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Gulevich, Brule, and Splinter - Washington and Oregon Road Trip - Part 4

April 9, 2008

Published by brule

Port Angeles is our final destination (aside from home) for this road trip, where Gully and Splinter want to partake in some Fluidride Cup race action. I'll be snapping more pics of the events and checking out all that is good in the PNW scene.

Check out the race action and dual video:

Rolling out of Black Rock, we were all beat down and feeling the effects of all the pollen in the spring air. With Claritin in hand we headed to Aaron Lutze's in Portland to try to ride the pump track and get in some guitar hero too. Darkness and moisture kept us off the pump track, but nothing was keeping Gully away from Guitar Hero. Aaron had a full house with Phil, Amanda, Darcy, Gully, Splinter and myself around, but the crew all enjoyed the music.

The next morning we hit the road for Port Angeles for the Fluidride Cup #1. Our arrival at the venue was a wet one with mother nature soaking the DH and Dual courses.

It didn't take long for James and Gully to be soaked from the wet trails, but wow were they ever stoked on the race courses. Yep I said courses-for DH there was an Expert and a Sport course and for Dual everyone would be on the same one and it was a beauty. The finish line area was well taped off and there were tents already set up for the weekend's event.

Once the wet practice sessions were over it was time to clean up and go grab some eats. All I can say is that the Crab Shack in Port Angeles may officially have the slowest service EVER-we're talking 2 hours for our food in a restaurant that was nowhere near being full. It was brutal, but the sad thing is that we were too tired to go elsewhere, so we simply sucked it up and waited it out. Just wanted to whine about it here I guess.

The first day of racing in PA was all about Dual Slalom-wow folks love their dual racing! The course was laid out and built primarily by Casey Northern and Lars Sternberg and was it ever built well. Both lanes were so bang on and the racing action was tight all the way along. Other race organizers need to take note, duals are fun and folks of all abilities can race them if more courses are built like this.

Both his feet are still on the pedals

Even the fast guys crash

Here is some Dual race action for all ya'll:

Walking the pits (aka parking lot) I was amazed at the quality and sheer coolness of the bikes in attendance for this weekend's races. The fine folks from Corsair bikes were in attendance and Pablo had the Crown DH bike with him. Simply put this bike is a work of art, just look at the pics and tell me you aren't eager to order one up too!

Aside from this beauty machine, everywhere I looked there were Ironhorse bikes, and I mean everywhere. Being from Canada, I rarely see any IH bikes, let alone a few dozen Sundays in one place. This event was full of beautiful race machines and I was keen to see what the riders could do on them come DH race time. Once the Dual wrapped up the guys took a few more DH rips to get ready for the big races the next day.

DH Race time:

With the rain that had already fallen and the threat of more to come, folks were busting out the home made fenders all over the place. You'd think that living in the PNW, all these racers would just have fenders ready for the wet days? (like we get dry days)

Nice water bottle

Nice old tube

The uplift system was working like clock work all day and getting riders safely to the top. The finish area was well laid out to allow for lots of tired racers to relax and wait for their results to get posted. Right off the bat, there was seating for Pro Men and Ladies and then the racing began. Once the Experts were done their runs, it was time for a course change over for the sport racers turn to battle it out. The good group of volunteers made sure that things went off smoothly during all this.

Let the racing begin:

Link to all my DH and Dual Pics.

Once Splinter and Gully were done their runs and knew that they infact would not be standing on any podiums, it was time to load up the truck and get ready to hit the road home-yep 9 days and we were now heading home.

No podiums, but still happy on the race action

Loaded down

Sticker says it all

Looking back on the race weekend, I have to say that racing is alive and kicking in the Pacific North West-heck almost a dozen Canadians turned up to battle it out with their American Counter Parts. The venue, trails, volunteers and general atmosphere was top notch all weekend. I'm looking forward to reading about the Fluidride Cup races all season as our good buddy Mike Estes (Postcanyonloc) covers the race series right here on Pinkbike.com. Great event Lars and Crew!

I'm happy to say I am now at home and recovering from all the pollen in the the woods and getting ready for the next road trip-Look out Sea Otter!

Spoiled goods put this trip compilation together from all the footage I gathered while on the road:

Big thanks to everyone that helped make this trip rad:

Chico and crew from Dakine
Lars and Crew from Fluidride
Dre at Rocky Mountain
Brad at Spectrum Tech Wear
Kevin, Kyle and Sam at Transition Bikes
Mike Estes and Hood Crew
James Splinter and Geoff Gulevich for being yourselves!

James' quote of the trip "and this one time on Battle Star Galactica......"

-Brule