Fluid Ride Finals - Derek

Derek was totally psyched to compete in a real downhill race and felt lucky to have Chris Bentley there as his mentor. Derek and Chris decided that it would be most competitive for Derek to enter the U14 “Sport” class. Derek got in 8 practice runs on Saturday and with tips from Chris he was feeling great…until he took a race day tip from Chris that he probably won’t ever duplicate…he took a Red Bull up the mountain and guzzled it before the race. The effect was not exactly positive for a 13 year old who’s not used to caffeine! He was more nervous and felt jittery and took a spill on his first race run. So then he felt even more pressure going into his second run but it turned out to be flawless and was fast enough to pull him into 7th place out of 10 riders. It was a great weekend and overall super entry into the downhill world…and it’s always great to hang out with the guys that win…Congrats Chris!

Fluid Ride Finals - Chris

I want to thank our sponsors Therapeutic Associates, Black Diamond Bicycles, Marzocchi, FSA, and Ritchie who help me build a quality Downhill Race bike that kept me on the podium this year - Also Gameworks, Nuun, Rudy Project. It was a great Fluidride cup series to be a part of.

The final Fluidride Cup series (race #6) arrived the weekend of Sept 27th and 28th. Typically we all expect foul wet weather this time of year but it turned out to be a perfect sunny weekend in the mid 70's. With the exception of our new DH team member Derek Deyoung, Darrell Jamieson, his son Chase and I all expected some good results due to our successes earlier in the season.

Practice on Saturday went well for all of us as no one on the team got hurt or had any surprise mechanical issues. The Pro/Expert course was exceptionally challenging as the rock garden and the steep woods sections seemed to protrude with larger rocks or roots this final championship weekend than ever before. Nonetheless, come race time everyone pulled it together with solid runs. Derek Deyoung who entered his first ever downhill race in the Sport 14 and under category had a great 2nd run and was just a little off from being on the podium. (Amazing for a 13 year old - Look for Derek to excel in the 2009 year).

Regarding the Expert 40+ men, I saw from the last race that everyone was getting faster. Darrell had been cheating all year by making trips to Whistler and practicing DH...calling it a mere 'vacation'. I didn't buy it. I knew he'd be faster and he was. His 1st run was within 2 seconds of my winning race time from over a month ago, and I felt slower this weekend. I was a bit worried. As Darrell mentioned, the posted start times were 1 hour off, and corrections were being made via a microphone but I didn't hear this. As I got off the chairlift and waited for my bike to arrive from a couple chairs behind, I saw my competitors already taking off each at 1 minute intervals. They began calling for me telling me I had just a couple minutes. I found a hiding place for my red bull that I planned to drink over the next 1/2 hour and headed over with about 40 seconds to spare. My heart was racing and adrenaline pumping by the time the 5 second 'beeper' began counting down. My race run went well and despite a couple of close calls with a tree and a giant hole at the bottom of what is known as the 'log gap', I kept it on 2 wheels the whole way and was in the lead by only a couple of seconds. Darrell did get faster as he had been doing all season long. My second run went even better and I shaved a couple more seconds off (thanks red bull!) and this gave me four 1st places for the season and the championship.

Another link of info: http://northwestdhdad.pinkbike.com/blog/fluidride-finals.html

As I move close to age 45, I look forward to some very tough competition next year and realize now that a good training plan will have to be taken seriously come january in order for me to be competitive again.

Chris Bentley

Fluid Ride Finals - Darrell and Chase

Chase on the podium proving once again that fast, uh hum, very fast things come in small packages!

I don't think that I have ever seen the Mt. Hood course in such great condition, no dust, dry roots, and tacky dirt, it was an awesome day. I was stoked that Chris and I could practice together and maybe his speed could rub off on me. Going into the finals Chris all but had it wrapped up but I was still in the hunt for the silver. Almost two hours before the posted start time I made my trek up the lift to the start, I laid down and started running the course through my head and started to doze off, next thing I know they are calling me up to the gate(the start time was posted 1 hour off) and I arrive 1 minute before the start, as they are counting me down they are calling for Chris as I turn I don't see him in sight. The gate drops and off I go with a clean run (2:46) three minutes later here comes Chris (2:43). Team Sega sitting 1 and 2 and that’s where it stayed. Next year should be very interesting with the Semi pro class dissolving. The target on the back of the Chris and I just keeps getting bigger, as a matter of fact one rider told me that his wife is going to yell out Chris's name while he is training and if that's not working she will yell out mine. I'm sure Chris will know who I'm talking about.

I can't help but be proud of my 9 year old boy Chase who continues to shave 15 to 30 seconds each race. With consistency and a couple of podium finishes during the series he was sitting in the lead. Chase came up with the idea that if he did a 4:32 I would buy him a cell phone, I figured it was a safe bet since his fastest time was a 5:02 and that is what the fastest kids in the class run and they are 13 and 14. Well I'm safe for now he did a 4:48 good enough for second for the day and first for the series. It was truly an epic day on the mountain and Cheers to Team Sega!