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!

Our follow up to our first instructional film Fluidride: Like a Pro is now in post production. We finished up our last day of filming on TURN yesterday with Awesome Land’s Mark Brent and Miles Sullivan. TURN gives riders an in depth breakdown of how top riders use footwork to elevate their riding to amazing levels. “I’ve had great success with students recently using some new ways of teaching I’ve discovered over the last year, and am really excited to bring my ideas to riders around the world” said Fluidride founder and head coach Simon Lawton. TURN is about more than just cornering well says Lawton. “What we’ve really discovered is that there really is a way to teach riders to flow, and it comes from the way they use their feet”. Even seasoned riders and Pro’s who have benefited from Lawton’s coaching recently have been blown away by the changes they have been able to make to their riding with their new understanding of footwork. TURN is for riders of all levels in all disciplines of cycling. Expect to see TURN available for purchase at the beginning of August.

Round 2 of the Fluidride Cup Technical DH Series is coming up this weekend! There is still plenty of room at the starting line, so come on down and register on site if you haven’t already registered online. Lots of local riders have been up at Ski Bowl helping the Hurricane Crew prep the track for this weekend. Between everyone, we’ve decided to hold off on using the top half of the mountain until our July race due to rapidly melting snow pack. For this race, all riders will ride the lower more technical portion of the track twice, with times being combined. We have a new section for Category 2 riders which ventures into the lower woods parallel to the Pro Course. Category 3 riders will compete on the old Cat 2 track. The Pro/Cat 1 Track also has a few changes awaiting riders with the reintroduction of the log step down double in the lower woods.  Winning times are expected to be around 5 minutes. We are using a new practice schedule so be sure to read the following closely in order to be there at the right time.

PRACTICE TIMES:

Friday: 11am-4pm All Categories

Saturday: 8am-12pm Cat 2/3  -  2pm-6pm Cat 1/Pro

Sunday: One hour of practice prior to racing. Times to be posted at event.

LIFT PRICES:

Friday-Sunday $34

Saturday & Sunday $22

Sunday Only $10

Racers will be required to purchase lift passes after registering. All passes will be purchased at the ticket window. We will no longer issue tickets at registration. All racers must have a lift pass in order to practice – Lift passes are not included in the registration price. Big thanks go out to Kirk at Ski Bowl for the special lift pricing.

Additional Info:

Mt Hood is a big track, with more than 1400 vertical feet of drop. The tracks at Ski Bowl start at the tree line with lots of rock, and descend into some great NW style woods at the bottom. Pro Purses in the Men’s DH will go ten deep, with the winner taking away $500.00. The Loeka Women’s DH will pay 3 deep, with the fastest woman taking home $250.00. As usual, we’ll have prizes for category winners, and lots of drinks and snacks to keep riders charging. The series is decided by the rider with the most points in their best three races, including the final at Mt Hood, so if this is your first Fluidride Cup of the year, you are still in contention for the overall series. See you there!