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’
Tag Archive for 'Fluidride Cup'
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
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’
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
2009 USA Cycling Pro Gravity Mountain Bike Tour unveiled
Colorado Springs, Colo. (Feb. 25, 2009)—USA Cycling announced today the creation of a new professional gravity mountain bike series designed to recognize the top gravity racers in America. The USA Cycling Pro Mountain Bike Gravity Tour (ProGRT) will consist of five events, including three UCI-sanctioned races, throughout the United States. Together, these races will provide world-class athletes with a consistent stage to showcase their downhill and 4-Cross skills.
Beginning in May of 2009, the ProGRT will visit four states and offer series ranking points to top finishers, resulting in overall individual titles for men and women. In addition, competitors will also have the opportunity to accumulate international ranking points as three of the five races are inscripted on the UCI calendar. Continue reading ‘Welcome ProGRT Tour’
The season is over. We have come to the end. The master clock has stopped ticking… blah, blah
I don’t know about you, but I can’t get racing out of my head. The competition was getting better. The courses were dialed. The fun was not done! Alas, the final Fluidride Cup race had been run. The series’s final rankings were known. The best riders had won.
Bart McDaniel set a standard for us all. He won again and broke the virtual tie he had with Lars Sternberg in the overall placement. Lars took third in this sixth race. Luke Strobel off the World Cup circuit took third. Eric Loney and Charlie Sponsel laid down some sick times to take fourth and fifth overall. I look forward to seeing these two as Pros next year.
Series Final Results
Series Overall Results
Series Dual Slalom Final
for video and more story Continue reading ‘Fluidride Cup 2008: Final Results’
Bart McDaniel did it again! He narrowly beat Lars Sternberg by 2 seconds in a combined time for two runs. That’s cutting it close. Nathan Riddle and Simon Lawton were back a small step in 3rd and 4th respectively. Another honorable mention is Jared Hobbes, a semi-pro rider, who took 4th overall. It was a great weekend of racing. With so many riders tightly together in the overall points, many duals are set for the last weekend. Bart McDaniel and Lars Sternberg are virtually tied a top the pro ranks. This scenario is replicated through out the classes. See you all on the 26th and 27th of September. For video and more story Continue reading ‘Fluidride Cup #5′
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.” For Video, Photos, and More Story Continue reading ‘Fluidride Cup #4: Port Angeles’
Pro Men: 1) Lars Sternberg 2) Andrew Mitchell 3) Bart Mcdaniel
Pro/Expert Women: 1) Katie Holden 2) Leanna Gerrard 3) Dawn Lambert 4) Joy Mutoli
Full Results: DH 2 Results DS 2 Results
This weekend was supposed to rain in Port Angeles, WA for Fluidride Cup Race #2. We got rain. At night while we all slept and dreamed of fast lines. We woke each morning to sunshine and perfect dirt. A perfect weekend for speed. In fact, I heard many racers talking about dealing with the speed of the course. “I feel I’m a little behind my bike.” “I’ve never felt faster” It was fast and the final times showed this. It also is possible that this is why there were so many injuries. But, we won’t dwell on this. Healing Vibes All. Now, there are three things that I must share about this weekend with you all… Continue reading ‘Fluidride Cup #2 Recap’
Boop, beep, beep, beep, beeep!
Racer brain takes over on that last high pitch beep and like a snapped rubber band the racer is pushed toward the finish line. The weekend began for some riders on Friday the early practice day. The rain was coming down when we arrived, and after the first practice run every hole and crevice of bike and rider was covered and packed in mud and water. But, then the rain stopped as practice ended. The blue sky portended of the great weekend to come. By the time the rain came again, Luke Strobel and Katrina Strand had taken the top spot in the podium for the pros. Continue reading ‘Fluidride Cup DH/DS #1 Results’
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