it's funny. the end clip was the first time I'd been to the drop zone. on the way there, the guy I was following said he would lead me over the C or D drop. ok, sure. then he heads over to the big one, and I say 'that's not gonna happen' and instead try to angle off to get him launching in profile. sorta worked.
the thing about these places is they're designed for you to succeed. all you have to do is stay on the bike and off the brakes, and it flows perfectly. the hardest thing was the banked turns. lots of braking bumps on some of them, so it was hard (for me) to find a good line and just rail it. it got a lot better after I plushed out my suspension more. in the drop zone, the difference in the impact on landing between the A and C is negligible. the only difference is about a half second of air time.
we were having beers afterward around the garage where we kept the bikes, and one of the trail crew came by, walking his dog. so we gave him a beer. really interesting perspective. he mentioned he got yelled at by his boss that morning for not getting over to fix a particular ramp where one of the test riders got bucked up over the front a bit. they got it down to a science.