Nathan Riddle won the Open Men at Sunday’s Super D in the Capitol Forest outside Olympia, Washington. He also won the season overall for the Super Ds held there by the Friends Of Capitol Forest. This was my first Super D and it came with a ton of lessons. First of which is the respect I have for the XC riders who can climb hard and still rail the downhill portions of the track. I was humbled by how I need to be more fit. This brings me back to Nathan Riddle. This year he has placed in the top ten in Pro Downhill, top four in a Pro DS, third at Downieville, and now the overall at the FOCF. He’s truly All Mountain.
The six mile course was fast and flowy and the climbs were short and intense. This race was about the climbing. A rider with a strong DH background might have an advantage on the downhill parts of the track. However, it is in the climbing that the race is won. The time that is lost when climbing badly can not be made up in the downhill. For photos and more: Continue reading ‘Capitol Forest Super D’
Sunday’s lesson came in the form of a rain storm. Everything we had practiced seemed doomed to be irrelevant. Saturday was dry and fast, Sunday threatened to be fast and slick. Even if you stuck your line, it seemed that you’d quickly go down. However, the riders who won, ran the same race in the wet as they had practiced in the dry. The word is that Bart McDaniel’s time from the qualifying when it had just begun to rain, was the same for the finals when the course was drenched. So, the lesson is, “Ride the rain just like you ride the dry.”
FR Cup #4 Results
This Video From Miles Sullivan
This Gallery From Carl Warren:
Bart McDaniel took the pro race with Lars Sternberg and Curtis Keene of Decine/Team America in 2nd and 3rd. Derrick Chambers and Kieran Bennett were 4th and 5th. Katie Holden and Joy Mutoli were the pro women podium. The Semi-Pro podium was Nick Tuttle, Bo McGee, and Mountain Man Keith Thompson. Brian Guse with a pro time, bested Even Gilsdorf and the newcommer Andrew Widman in Junior X. Andrew first raced in Beginner at the start of this year, now he’s getting on the podium in Junior X. He’s a product of Simon Lawton’s Fluidride Race Camps. Great future!
For more photos and text… Continue reading ‘Fluidride Cup #4: Port Angeles’
Saturday DH Update
Greg Minnaar takes the the Mont-Sainte-Anne Downhill for the men. This is his first win at MSA, even with a foot dab in the rock garden that knocked him sideways, threating to take him down. Minnaar was thrilled as he took the top box in the podium and the series lead in points. In second by 1.73 seconds was Sam Hill. Gee Atherton, Steve Peat and Fabian Barel complete the mens podium. The top USA finisher is the young upstart Aaron Gwin in ten place. He’s definitely a story to watch.
download fullres version
For more story and video Continue reading ‘Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup’
Saturday and Sunday Racing
A small storm came into the area Saturday night and made the course more interesting for the expert racers. As the day went on, between pro and expert practice in the morning, the ruts began to show in the muddiest areas of the course. The flat, slightly up hill root section became even more impossible to navigate (see my comments below to learn how they messed me up in my race). But in the end, the racing was fabulous and the competition was stiff.
When the pros raced on Sunday, the rain threatened again, but held off and everyone got an equal chance at winning. Well, almost everyone. I counted at least 10 flats. Geritt Beytagh won by two seconds over Cody Warren. They were the only riders to break 5 minute mark. Geritt had a great week, coming in second to Eric Carter in the Dual Slalom. Duncan Riffle was third, Curtis Keene fourth and Ryan Condrashoff came in fifth. Everyone agreed that the course was a brutal mix of gnar and peddling. Kathy Pruitt flatted so she was unable to revenge Melissa Buhl for her loss to Melissa in the dual slalom. Marla Streb got second by only 2.9 seconds. The rest of the pack was way back and included Dawn Bourque, Darian Harvey and Allegra Burch.
Full Results
I’ll follow this up in the next few days with more photos and a video. Off to Mt. Saint Anne for the World Cup.
Continue reading ‘USA National Championships’
Sunday’s Results:
Bryn Atkinson got 1st in the Pro Men Podium. Lars Sternberg was 2nd, Bart McDaniel was 3rd, and Luke Strobel was 4th. Sunday wasn’t as hot, but it was still quite toasty and the dust made it worse. But there was racing going on, and that meant everyone was having fun. Even if they were crashing. Download Results
These Photos by Dawn Brent
Continue reading ‘Mt Hood Racing: Fluidride #3′
On Wednesday night BBTC.org held a reception out at the new Duthie Hill
mountain bike park location….
The reception was conducted by Justin Vanderpool and the new BBTC Director John Lang. King County, Various Local Bike Shops and many concerned riders were in attendance for this first look at the what will be King County’s Newiest Bike Park. Building on the ongoing success of The Colonnade, BBTC and King County have begun the work on this 120 acre park off the Issaquah-Fall City Road. King County has given a total of $150,000 in grants and further funding is being sought to complete work on this park that is scheduled to open December of 09. Continue reading ‘Duthie Hill Report’
I am always looking for story that illustrates the core attitude that makes our sport
of Gravity Mountain Biking rock…
Andy and Pip are ride buddies. I have the privilege to ride with them and consider myself one of their friends. From this vantage point I have witnessed the bond that these two riders have. So, when Andy told me that he was editing together a couple years worth of personal cam footage of he had shot of Pip, I knew that this was going to be interesting. A regular festival of Pipness!
Continue reading ‘Rider Profile: The Ride Buddy’
Update: Lars has made it to the US Worlds team as a discretionary selection. In fact, all of the DH riders were chosen in this manner. Get the full story on PinnedMTB.com
Congratulations to Lars Sternberg of Port Angeles, WA and Fluidride on his 4th place finish at Angel Fire. Now he’s off on the next two legs of a World Cup trip that hopefully gives him the points he needs to compete in DH at Worlds in Italy. In 2006, Lars placed 13th in MX at the Worlds in Rotorua. This was his only other time competing at the World level. Lars has been dominating in regional races and he got a top 25 at this years Sea Otter which sees the majority of the World Cup racers. I have a lot of hope and expectation that it is now Lars’ time. I wanted to know what Lars had to say for himself and about his journey.
It actually snowed in Angel Fire, NM during the practice days. How did this affect you when it later dried up for qualifying and the finals?
It didn’t bother me at all really. I’ve done a ton of riding all winter so it wasn’t a shock to have to ride in the snow. As soon as I heard it would be bad conditions I tried to prepare myself mentally as much as possible. Then getting to race in bone dry conditions was just a bonus. Continue reading ‘Interview With Lars Sternberg’
Once a year the freeride course on Beacon Hill in Spokane, Washington lends its rock faces and dry eastern forest dirt to a downhill race. Unlike last years race, this race had near perfect conditions, zero scandals, and smiles for everyone. It wasn’t all perfect - let’s see, Saturday was hot and very dry. For those of us not used to sun stroke, dangerous even. But then it rained early Sunday morning and drizzled during the morning’s activities making the dirt perfect! Continue reading ‘Beacon Blowout 08′
This video of the Fluidride Cup #2 Dual Slalom tells that story of grassroots dual slalom. Sure the pros are the stars, but in the local scene, even the fans yelling from the sideline get their 15 minutes. Some may claim that dual slalom is destined for “Friday nights under the lights.” Who really knows. The truth is, it’s fun and it’s making a comeback.
You can watch this low resolution version here, or you can (right click and save) and download an HD quality version here (Apple TV format playable with any updated quicktime player).
Also the podcast is always a better quality than the flash video here.
To See Video Continue reading ‘Long Live Slalom’
Member's Comments