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
I came down to central California early to get some sun and ride and shoot local trails. In this first video I met up with Evan Turpen a few days before Sea Otter 2009. We road his training trails. He explains the importance of training trails versus downhill trails. We then go and hit up some dirt jumps.
They say this weekend’s weather will be in the 70s or 80s. Can you say Sunblock? Eat your heart out PNW. Love you all!
Another Pre Otter Video Coming Tuesday Night. Then stay tuned for our daily videos from Sea Otter. Follow immediate results from my phone via Twitter.
This Fox sponsored video shows the Pro/Cat 1 course for the 1st Fluidride Cup of 2009. April 3rd-5th. The course travels down the main trail White Knuckle and across the clearing to Upper Pro Course. Upper Pro Course has be rerouted and drops out below Moto-Guzi to set the racer up for the double into the Woops. After that the racer travels down to the Step-down, followed by a sharp right-left Chicane leading to the Step-Not, into the Camel Hump and down lower Pro Course. There is a special exit this time, as Pro riders don’t have to merge back with White Knuckle. They simple jump the creak and sprint toward the finish berm. This is a fast paced run.
Fox rider Lars Sternberg followed by Casey Northern.
Wheel Sport East put on a fun and challenging weekend. Two races in a weekend takes ambition for the promoters and the racers. Great Job all. Over half of the racers arrived on Friday to get a jump on learning the courses. If you’d raced Beacon Hill before you didn’t have that much of an advantage. The tape job brought out difficult and exciting lines that perplexed many of the racers. Continue reading ‘Beacon Downhill Race: Double Down Hoe Down’
The ‘Oly International’ was the second of two friendly DH races put on by the GHY Bike Shop. This is probably the last such event held at South Seatac’s Flowpark. It seems evident that this quasi legal ride area will disappear to development on a jail and a road bypass. When you watch this video think of the ton of time spent by happy riders at this flowpark.
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.
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’
Last weekend’s Silveroxx Downhill Mountain Bike Festival at Silver Mountain, ID was a blast! On tap were two days filled with enough high-speed gravity action to satisfy any adrenaline junkie. On top of that, it was a great time to hang out with friends from the other side of the state who I only get to see once or twice a year — and to meet some new folks too. Continue reading ‘Silveroxx’
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.
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
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.
Last weekend I got the opportunity to both cover and participate in the Fluidride Race Camp. As many of you know, my love for riding is a two-headed beast. One head is for sure Bones Over Metal and the bike media I work on. The other head is my own riding and racing. Lucky for me, both of these heads want to go in the same direction and attending the Fluidride Race Camp allowed me to exercise both of these interests. Continue reading ‘Fluidride Race Camp’
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