Sunny skies and a very dusty track greeted riders for practice on Friday and Saturday leading up to Sundays race. (more…)

Sunny skies and a very dusty track greeted riders for practice on Friday and Saturday leading up to Sundays race. The track was very rough and difficult due to the blown out course and a tricky rock garden the guys at Hurricane Racing threw in for good measure. In addition to the rock garden, several other changes were made to the top part of the track to keep riders on their toes. Mountain weather can change very quickly, as mother nature showed us on Sunday as riders awoke to rain and hanging mist, which made the track surface even more treacherous, and visibility nearly non existent.

In the Evil Pro Men’s Downhill Qualifier, the conditions proved to create some larger than usual margins between riders. Luke Strobel (Team Rocky Mountain-Maxxis/Rockstar Energy) ran the fastest initial time, clocking a 4:08 with Bryn Atkinson (Crank Brothers/Intense) in behind him with a 4:12. In the final the two riders switched with Bryn running the fastest time of the day with a 4:08 to take the win in the Evil Mens Pro Downhill and the $1,000 check that went along with it, courtesy of FAT TIRE FARM, FLUIDRIDE, and EVIL BIKES. Luke Strobel ended up in second position in the final with third place going to Mikey Sylvestry (Santa Cruz/All Ride Academy). Bart McDaniel (Fluidride/Evil) and up and coming Eric Loney (Project 529/Santa Cruz/SRAM) rounded out the top five.

The KONA Women’s Downhill proved to be a very close race, with the top three riders all on the same second! In the end, Sara Johnson (Velobella) narrowly took home the win over Chelsey Stevens (Wheelsport East/POW Gloves) and Amy Laird.

In the Cat 1 Junior category, Evan Gilsdorf (Downhill Zone Racing) handily took the win over the rest of the field – and taking home the $100 courtesy of FOX SHOX, with his brother Tyler Gilsdorf (Downhill Zone Racing) following suit to win the Cat 1 19-29 category by a whopping margin of 12 seconds. The brothers Gilsdorf are two of the hardest working young riders in the NW, so it was great to see them enjoy well earned victories on the same day. The 30-39 Cat 1 Mens race was won by Jim Straatman (Logo Bible Software) while the 40-49 division was taken by hard charging Brad Watt, aboard his new Evil bike. Brad’s time was fast enough to put him in the top 10 overall for the day – good going Brad!

Thanks go out to all the riders who made the trip to Mt Hood to do battle with the mountain and incliment weather. Big thanks go out to Brad at Shiloh Cycles in Gresham Oregon for another amazing raffle. Racing in the NW wouldn’t be possible without the help of everyone who helps out. Thanks to these fine companies – racing is back! Evil Bikes, Kona, Fox Racing Shox, E-13, Dakine, Scott, Pinkbike, Rockstar Energy, Corsair Bikes, Transition, Gravity, Jones Soda, and Mace.

There was a lot of build-up for the 4th annual Mt Ashland 12-mile Super-D this year as registration sold out in the month prior to the race.  Next year I’m sure it will reach Downieville status.  This year saw an all star cast of racers, Miles Rockwell, Adam Craig, Tyler Moreland, Kirt Vorhies, Jason Moeschler, Willow Koerber,Greg Herbold, and  Eric Carter, to name just a few of the big name Pros to show up.  (more…)

275 riders converged on Mt Hood’s Ski Bowl at the end of June, officially making this the largest ever Ski Bowl Downhill race. (more…)

275 riders converged on Mt Hood’s Ski Bowl at the end of June, officially making this the largest ever Ski Bowl Downhill race.

Fluidride/Evil Rider Phil Wiering Pinned at Mt Hood
Photo by: Carl Warren

Much of the track was fresh, just having been cut by Jim Cairn, Todd Olson, Phil Wiering, Brad Watt and a number of other skilled rider/builders. Their idea of what would make a challenging and fun track did not dissapoint. The top of the track started with lots of broken shale and then went into warp speed down “Cannonball” where riders were reaching speeds near 50mph. The bottom of the track included some nasty rock gardens, and of course some good old NW loam – the dirt was so dark, dank, and fresh that it was very hard to see the roots on the trail – riding the loam by brail was what it was all about – great stuff. The EVIL Men’s Pro Downhill had 41 entrants from across the country, and even a couple of international riders. The pace in qualifying was fast, with Lars Sternberg (Transition) taking the top spot with a very fast 4:08. Lisa Myklak (Fox/Black Market) took the top seeding spot in the KONA Women’s Pro Downhill.

After qualifying, we had about a 6 hour wait while the amatuer riders battled the course. Alex Hansen (Project 529) took the win in a very fast Cat 1 19-29 category, while Matt Patterson (Dirt Corps) had a great day taking the win in the Cat 1 30-39 Category. Jason Moon (Boon Dog Bikes) took the win in the Cat 1 40-49 class by a narrow margin over hard charger Brad Watt aboard his new Evil. Chelsea Stevens (Wheel Sport East) took the win for the Cat 1 women.

After a nice rest, the Pro Men and Women as well as Cat 1 Juniors went to the top for the final where we were rewarded with an amazing view of Mt Hood in the afternoon sun. The track was in good shape, although it was a lot rougher than it was 200 riders earlier. I had a really fun run, then waited at the bottom for the last 12 riders to make their way down the course and watched as the hot seat changed hands a number of times. In the end, So Cal ripper JD Swanguen (Intense/ODI/TLD) had the fastest run with an incredible 4:02. Lars Sternberg (Transition) came down last, and almost took the win from JD, ending up in 2nd place by just over a second. Third place went to Fluidride/Evil rider Phil Wiering, who has been on a tear this seaon. Watch out for Phil at the next round – he’s on pace to run with anyone who wants to bring it. I caught up with JD after the race to see what he thought about the course and he had this to say:  “The track at Mt. Hood was an amazing track that demanded all kinds of skills. Whether you were fisting it and flying white-knuckle at 50 m.p.h., pinning through the tight and technical rock sections, or ripping the dark and loamy woods section, you had to be on your toes at all times. I definitely can say that Mt. Hood is a manly track that deserves more recognition. I will definitely be racing at Mt. Hood again.”

The Women’s Pro division played out much as it did in qaulifiers with Lisa Myklak taking the win over Katrina Strand (Oakley/Shimano) who was warming to the course and getting faster with each run. Joy Mutoli (Team Mutoli) rounded out the top 3 for the Pro Women.

In the Junior Category 1 race Justin Wyche (Division 26) took the top honors with Evan Powell (Yeti/Fox regional) and Evan Gilsdorf (Downhill Zone) rounding out the top 3. Luciano Worl (Fluidride/Evil) had a fast run going, but ended up tasting some fresh loam, and settled for fourth place overall in a field of 30 Cat 1 Juniors. Chase Schmidt (Dirt Corps/Transition) had a break through ride for 5th place in the stacked field – nice going Chase!

HUGE thanks go out to Brad at SHILOH cycles in Gresham Oregon for the massive raffle. If you live in the Portland area, be sure to shop at Shiloh to support the guys who support your sport. Shiloh can be reached at 503.665.5538. If you see Brad Delzer at the races, be sure to thank him for the raffle!