Glendale
This track is not nearly as simple as Anaheim 1. It has a couple long rhythm sections which can be hard to hit. In fact the 2nd one, even if you go into it with a near perfect double off a single to set it up, you often don't land the double right after well, which really slows you down.
Here, again, the holeshot is not necessary, and I started again by going behind the pack and slipping through the apex side of the 1st turn. It is imperative you hit a shallow single well right after the first turn, which sets you up for a double/double/double. This is easier said than done, especially since you need to hit that single right after a hard left turn on the start. Doing so however will separate you from the pack.
The 90 degree left after this section I usually take via leaning hard left off the jump just before it, which usually scrub bounces me fairly quickly off the jump just after it. Sometimes I've actually cleared the jump just after this turn, and passed lots of AI in the process, but if you aren't to the far right of the rhythm section before taking the turn, you can get reset for a track cut. All the jumps in this section are between small and med size.
Then comes a fast flat into a 180 left berm, a small jump into another fast flat, and a 90 degree right into a small rhythm section. This rhythm section is not to be taken for granted. It's not nearly as long or tough as the other two, but can slow you down none the less if taken wrong. There's basically 2 ways to take it. The 1st is by a single off the 1st small jump, then another over the 1st table top, then an on/off on the 2nd tabletop right after it. The 2nd is a single over the 1st small jump, then using the 2nd small jump to on/off on both tabletops. The latter is best done via swinging wide into the shallow 90 degree right berm to jump off the left side of the track, which has a slightly higher lip you take off from. You need to moderate speed a bit to start this 2nd option, but it is a bit faster method through this section. This 2nd option also helps avoid AI that try to take the apex, and can easily crash you when you try to do the same.
Next is a big air double, which I try to scrub, but for some reason quite often failed to properly. Perhaps due to that nagging back pain. You then take a small jump into a 180 right berm, that takes you over a jump so small if you hit it just right to the left, you don't even waste air time. It then goes into a long, fast flat, and a sharp left shallow berm into the track's longest, hardest rhythm section.
I find it best to come into this fairly fast, shallow berm at a wide angle, braking carefully first, then coasting a bit. It is very easy to overshoot it if not. You have two options here, swinging wide to do a big double off the right side of the 1st jump, which is considerably bigger on that side of the track. The 2nd is staying left and hitting a shallow single, which if hit just right sets you up for a massive air double/double/double (as shown at the 5:43 mark). The 2nd option has more potential gain, and less risk, as it's easy to go too far to the right and off track on the first option. The first option takes you immediately into a big air double, but is far harder to flow through the rest of the rhythm after that.
You then take a 180 left berm into a fast, easy whoop section, which has a double at the end, followed by a 180 right berm into a double and over a big air single jump off the finish line. This jump I scrub, and try to land on the down slope to remain stable for the series of the just under med size few jumps after. I prefer to single over the 2nd jump, leaning left off the 3rd, to prepare well for the 90 degree left turn, which takes you into a big air double and another 90 degree left right after. This is crucial for setting up for another run through the 1st rhythm section.
Before this rhythm section you are now to the right of the holeshot turn you started out on, which has 3 well spaced med size jumps. It's not as crucial how you take these 3 jumps as it is to assure moderate speed for the 1st part of the rhythm section. This is because these 3 jumps have well graded vs abrupt faces, so even if you case them, you don't lose much speed. You can still hit that single/double/double/double as long as you have the right speed going into that single just after the holeshot line. This is shown at the 2:35 mark.
Now I'm not going to tell you I hit these rhythm sections well every time. More often than not I had to attempt to salvage what speed I could. The good thing though is, on Hard, the AI aren't exactly perfect through them either. Thus I finished with a roughly 13.4 sec lead at the final time check.
250 West Glendale
250 West Anaheim 1
This track is mostly simple, and getting the holeshot is not of huge importance. In fact I opted to slip in behind the pack and take the apex of the 1st turn, vs trying to clear the pack with a perfectly timed start. This left only one AI in front of me, whom I quickly caught.
After the 1st turn, it starts with a fast, shallow double that lands you into a right turn berm. From there it's a relatively easy single/double to another right turn, which leads you into a bridge jump that has to be taken very slowly to land on it's down slope. Landing this perfectly is not mandatory, but too much speed can make you land unstable on the flat, which in turn can slow you and leave you with a bad landing on the next jump.
From there it's a fairly fast, easy whoop section into a long, big air double (that next jump), which is best taken with a scrub to assure enough distance to land it well. You then rail a big 180 left turn berm that takes you into a semi long rhythm section, which has distanced, medium size jumps that can pretty easily be singled all the way through.
Then you go left under that aforementioned bridge jump, and here is where the track gets a bit tricky. There's another left that takes you into a huge gap jump across the holeshot line, and landing it well requires moderate speed. The combination of two tight left turns one right after the other going into it, can affect how well you take this jump, and also how well you take the one semi tough rhythm section thereafter (as in my final lap after hitting a Tuff Block shown at the 6:07 mark).
The reason that big air single needs to be landed well is there's another big air single right after, which crosses the starting chute part of track just before the 1st turn. The jump you land this 2nd big air single on has an abrupt, steep face to it, so coming up short slows you considerably. It is therefore best to scrub this jump, to set up well for the rhythm section.
You then take a shallow, 90 degree right berm into the rhythm section. To hit it well, you need to single onto a shallow jump, then single 3 more times on small, distanced jumps, the 2nd to last of which involves an on/off landing on a tabletop. This section feels easy when done right, but it is very easy to time that 1st jump wrong, and when you do, it slows you down considerably.
From there it's just a 180 right off a berm into a pretty fast, easy whoop section, then a sharp left off a big berm, a flat straight to a sharp right berm, and a big air very moderate speed single jump across the finish line. This takes you into a sharp left off a big berm, back to that very first shallow, fast double after the holeshot.
At the last time check before the finish line, I had about a 13.7 sec lead, despite hitting that Tuff Block and blowing the rhythm section on the final lap. Several times on prior races however, blowing that rhythm section caused the AI to catch up, so I consider it the one make or break part of this track.
250 West Anaheim 1
250 West Glendale
This track is not nearly as simple as Anaheim 1. It has a couple long rhythm sections which can be hard to hit. In fact the 2nd one, even if you go into it with a near perfect double off a single to set it up, you often don't land the double right after well, which really slows you down.
Here, again, the holeshot is not necessary, and I started again by going behind the pack and slipping through the apex side of the 1st turn. It is imperative you hit a shallow single well right after the first turn, which sets you up for a double/double/double. This is easier said than done, especially since you need to hit that single right after a hard left turn on the start. Doing so however will separate you from the pack.
The 90 degree left after this section I usually take via leaning hard left off the jump just before it, which usually scrub bounces me fairly quickly off the jump just after it. Sometimes I've actually cleared the jump just after this turn, and passed lots of AI in the process, but if you aren't to the far right of the rhythm section before taking the turn, you can get reset for a track cut. All the jumps in this section are between small and med size.
Then comes a fast flat into a 180 left berm, a small jump into another fast flat, and a 90 degree right into a small rhythm section. This rhythm section is not to be taken for granted. It's not nearly as long or tough as the other two, but can slow you down none the less if taken wrong. There's basically 2 ways to take it. The 1st is by a single off the 1st small jump, then another over the 1st table top, then an on/off on the 2nd tabletop right after it. The 2nd is a single over the 1st small jump, then using the 2nd small jump to on/off on both tabletops. The latter is best done via swinging wide into the shallow 90 degree right berm to jump off the left side of the track, which has a slightly higher lip you take off from. You need to moderate speed a bit to start this 2nd option, but it is a bit faster method through this section. This 2nd option also helps avoid AI that try to take the apex, and can easily crash you when you try to do the same.
Next is a big air double, which I try to scrub, but for some reason quite often failed to properly. Perhaps due to that nagging back pain. You then take a small jump into a 180 right berm, that takes you over a jump so small if you hit it just right to the left, you don't even waste air time. It then goes into a long, fast flat, and a sharp left shallow berm into the track's longest, hardest rhythm section.
I find it best to come into this fairly fast, shallow berm at a wide angle, braking carefully first, then coasting a bit. It is very easy to overshoot it if not. You have two options here, swinging wide to do a big double off the right side of the 1st jump, which is considerably bigger on that side of the track. The 2nd is staying left and hitting a shallow single, which if hit just right sets you up for a massive air double/double/double (as shown at the 5:43 mark). The 2nd option has more potential gain, and less risk, as it's easy to go too far to the right and off track on the first option. The first option takes you immediately into a big air double, but is far harder to flow through the rest of the rhythm after that.
You then take a 180 left berm into a fast, easy whoop section, which has a double at the end, followed by a 180 right berm into a double and over a big air single jump off the finish line. This jump I scrub, and try to land on the down slope to remain stable for the series of the just under med size few jumps after. I prefer to single over the 2nd jump, leaning left off the 3rd, to prepare well for the 90 degree left turn, which takes you into a big air double and another 90 degree left right after. This is crucial for setting up for another run through the 1st rhythm section.
Before this rhythm section you are now to the right of the holeshot turn you started out on, which has 3 well spaced med size jumps. It's not as crucial how you take these 3 jumps as it is to assure moderate speed for the 1st part of the rhythm section. This is because these 3 jumps have well graded vs abrupt faces, so even if you case them, you don't lose much speed. You can still hit that single/double/double/double as long as you have the right speed going into that single just after the holeshot line. This is shown at the 2:35 mark.
Now I'm not going to tell you I hit these rhythm sections well every time. More often than not I had to attempt to salvage what speed I could. The good thing though is, on Hard, the AI aren't exactly perfect through them either. Thus I finished with a roughly 13.4 sec lead at the final time check.
250 West Glendale
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