I had a chance to work with long time NW ripper Jim McCracken and his son recently. We worked on corning and footwork, and even talked about using foot work to pull the bike across the trail off a jump. We worked specifically on the jump shown at second 23 in this video. Jim sent this video to me a week after the session to show how much Zachary had improved. Watch how he uses his right foot to transfer him to the left side of the trail off the jump at second 23. Amazing footwork at the age of 8…the sky is the limit for Zachary!

Blue skies and a full tilt track greeted riders at round 3 of the Fluidride Cup Technical Downhill Series. The top half of the mountain was open for the first time this year, bringing a riders a truly challenging track for every category with over 1400 feet of descent per run.

Sunday mornings race started off with the Evil Bikes Men’s Pro Qualifier, where Mikey Sylvestri (Specialized/All Ride) showed riders how it’s done by posting the fastest time ever on the track with a blazing 3:48. In the final, Sylvestri was again the fastest, posting another great run to take the win with a 3:49. Charlie Sponsel (Evil Bikes) came back from a slow qualifier due to a mechanical and some rough falls in practice to claim a hard earned and well deserved second place. Kyle Thomas (Evil Bikes) took home the bronze in the 15 rider Pro field.

In the Loeka Pro Women’s division, Jamie Reese (Bike Hub) backed up her win from the last round, with Chelsea Stevens (Bike Hub) taking the runner up spot. The Cat 1 Junior Men’s race was closely contested and very fast, with Adam Ransavage (Evil Bikes) taking his first major win over Brian Mullen (DropnZone, Transition) and Cole Wetherell (Project 529/Santa Cruz).

Round 4 of the Fluidride Cup Technical DH Series is scheduled for August 20-22nd. There will be full practice offered on BOTH Friday and Saturday. Originally, we were scheduled to have a long break during Saturday’s practice for a wedding, but now have the schedule sorted to allow a full weekend of riding. For those who haven’t been to Schweitzer before, come ready to ride. This track is going to be big and long, with over 2,000 vertical feet of descent per run. We’ll hope to see you there!

Complete Round 3 results Here: Copy of Fluidride Cup 3 Skibowl

Here is the Maxxis Post Race Video, produced by Andy Tran – Enjoy!

The weather forecast is calling for 70-80 degrees and sunshine all weekend at Mt Hood Ski Bowl in Government Camp for the Fluidride Cup Technical DH Round #3, presented by Fat Tire Farm in Portland. The top of the track is now open after hours of shoveling snow banks courtesy of Todd Olsen, Eric Loney, and a number of other northwest rippers, effectively doubling the vertical drop from the last race. The dirt is rumored to be in perfect condition after last weekend’s rain, and the last bit of snow melt…things are shaping up for an epic weekend!

The FAT TIRE FARM is kicking down big time for this event, with extra cash for the Pro Class. The Evil Men’s DH will boast a $1,000 1st place purse, while the Loeka Women’s Pro DH will offer a $500 1st place purse.

MAXXIS is hooking it up for amateur riders, with a Maxxis Minion 3c for the winner of every class! This is an $80.00 prize – and there is one for every amateur category.

There is a NEW CATEGORY 2/3 woods section which has been added to the bottom part of the course, making the CAT 2/3 track, long and challenging. The most technical  woods portions of the track will now offer line options for riders of varying abilities. There have also been a few changes to the Pro Track for 2010, with the re-introduction of the log step down at the bottom of the woods.

REGISTRATION:

Online registration closes Wednesday 7.08 at midnight. On site registration is also available at the following times:

FRIDAY: 10:30am-6pm

SATURDAY: 7:30am-6pm

SUNDAY: 7:30am-8:30am

Race Registration is $49.00. Lifts are $34 for 3 days (Friday-Sunday), $24 for 2 days (Saturday-Sunday) or $10 for race day only.

PRACTICE TIMES:

FRIDAY: 11am-4pm. All Categories.

SATURDAY: CAT 2/3 8am-12pm. CAT 1/PRO 2pm-6pm.

SUNDAY: 8am-9:15 with racing beginning at 10am.

All categories will take one race run. Pro and Cat 1 Juniors will have a qualifier Sunday morning to decide starting order for the final.

We couldn’t make this happen without our sponsors, so be sure to support these great companies: FAT TIRE FARM, BIG TREE BIKES, CLIF BAR, LOEKA, BRASHER’S AUTO AUCTION, DAKINE, ALPINESTARS, EVIL BIKES, ARROW RACING, PINKBIKE, MAXXIS and BETTER LIFE HEALTH AND FITNESS.

Blue Bird Skies and perfect dirt made for some great riding at Fluidride Cup Round 2 at Mt Hood’s Ski Bowl. Congratulations go out to Keith Thompson on his big win in the Evil Men’s Pro Division. As one of the hardest training NW riders, Keith’s win was long overdue. In the two run format, Keith had the fastest time on BOTH runs, taking what was still a narrow win over Project 529’s Eric Loney. Alexander Mc Guiness took third, with Jim Johnston and Nick Coutour rounding out the top five in a very competitive field of ten Pro riders. Jamie Rees took the win in the Loeka Pro Women’s Downhill while Brian Mullen scored a win in the super fast Cat 1 Junior Division with a run fast enough for tenth overall and a small share of the race purse. Chris Bentley took the win in the Cat 1 40- 49 Division.

We were a bit short handed at the last event because of Hurricane’s Greg Aldrich’s absence due to a Gall Bladder removal and the birth of his newest family member Jonah. Congratulations go out to Greg and his family. We are looking forward to having you back at the races in September!

Here are the full race results: fluidride cup 2 dh @ skibowl

NEXT RACE: Mt Hood Ski Bowl July 9-11. Look for big purses courtesy of FAT TIRE FARM. $1,000 1st place Pro Men and $500 1st Place Pro Women.

Thanks go out to Evil Bikes, Big Tree Bikes, Fat Tire Farm, Shiloh Cyclery, Arrow Racing, Maxxis, Clif Bar, Loeka, Brasher’s, Dakine, Alpinestars, Better Life Health and Fitness and Pink Bike for their support of the Fluidride Cup.

For now, here is a video by Syndrome Racing’s Andy Tran – check it out!