Loading ...2008 Fluidride Cup
Friday, March 21st, 2008After months of obtaining feedback from racers and careful deliberation, Fluidride, Hurricane racing, and NDub productions have teamed up to create the ultimate race series in the Pacific Northwest. Combining two of the most well respected race venues in the PNW the series consists of six races over six months.
With four of the six races counting toward the overall CUP, any rider wanting to give the series a go should have a crack at the overall titles.
The PNW has one of the largest Downhill scenes in the Nation, and after losing the WIM series in 2005, has had very few racing options. This is where the Cup comes into play.
“Offering a chance for so many new riders in the Region to come out and give DH, and Dual Slalom racing a go, was one of our biggest reasons for creating the Cup” Says Fluidride owner Simon Lawton
Port Angeles Dry Hill sits in the rain shadow of the Olympic mountains, which means it gets a bit less rain than other areas in the Pacific Northwest. Ndub productions, along with the Olympic Dirt Society have been busy making some of the best trails anywhere in this area, which offer a mix of bermed turns, lush rain forest single track, and wide open lines with some big jumps. There is truly something for every category at this event, from the beginner friendly White Knuckle to the very technical Pro Course, as well as several other tracks which offer great flow; no two races at this venue will be the same.
Mt Hood has been offering some of the best racing in the country for over twenty years. While there are fewer tracks to choose from than in Port Angeles, the tracks offer a huge amount of terrain diversity from top to bottom, in addition to stunning views of Mt Hood at the starting line. The 1400′ plunge starts near the treeline at just over 5,000 feet on broken shale through scrubby trees. From there, it drops into Cannonball, a mix of very rough jeep road, sweeping turns and a tricky rock garden sometimes thrown in for good measure. Exiting Cannonball, riders have a few seconds of fireroad to get their game together for the single track to come. Beginners enjoy sweeping turns; sport riders have a mix of great open European style single track along with some rock; while pro riders go on to some off camber rock sections leading into the Deck Drop to steep epic NW style fall line single track through the woods with natural features and gaps sure to test riders of any skill.
Fluidride guarantees $500.00 to the pro mens DH winner at each event and at least $200 to the winning Pro woman in the DH category.
Payout goes to the top TEN fastest times of the day, regardless of category. Petr Kakes of Hurricane racing has used this format for the last decade and has proven it to be a successful proponent to help groom the faster Experts into Professionals with out the pressure to upgrade too early.
More information available at:
http://fluidride.com/fluidride-cup/
Course preview available at:
http://virtualdescent.com/view_video.php?video_id=150
March 29th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Its awesome to see someone finally bringing back races here at home. But, there has been the Mt. Hood series (six race series) and the Willamette Pass series (three races) for a while. The great thing about the the WIM was being able to hit up Beacon Hill in Spokane (seeing Lars blast down that was awesome, why not again?), riding Snoqualmie and hitting the other WIM locales. Why, if Sam isn’t already trying, aren’t we bringing back more venues for the PNW racers? I ain’t complaining, I’m still glad we have some races coming back to dry hill, but I guess I’m greedy and want all those other races back too. Maybe we should try to boost the motivation of the rest of the riders out here to get some action going on.