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.