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2009 Fluidride Cup #3 at Mount Hood
Last weekend was the Fluidride Cup #3 at Mount Hood, OR. The TAI downhill team had good results, with all the riders placing in the top 5. Ann Davis won her race in the women’s open beginner class. Mitch Davis followed in his mom’s footsteps, getting a first place finish. It’s always fun to win, but he’s probably ready for a little competition…as he was the only person to race his class, 15-18 beginners. I raced in the 14 and under Sport class, and had a good race run on my new Transition Blindside, placing 4th due to a crash that added a fair amount of time to my run.
I had ridden Mount Hood before for the finals at the end of last season, but the upper mountain was closed due to chairlift issues resulting from the heavy snow, so the new addition to the course was something to look forward to. On Saturday, I ate a quick breakfast and then rode down to the lifts for registration, and then went up for my first practice run. Armed with a new bike and a new Leatt neck brace, I was ready and stoked to ride. Surprised by the almost instantaneous rock garden on the new top section, I held on and let the bike plow through. I am still amazed at how well a DH bike can plow through, over, and around almost anything you point it at. Practice seemed good for everybody on the team, with no injuries or mechanical issues. Later that evening, we met up with the Mitch and Ann for dinner in Government Camp. We decided on a small but promising looking pizza joint, and famished, sat down for what would become a very very long wait. Starving and sore from the days riding, I sat there for hours until finally our food came. Thankful once the long wait was over, I dug in and almost instantly felt better.
With a good nights sleep and a good breakfast, I was ready to race. After watching the pros come down for their qualifying run and then the next few categories, I headed up to the top.
The sport course took off down the new top section that wound its way down the face of the upper mountain. The mountain proved early that it wasn’t out to play games, starting off with a gnarly rock garden at the very beginning of the course. From there it started down what I guess used to be an old fire road that volunteers had recently turned into a trail. This was a very fast section of the course, and the combination of a newly built trail, loose dirt, rocks, and high speeds made for a sketchy but fun ride. From there it ran into the old course, going down a gravel road for a short while, then making an abrupt 90 degree turn in loose gravel. Right after that turn, you started back on a normal trail that wound itself down the main face of the mountain. The beginners stayed on this trail the entire way down, and the sport riders veered off to the left into the only non-fun section of trail on the whole mountain. After climbing up a ladder bridge, you had to pedal and pedal for what seemed an eternity after the fast trip down from the top. This was over soon enough though, and you then took off into the trees for some much needed downhill. The first section was filled with slightly rooty and rocky berms and off camber jumps and turns. Then the sport and expert courses met for the last, but in my opinion, most fun part of trail. There were multiple gaps and step downs, and then it turned into the lung-popping homestretch. Unfortunately, the senior DH racer on the team, Chris Bentley, was unable to race due to an injury to his calf that he received at the last race at Dry Hill. We wish Chris good luck in recovering and hope that he is well enough for Nationals in Colorado later this month. All in all, the TAI team had a very successful and fun outing at the 3rd Fluidride Cup.
-Derek DeYoung
More photos can be seen here
Race Results:
Cat II Men 0-14
4 Derek DeYoung
Cat III Men 15-18
1 Mitch Davis
Cat III Women 0-18
3 Cheyenne Smith
Cat III Women Open
1 Ann
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