The final race in the 2009 Fluidride Cup finals has come and gone. It’s raining in Seattle today, but this weekend there was sunshine, wind and a dusty blown out track. Due to chairs falling off the upper lift during practice we ran only from mid mountain. This didn’t make the race any easier. The duff was thick in the corners and the ruts were legendary. Especially, that one off-camber one in the woods above the bridge. Many of you know what I mean. Continue reading ‘Fluidride Cup 2009 Finals - Results’
Archive for the 'Race Results' Category
Bones Over Metal has been traveling around and shooting Women Of Dirt. Two of the women in our movie, Tammy Donahugh and Darcy Turenne, both were on the podium at this Colorado event. Kathryn Hayes who we hope to get into the next Women Of Dirt film, also shared the podium at this event that took place at Grassroots Cycles in Colorado. The event was organized by Stephanie Nychka, who also has her own section in our up coming film.
This video is by 406 Productions out of Whitefish, MT. Cheers,
Results:
Jump Jam: 1. Tammy Donahugh, 2. Darcy Turenne, 3. Kathryn Hayes
SlopeStyle: 1. Tammy Donahugh, 2. Kathryn Hayes, 3. Darcy Turenne
Can you say PEATY!!!
Steve Peat has done it! Finally after all these years and by 0.05 seconds over Greg Minaar and 0.69 over Mick Hannah. It came down to the wire but Steve has his World Champion stripes. The top four riders were all within 0.84 seconds of each other, it was that close.
In the Women’s Elite Finals Emmeline Ragot of France took the Stripes with Tracy Moseley in second and our own Kathy Pruitt taking third.
- Greg Norman
Greg Norman has gone assignment Luciano Worl down under to Australia. Greg has stepped up and made sure that Looch gets taken care of while making the run for Junior Worlds Gold. But, where there is work helping to put on a race, Greg will find work. Luciano Worl is representing the US for the first time at Worlds. He rides for Fluidride/Evil. The following are Greg’s Photos and Words.
Hello again, Day 3.
Well we had a beautiful day today, the weather was gorgeous.
I arrived at 6 am to the venue and was immediately put to work with the set up crew setting panels on the start finnish line for the DH/4x course. By 8 am I was back to parking duties for the Federation Teams. I am finally starting to get some smiles and laughs from most of the European team coaches and managers. People still seem to be a little stressed but it is easing a bit.
I finally got up onto the course to take a few shots. Flat tires seem to be most riders nemesis on the hill.
Plus today was the first day of 4x practice which I took video of, it was a little chaotic.
The photos are of looch, Hill, Minnaar, Peaty, Gee, Riffle and Jared Graves under the Australian flag.
- Greg
The track was dry and fast, but about as fun as they come. It was great to get a chance to race the King Diamond. Fall line tracks are my favorite for sure. This was the last one of the Fluidride Cup series at Port Angeles for 2009. Bryn Atkinson beat Lars Sternberg, Brad Oien, Kieran Bennett, and J.D. Swanguen to round out the Pro podium.
Video Of Luciano Worl’s Practice Run
Video By Andy Tran
Photos By Carl Warren
It’s Monday Morning and the rain has come. Whistler has been very dry, so this moisture is giving the trails a much needed perk up. There are no events today, but tomorrow is Women’s Worx and it would be great if the rain stayed away for that event. So far, we have seen the youthful riders come out on top of the experienced riders. Kyle Strait over Brian Lopes in the Dual Slalom, for example. Or, Miranda Miller on top of the Pro Women’s Garbanzo DH. However, there were expected results. Jill Kintner showed why she is one of the most talented gate racers on the planet, by winning the Dual Slalom handily. Sam Hill was on the Garbanzo Podium. Crankworx is proving to be the best bike event on the planet.
Photos By Yorick Carroux
As many of you know, Miles and I are working on a DVD called Women Of Dirt. We came down to Solvista Bike Park to cover the women of mountain biking going after the national jersey for our movie. We are also shooting a scene in Boulder, CO. with the Operations Manager of IMBA Tammy Donahugh. She’s a great dirt jumper. We’ll get this scene for the DVD and a Quickshot video from PUSH before heading back to the NW.
I had a great time at Solvista. The Bike Park staff were the best and helped us have a great experience whenever they could. There were a ton of great riding stories. Many of the racers I ride and race with back home in the Northwest came down to Colorado and killed it. Chelsey Stevens, Darrell Jamieson, Chase Jamieson, and Colin Tobin all took home the National Champion title and jersey.
Jill Kintner got Milissa Buhl back for her Sea Otter win at Dual Slalom and beat her at National Championships at 4x. You’ll see all of this in the Women Of Dirt DVD. Melissa Buhl edged out Kathy Pruitt by .07 in USNC Pro Women downhill. Lisa Myklak in third, then Jacqueline Harmony and Katie Holden. Aaron Gwin got a flat at last year’s National Championships, but this year he won.
This event will be in the same place next year. Put it on your calendar. If you qualify for National Championships you need to go. There were over 1800 race starts. If you were not here, you should have been. Ride On!
Pro Men DH Race and Lifestyle Stuff
Pro Men Results
1 Aaron Gwin 02:11.7 Yeti Fox Factory
2 Duncan Riffle 02:13.9 DRR / Giantnerd
3 John Swanguen 02:15.7 Intnese/Troy Lee Designs/ODI/Fox Racing
4 Cody Warren 02:16.9 Specialized Team America
5 Joey Schusler 02:16.9 Yeti Fox National
6 Geritt Beytagh 02:16.9 Morewood Bikes USA
7 Luke Strobel 02:17.6 Maxxis / Rocky Mountain
8 Kyle Strait 02:18.0 Specialized Team America
9 Michael Sylvestri 02:18.0 Santa Cruz Allride Academy
10 Curtis Keene 02:18.5 Specialized / Sram
11 Scott Papola 02:19.0
12 Shaun Palmer 02:19.9 Intense/SRAM/Monster
13 Cole Bangert 02:21.6 Sram / Specialized
14 Mark Clemens 02:22.3
15 Jason Memmelaar 02:22.7
16 Will Collins 02:23.0 Jett MTB
17 Kain Leonard 02:23.5 Crested Butte Mountain Sports Team/TLD
18 Mike Kreger 02:24.0 Sol Vista Bike Park
19 Ryan Sutton 02:24.1 Me
20 Sean McClendon 02:24.1 X-Fusion/Intense
Pro Women Results:
1 Melissa Buhl 02:41.1 KHS Bicycles
2 Kathy Pruitt 02:41.2 Jamis
3 Lisa Myklak 02:47.8 Fox Racing Shox
4 Jacqueline Harmony 02:52.6 Vixen Racing/Loeka/All Mountain Cyclery/
5 Katie Holden 02:55.3 Specialized
6 Darian Harvey 02:59.9 Cannondale Factory Racing
7 Rachel Bauer 03:01.1 Banshee / Poison Spider Bikes
8 Jennifer Wolf 03:19.0 Vixen Racing
9 Jennifer Whalen 03:19.3 Jenxracer.com
10 Stephanie Leonard 03:21.7 Crested Butte Mountain Sports Team
11 Julie Olsen 03:53.1 Recycle Ski and Sport / Standard Process
12 Connie Misket 03:58.7 Velo Bella Ellsworth
13 C Michelle Rivera 04:11.9 Steven K Sports and Design
Gallery By Mark Brent
Video OF DH Course by Matt Patterson of Dirt Corps
The mood at Sol Vista has been one of camaraderie and sun. Carnage is the word of the day. The 3 Amigos are clamming their victims and bikes. They are the most moto type of jump I have seen on a DH course. The 4x course is like a Supercross course with moto woops, channels and deep dirt. Watch this video of Mike Kreger running the Pro DH course.
The Skibowl track at Mt Hood, Oregon is by far the gnarliest track I have both raced and covered. This weekend we all saw this track at its best. Best for a DH racer meaning worse for the rest. It was blown out, chunky, and constantly changing. My bike cursed me and yet carried me on. On Sunday the heavy clouds pushed in and closed up around the mountain. The rain wasn’t heavy, but moisture did collect on the rock and when it got through the trees on the roots. This made for a fast, yet variable course. While traction was good, a tire tracked wrong across a barely wet root would cause the bike to dart onto a new and often undesirable track. A rock turned under tread would propel bike and rider off the course. The result, those who stayed up, won.
I saw more crashes than I have ever seen at a race and heard about many many more. This was true for Pros and Joes alike. But there were three Pros that stood out from the rest. Bryn Atkinson, Luke Strobel and Mikey Sylvestri all showed why they are World Cup Athletes. They were 22 to 16 seconds in front of the fourth place pro. This doesn’t mean that the other Pros were not capable, but most didn’t stay on their bikes. I watched at least six pros crash in one 20 yard section in the woods.
Every rider I talked to had a tale of how the mountain beat them. They retold their story with delight, not as an excuse. We had come to best the mountain, knowing full well that this track at the Skibowl was one of the toughest. If we lost the fight, at least we were one to have fought. Those who stayed home, or chose to race elsewhere lost out.
- words by Mark Brent
Photos By Carl Warren
Video By Andy Tran
Last weekend we attended two events. I got to Mt Hood early so I could run the DH course for Sunday on Friday. This freed me up to help Miles shoot the Super D in Post Canyon on Saturday. The national Super D champion Adam Craig won this event. However, from my observations there was something more important than who won. For the more than 100 racers, It was how much fun were people having. Unlike most DH competitions that I have been too, the Super D crowd seemed excited to just be out on their bikes having fun. Continue reading ‘Hood River Super D’
This weekend under sunny sky and with the last patches of melting snow we raced for the first time since 2007 from the top of Ski Bowl at Mt Hood, OR. This is an epic course with 6 distinct zones. JD Swanguen won with a 4:02. There were 270 racers at the start line making this the largest racer count at Ski Bowl according to Greg Aldrich of Ski Bowl.
Continue reading ‘Fluidride Cup # 3 Results’
The riders from the Santian Bike Shop and BRMBA have put on their first race at the Blackrock, OR. freeride area. Putting all the first time issues out of mind, and they were not too many or too problematic, I was just blown away by the creativity of the course and the good nature of this grassroots racing event. These promoters deserve our thanks.
The course had it all. Right out of the start gate you had 50 yards of a rock garden. No one rode it the same each time. The majority of this five minute course was fast berms with natural jumps and rollers. There however was a road gap, two sets of whoops, numerous other small rock garden moments, a very long ladder bridge that you jumped onto and off of, a twenty foot double, a peddally section, a really high speed section, and two different blown out fall-line descents. Top to bottom this course asked a lot of the rider. And everyone had a grin when they got to the bottom. The general feeling of how great this track was reinforced the notion that it’s not about the racing, but the riding.
Kevin Walsh of Evil Bikes broke his leg in a freak accident on the high speed section. I want to send him healing vibes. It was really good to see him out there and to have this happen is just not right.
Kyle Tomas took the top time of 4:25. He was followed closely by Phil Wiering and Charlie Sponsel. In all about 80 riders showed.
Our event gallery has more photos from this event:
Sunday Update: The rain came down over night and made the topsoil greasy. Practice runs were sketchy. Many riders went down trying to find race speed while getting used to a new course. Many riders were dragging their brakes from the uncertainty of a new situation. The course was quickly changing, berms being blown out, ruts disappearing.
When racing started, the best riders rose to the top. In their words, you had to adapt quickly. Curtis Keene continued to dominate the Port Angeles track. He won the 1st ProGRT to go done in history as the first to put on the ProGRT leaders jersey. Luke Strobel and Ryan Condrashof followed. That’s two in a row at Port Angeles for Curtis Keene. Katie Holden won the 1st ProGrt for the women. Followed by Kathy Pruitt and Katrina Strand. Seattle’s own Luciano Worl held off Pink Bike’s Kyle Marshall for 1st Junior Cat 1 leader’s jersey of the ProGRT. Now that’s a trivia fact that I will always remember. Way to go Luciano. Luciano and Kyle would have been 14 and 16 respectively in the Men’s Pro rankings.
This video is covers the whole weekend with practice, qualifying, and finals footage plus interviews.
Photos by Pat Branch of PBMedia.us
I got to go up in a helicopter and shoot the Dry Hill staging area and pits. Right from my downhill run to the sky in a tiny little helicopter. Nice. Look for the footage in the upcoming video.
FR Cup 2 - ProGRT1 Results (Excel)
FR Cup 2 - ProGRT 1 Results (PDF)
This Helmet Cam Video is silly. Be warned. There is also a crash. I had the idea of jumping in behind a few riders who were faster than me and getting some quick pull away action for use in the main video. The problem is I underestimated how hard it would be to get up to speed. Lesson Learned. More Quickshot videos |
Saturday Update: So, qualifying went down and so did the rain. Just enough to grease up the track and take more than a few Pros and Cat 1 Juniors down. But the real heavy rain came down after, as everyone was running to their cars to go eat.
The Cat 1 top qualifiers were: Kyle Marshell with a 2.45.71 followed by Derek Teal, Cameron Woods, Luciano Worl. The Top Women Pro qualifiers were Katie Holden with a 3.08.33 followed by Kathy Pruitt, Leanna Gerrard, and Katrina Strand. The Top Men qualifies were Curtis Keene with a 2.43.26 followed by Bart McDaniel, Keiran Bennet, Michael Sylvestri, and Joey Schusler.
Photos from Carl Warren.
These photos will be available for download and purchase of prints after the weekend.
Friday Update: Well, it’s fast by God, faster than it’s every been and that’s no foolin’ Oh, and everyone is loving the track.
Racing starts tomorrow with the Cat 1 Juniors and Pros qualifying. The Beginners race first, but the rain is suppose to come right when the fast guys take the track. Don’t count on that though. The weather report has been all over the place. If it holds off to the evening, we all get a new track on Sunday. Nice.
Thursday Update: It was cool seeing so many riders from the national scene ripping up the local trails. The course was fast today. Maybe faster than I’ve seen it before. The talk is of rain on Saturday and Sunday. This will definitely add an element to the racing. A larger than normal number of riders and rain could make for constantly changing course conditions. That’s downhilling at its best.
Article on PinnedMTB.com
Cat 2 Riders and Other Fluidride Cup Pics Gallery by Mark Brent
Beat up,
But not beaten down.
Lars Sternberg ties with Curtis Keene.
They make a new rule that gives Curtis the win.
His qualifier was faster. Tiebreaker.
Bart McDaniel gets a top ten
With a full head against the tree OTB.
Chris Boice tells me he’s “humbled” by our scene.
He gets fifth in Pro. I’m humbled by Chris Boice.
He’s a true competitor.
Contributing Photographer Galleries: Ki Kopkau Erin Landry Matt Patterson
There were 410 registered racers.
47 Pro men. 10 Pro women. Over 50 19-29 Cat 1
and most surprising 23 Cat 1 40+
I haven’t seen so many old guys on a list that wasn’t at a funeral.
Grass roots racing? I don’t think so.
The Fluidride Cup is legit
The course was tacky
It withstood the pounding of a three-day event.
Coming down the start ramp
Sprinting for 100 yards.
Turn and dive down White Knuckle
Toward the booter that floats you all the way to the breaking bumps.
Dive right, then left taking the inside line to the inside line.
Setting up after the 2nd floater
Diving into the roots setting up for the woods.
Mash, Mash. Mash the pedals.
Tight turns, taking the high line to get the speed for the exit.
Step down, sweeping right through the shale and steep down again.
Mash those pedals again for the jump into the woops.
Don’t over cook the step-down into the rocks.
Got to get the shoulder tight to the tree on the right
To get over the rock and turn left. Needle tight chicane.
Step-not to Camel’s Hump, got it clean,
Carry the speed through the chunder
To assist with the short climb.
Home free now baby. Stay off the breaks
And own those berms.
Coming out now. Double to the bridge and sprint
Sprint for the final berm and the
Finish line.
Race Day Video By Mark Brent
more quick shot videos
Shout out to NDub Productions, Hurricane Racing,
Simon Lawton, Fluidride, Dirt Corps, Recycled Cycles, ODI
Mike Estes, Carl Warren, Miles “Shovelpick” Sullivan, Mutoli Racing,
Erin Landry, My Team, go DWB!
Dan Kim at Port Angeles Super 8.
My lovely wife for understanding why I ride.
And my bike for putting up with my mistakes.
All the young riders for their passion and speed.
The other old riders for their drive,
The Pros for showing the way,
And all the lady racers for taking up the bike
And “schralping” their way down the mountain.
And Leanna Gerrard for the Word Of The Day.
And if I forgot you, you’re not forgotten,
I thank you too.
See you at Port Angeles May 1
for the 1st stop of the ProGRT Tour.
FULL RESULTS COMING
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