The first Fluidride Cup in history has gone down as a huge success. We had 235 riders entered in Sunday’s Downhill, and 41 racers entered in Saturday’s Slalom. There were 15 pros, 14 Semi Pros, and 3 Pro women in attendance. We handed out over 50 temporary licenses to first time racers, and 47 annual memberships! I have never seen so many first time racers at a local event in my life. Such a cool experience to be a part of, and it made me proud to be a PNW local. Gravity racing is thriving up here!
We would also like to thank Hurricane Racing for joining us in this endeavor, for without them this would not be happening. Petr told me on Sat when we were setting up the slalom timing he had not set that system up in over 5 years! Which was something he had not agreed to do in the beginning, but after seeing all the excitement upon arriving, and feeling all the energy there he whippped it up on the spot.
We would also like to thank all the volunteers who helped throughout the weekend. Some were ODS members and locals, and many were not. I met so many new people who came and showed support who weren’t even riding. And a HUGE thanks go out to all our sponsors who kicked in and made sure we had enough swag to give out a massive pile of Raffle goodies-
Brad of Shiloh Cycles, Transition Bikes, Stevens Pass, Troy Lee Designs, Fluidride, Dakine, Pinkbike
And last but definitely not least all the racers, returning and new. You are the reason we put this whole thing together, and after all the hard work, it paid off to see you all come out and Race!
Fri kicked off after a week of sunshine and warmth with clouds and rain. The foul weather did not deter the Loc’s however as we registered 61 people on Fri. It was great to see all the crafty fenders and rain gear appear out of spare tubes and old numberplates etc. We don’t mind getting muddy just to rifle off a few good runs in the NW that’s for sure.
Sat began with better weather and a huge crowd of people. We were beginning to wonder if we got ourselves in trouble and were going to run out of parking. Fortunately the extra lot we cleared this winter was enough space and everyone had a spot sorted with room to spare. Dual slalom qualifiers kicked off at 12:30 and the course couldn’t have been in better condition. We decided to stick to a format that allowed everyone to qualify to the finals in every category. This allowed everyone a few more chances to get their shred on. Everyone was done qualifying by 2:30 and had time to go eat and do some DH practice before the 4pm finals. Come finals time everyone was looking good on the course. There was a little trouble deciding which lane to pick if you were a faster qualifier as they were so even.
Results will be posted by Fri!
Sunday morning began early to allow everyone a few more practice runs down their respective courses. Pros Qualified first and I think the dirt was the best it’s ever been on Dry Hill to date! I think I say that every time though. After the Pro Qualis, Experts started the racing action off down the selected Pro/Ex course. Conditions must have been great as those guys were posting times that we usually run in the dry. After a quick course change over we were on to the Sports and Beginners. This course must have been a good one as some notable Pro Freeriders were in attendance (and due to a lack of an annual license were required to race the sport cetagory) still opted to race the sport class just to ride the track another time. After the Sports came the Beginners and they ran the same course as the Sports did. Everyone was all smiles after their runs and couldn’t be more stoked. By now it was 2pm and time for the final run for the Pro’s, Semi Pro’s, and Pro Women. Just as the first riders were in the start in true NW and World Cup fashion it started to rain. It made for a slightly slicker course than we ran in qualifiers but not by much. Almost enough to need a tear off.
When all was said and done the first Fluidride Cup Awards were handed out, but not before a massive raffle of boxes of free stuff.
All in all I think everyone had a wicked time and was stoked on the tracks and venue. Nearly everything went off without a hitch and everyone was on their way home by 5-5:30 pm. Not bad for the first race of the season with a rider count we haven’t seen the like of since the last World Cup was held at Snoqualmie pass.
Long live racing in the NW and see you at the next one!!!
Anybody know what program to use to look at results the only thing i can find is 30-39 expert. That race kicked “_ _ _” I wish the next race was at PA I’m pretty sure Hood has way to much snow. We will be back for the next 2 races and we will bring more people ( props to everybody who made it happen
Konadog,
Are you referring to the spreadsheet? There are like 11 pages in the spreadsheet, so look at the lower left hand corner of the application window, and then select from there.
I was wondering where your race results are posted? Sounds like a great turn out, please post the results. At least the top (5)
The Results are downloadable via that link under the photos above.