2009 Fluidride Cup Race #1 - Port Angeles, WA

2009 Fluidride Cup #1

Vic Sandrin sent us over his report and pictures from the first race of the 2009 Fluiride Cup. Check inside to see results, photos, and video from the event.

Well who said downhill racing is dead? Here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest it is alive and thriving. With over 400 racers in attendance for the 1st stop on the 2009 Fluidride Cup race series, it shows that good organizers and race courses can still bring out the masses. I have been racing nearly 20 years and I haven’t seen a turnout like this for a local DH race in probably 10 years.

We had some rain earlier in the week but the weather channel said blue sky and 60 degree weather and they didn’t lie this time. This year they have a Friday practice day which is great for people who can get off work and spend a day riding the course. I took advantage of the Friday practice to get myself used to the new bike I was riding, a Pivot Firebird. The trails were a little slick on Friday but as more people showed up to ride the course dried out quickly. Saturday practice was jammed pack but the boys at ODS (Olympic Dirt Society) did a great job of keeping the shuttle trucks moving and the line was never too bad, everybody got as many practice runs in as they wanted to get, and in my case I took way too many and my legs paid the price.

photo by - Vic Sandrin | click to enlarge

Sunday came race day, people started getting up to the Dry Hill trails about 6:30 in the morning to get the perfect parking spot. It was cold and the first shuttle went off at 7am, I waited until about 9:00 to get my run in because my class wasn’t going off until about noon so I didn’t want to wait too long in between practice and race runs. Everyone was getting one shot at glory with the Pros getting a seating run and then a race run after everyone ran their race. The Pros looked fast in the morning qualifiers and you could tell some were pushing corners to see how fast they could hit them. Curtis Keene took the top spot in qualifiers, with promoter, trail builder, all around nice guy Lars Sternberg a close second. This race had about 45 Pro racers in the field which is amazing and all of them were super fast, even better was that there were about 10 Pro women in the field as well which I don’t think I have ever seen at a local race before. We had some rippers from Canada come down from north of the border and so we had a good representation of fast dudes and dudettes from the PNW.

photo by Vic Sandrin | click to enlarge

The Cat 1,2 and 3 races went off after the Pro qualifiers and ran as smooth as butter. With more racers than they ever had for a single race you would think some things would get screwed up (they always do from the 20 years I have been doing this) but you would be wrong, everything ran like clockwork. Everybody ran at 30 second intervals and times were posted about 10 minutes after your run was done, just enough time to catch your breath and either be stoked on your ride or thinking about all the mistakes you made. My field of weekend warriors cat 2 30 –39 had over 40 people in it and not one person was bitching about their time. After all of us regular folk did our best to win the day it was time for the Pro’s to run the course. Slower qualifiers going first and fastest of the day last to go at the course.

I planted myself at the big step down and saw some amazing feats of will and strength, some crashes and some near misses, but everyone was going at the maximum speed through that area. Just after the step down was a greasy wet rock corner that took a few people out. The Women were first up and didn’t disappoint, every women took the step down in style with no hesitation at all. When the dust settled Miranda Miller from Canada took the Women’s top spot with Katie Holden in a close second and Denise Uyesugi in 3rd.

photo by Vic Sandrin | Leanna Gerrard | click to enlarge

For the men it was a wild day indeed, last years defending champ Bart McDaniel was making a good run of it but got tripped up after the step down and hit a tree pretty hard but got back on the bike and finished his run, My friend Eric Loney from Longview had a great qualifier (7th) and was looking to podium in his first Pro race but crashed in the same spot. We had some fast guys from Team Yeti racing and they ended up killing it pretty good coming in 4th and 5th. But the craziest part of the day was at the finish line. The top 2 guys absolutely killed the course and as everyone was starting to trek down the hill we heard an announcement over the radio, IT’S A TIE AND THERE MIGHT BE A 2nd RUN TO FIGURE THE WINNER!

photo by Vic Sandrin | click to enlarge

That is right Curtis Keene and Lars Sternberg had the exact same time on the course. We all thought it was a joke at first but it wasn’t April 1st so we knew it was legit. After a few minutes of deliberation it was declared that Curtis Keene was the winner since he had the fastest seeding run and so that is how a perfect race weekend ended!

The awards and raffle went off early and people were out of that place at a decent time despite over 400 racers. The Pro men’s cash purse was put up by Evil Bikes and the Women’s Pro purse was put up by Kona Bikes. There were also some great prizes for the raffle given by Shiloh Cycles in Gresham Oregon.

Results: (via Bones Over Metal)

Men’s Pro Podium

1. Curtis Keane
2. Lars Sternberg
3. Casey Northern
4. Joey Schusler
5. Chris Boice.

Women’s Pro Podium

1. Miranda Miller
2. Katie Holden
3. Denise Uyesugi
   

Thanks to all the sponsors who made it a great race weekend

Evil, Fox Racing, Kona, Fluidride are title sponsors.

E13
Dakine
Scott
Corsair Bikes
Transition Bikes
Pinkbike.com
Rockstar
Brasher’s Auto Auction
Gravity
Mace
Stevens Pass Ski Area