Round #1 of the Mt Hood series took place on Saturday May 5th. The rain, wind and snow which had blown in on Friday all cleared out, leaving us a perfectly watered course which wound through pristine forest a few miles below snow covered Ski Bowl, where the rest of the series will be contested throughout the summer months. Over 125 riders made the trip to Mt Hood for the first event of the series, which went off without a hitch.

The event was a two run format, with the fastest of the two runs counting as the final result. Simon Lawton (Pictured on right) of Fluidride/Iron Horse set the fastest first run at 4:14, with with Cannondale/Bear Naked rider Kim Eakin (center) just two tenths of a second back. Kim was determined to go home with the race win, and set a smoking 4:10 on his second run. Simon answered with a 4:12, good enough for second place and the Silver medal. Kim took home the largest portion of the $1,240 race purse which was a result of great rider turn out and donations by Shiloh Cyclery and Fluidride.

Fluidride’s Jerry Knight also had a great ride, handily winning the 19-29 Expert race with a very respectable 4:24 run time.

The next Ski Bowl race will be held June 9th and 10th, on the mountain at Ski Bowl. Due to heavy snow in the top bowl at Ski Bowl, riders will most likely contest the 3 minute plus technical Bottom Bowl portion of the Ski Bowl course for event #2. Riders will have three race runs, with their best two combined for their overall result. Be sure to support what has become one of the best regional series in the country. See you Saturday June 9th…practice starts at noon.

Team Fluidride recently returned from Chile where we were doing some racing, and riding the many trails around the Santiago area.

Our first stop of the trip was the Valparaiso, where Lars Sternberg (pictured) took third place overall behind France’s Cedric Gracia and Chile’s rising star Oscar Yunge in the 4th annual Cerro Abajo Urban DH. 3 time winner and crowd favorite Antonio Leiva finished 5th in what proved to be a very fast field of riders. Fluidride had a very successful day with three riders in the top 20 (Simon 13th, Zeb 19th).

After racing in Valpo, we headed for the high Andes where we stayed for several days of completely insane riding near LaParva. We were joined by Cannondale the Cut rider Chris Van Dine, as well as Amelia Colasurdo (Cannondale) and some more local riders for some first descents down scree lines high in the mountains (almost 12,000′!). The rides started in lunar shale, and descended through high alpine meadows, then into almost desert like single track. Each run provided nearly 8,000 vertical feet of descent. If you haven’t been riding in Chile…start planning your trip!