Come October, Port Angeles usually receives one final deluge of mountain bikers lured to the small town by the promise of a fall shuttle fest — a crowd favorite that dishes up tons of fun while sneaking in a final hurrah before winter. Late last year, NW Cup director Scott Tucker and Cascadia Dirt Cup director Trey Wilson realized the annual fest was prime to be combined with a multi-day competition on the fast trails and hero dirt of Dry Hill.
Their initial tour-de-mountain-biking plans included several different disciplines of riding, but the two wisely paired it down to the meat and potatoes of the northwest and settled on one day of enduro racing followed by a day of downhill racing. Creating an end of the year championships that would offer something to each of the series' participants and a chance to be crowned champion of the mountain for the fastest combined time over both days. Though racers could opt to race only a single day if desired.
With the format finalized, a new trail under construction, and a well-honed shuttle system in place, all that was left to do was wait for October to roll around.
Like with all fall biking events, the weather has a major effect on the goings on. So the rain forecasted over the weekend wasn't missed when it decided to skip town. Instead, Saturday's earlier-than-usual racer's meeting was still and cool — allowing riders to focus more on the early hour than wet socks. In store for the day was plenty of climbing and four stages of classic trails and two that haven't been raced before. Stages one and two were short and fast descents down the front of the mountain, stage three headed to the backside, and stage four was a long pull from the summit to the staging area below.
Enduros at Dry Hill don't skimp on the vertical, mileage, or fun and Saturday was no exception. Fast descents, steady pedaling, fresh built goodness, and some soft and duffy sections were all on tap. By the time racers reached the very long stage four, they were clearly starting to feel the effects of an intense day. Making the allure of friends, drinks, food, and podiums that much more inviting. And with the downhillers getting their Saturday practice in, post-race shuttles were an option too.
Canfield Brother's Colton Wiersum took third in Junior Expert, a little over six seconds behind Luke Topol. Ahead of them was Alex Walker who avoided the pitfalls of crashes and flats to crush every stage and carry a strong lead. Leana Gerrard took an early lead for Pro Women but lost time during the final stages to end in third. Emily Sabelhaus came second behind Andi Zolton. Erik Nilson took third to claim his first Pro Men's podium. Ahead of him came Bob Stenson, who despite the good result during his first enduro has no intention of making enduros a regular thing. Luke Strobel took the day with a time of 20:17.4. Full enduro results
here.
Sunday's forecasted rain didn't show up either and racers were quick to get their morning practice laps in. All categories raced the same course from White Knuckle to Motoguzzi to Cakewalk for a moderately technical route. Fast times were further bolstered by dirt conditions that ran the gamut from hard pack to the occasional rooty rut.
Joshua Fultz-Veirotte took third for Junior Expert, just .06 seconds behind Colton Wiersum. Dylan Brown took the top step with a time 2:36.50. Team Juliana/MFR had a good showing by taking the entire Pro Women's podium — Kaytlin Melvin saw her first pro win ahead of teammates Karen O'Connell and Emily Sabelhaus. Andi Zolton's fourth place finish didn't earn her a podium on Sunday, but her combined times did secure the Queen of Cascadia title.
Kasper Dean took third and scored his first Pro Men's podium. Canadian rider Max Scharf put in a smoking time of 2:25.48 that put him in the hot seat right until local man of speed Luke Strobel laid down a time .37 seconds up to take the win. Strobel's back-to-back wins also gave him the King of Cascadia title. Full downhill results
here. And reigning champion results
here.
Fall continues to be a special time in Cascadia, just ask any of the weekend's participants for confirmation. And with the 2016 racing season heading to bed your number one goal should be to get out and ride your bike a lot before the snow flies. If you missed the Cascadia MTB Championships, rest assured that the good people of the CDC and NW Cup are busy scheming for next year.
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