The 2008 Fluidride Cup Final MEGA-post

Oct 4, 2008
by Mike Estes  
It's official - you hear the fat lady singing? Do you hear the aches and pains of about 200 DH racers? The 2008 Fluidride Cup has concluded its 6 race series of Dual Slalom and Downhill in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. 2 locations provided 'World Cup' quality race venues from Port Angeles Washington's Dry Hill to Mt Hood Oregon's Ski Bowl Ski Resort. Come inside and check out the final placing, the season ending MEGA-post is right here!

Photos by Carl Warren and Mandy Bauer!
Videos by Shovelpick, Andy Tran of Syndrome Racing and PeteD!
Special Crash Photos From Photographer Larry MaurerThe 2008 Fluidride Cup series was organized by several people dedicated to Mountain Bike Racing in the NW, one key man has over 20 years putting on races and with the direction of Petr Kakes (Hurricane Racing), the FR CUP was a huge success. Simon Lawton and Lars Sternberg of Fluidride Bike Shop wanted to combine the Port Angeles site with Ski Bowl's famous NORBA approved DH track. Another man, Brad Delzer of Shiloh Cyclery also played a key role in combining the old Mt Hood Series with the new Fluidride Cup. What ensued was literally amazing. Several racers from all over the US and Canada made the journey to investigate this regional gravity series only to find out how "well the race is operated". If you're a DH racer, then you heard about the FR Cup and reading this will only fuel your desire to show up next year. Enjoy all the images!

Saturday Sept 27th DH Practice with Dual Slalom Finals

photo

Practice was bumped up an hour- which left the parking lot empty and the few racers who were on it got 3 hours of no lift line practice. I was one of the 20 racers running laps enjoying every minute of it.

photo

Team Maxxis Pro Luke Strobel pinning every run in practice- he arrived early and ran the track late into the afternoon.

photo

Center Cycles Ethan Mutoli was seen blazing lines through VW sized rocks.

photo

No longer a Speedy Beaver, Joy Mutoli was poised in practice for the overall Pro Womens title under her new Mutoli Racing program. www.mutoliracing.com

photo

OH CANADA OH CANADA- You were represented heavily by guys like Darryl Bartlett and Company.

photo

Fluidride's Lars Sternberg put forth an amazing season, his dedication to putting on the races to entering every single event- dominating every Dual Slalom and keeping the points chase very interesting in the DH. Practice day runs were just as fast as his race runs.

photo

Cove Bikes own Ewan Farfard made the 8 hour journey down to Ski Bowl, I was told upon arrival they walked the course- Ewan was so hyped he barely slept.

photo

Providing some "international" flavor to the FR Cup Finals- Japan's Koji Ando took time off school to run the track. I asked him how DH courses in Japan are- he replied "Very easy compared to what I just rode".

photo

Gregg Grubbs was on scene, shooting images and selling copies of his DVD for gas money home.

photo

Several Father and Son laps were going down, THC's Scotty taking JR out for a spin.

photo

Nuun's Chelsea Stevens shows off her seasoned gloves.


The final race brought out racers from all over the world to run practice. For $45 USD you get 2 days of lift access runs- this is a great deal compared to paying $25 bucks for a cross race where you pay $2 a minute for racing a 40 min timed event- NO THANKS! DH racing is alive and well. Keep it alive! Which brings me to Saturday afternoon, Dual Slalom qualifiers starts at 3pm so when we all heard "LAST CALL" for the chair- I made sure to be on it. My problem was I had the worst day of practice period. I crashed my 4th run and sprained my left hand punching a rock while tumbling like a rag doll through a rock garden. So I was timid to say the least to run a hard and fast run down the track- I somehow made it down without falling or dabbing. Finally- 8 runs later, talk about frustrating. I make it back to the pits with a smile and striped all the armor off in order to watch the Dual Slalom get underway. The buzz is alive and here we go!

photo
Crowds were arriving early to see the last Dual Slalom unfold. Get comfy- qualifiers is underway!
photo
When Carl Warren shoots, people look. Its an old insurance commercial kids---LAUGH! Ok, sorry, RACERS LINE UP!
photo
Project 529's Clint Fowler took a wicked crash at Crankworks Garbonzo DH on a warmup lap, here I battle him in a thumb war to entertain the crowd. He's got 12 pins holding his hand to his wrist to his forearm, while I got 9 pins and a plate in my elbow from my crash at the 2nd FR Cup in Port A- CRIPPLE FIGHT!
photo

Yep, he practiced DH hard from 10am to 2pm, at 3pm Ethan Mutoli put on his game face and skate helmet on to blister the track in qualifiers. Hate to see what would happen if he had an iPod on listening to Motorheads 'Runaround Man'.

photo

What blows my mind is the amount of energy you need to have to race both Dual Slalom and practice the DH all day, Aaron Nachtrab always seems to have enough gas in the tank.

photo
Today in Dual Slalom News, Seattle-ette Chelsey Stevens quietly kicked ass and entered every single Dual SL! She locked up the Womens Open Overall Title before she even had to qualify. Congrats Chelsey!
photo
Arrow Racings Darryl Young is a madman on a bike, he's exactly like you- HE LOVES TO RIDE HIS BIKE!
photo
Lets take a step back and THANK all the wives, daughters, parents and friends for supporting each and everyone of us. This family was yelling and laughing at their Father, Husband and enjoying every minute of it.
photo
Welcome to the Casey and Lars show. These two men were the envy of many racers. Lars being an old BMX Pro looking up to Casey Northern when he was a BMX Legend. Both racers started out dominating the Port Angeles track and here walking up to race the final run of the year. A great race season folks, if you missed it, well I'm sorry- it was freaking fantastic!
photo

Shaun Sinskie of ODS/Sound Bike and Kayak giving Gorge Smith of NO FEAR/661/FOES a run for his money. Here we have the classic race between two fathers with offspring racing as well, ever been heckled by your 12 year old son when you slip a pedal, oh you haven't? You just wait.


ALL OF THESE PHOTOS ARE COURTESY OF MANDY BAUER VIA LLOYD 'NLITWORLD' SMITH
photo

Project 529's Eric Loney was one who truly went to war with the track, he had several mishaps and kept Fluidride's Phil Weiring (One Mean Hairy Racing Machine) on his tippy toes.

photo

Fluidrides Casey Northern putting a hurt on somebody back there............

photo

The little DH track that was disguised as a Dual Slalom was fun to watch as Phil Weiring and Eric Loney put on a wicked good race for a growing crowd.

photo

By the scared look in her eyes you would think she's really racing a ghost. Ms Stevens taking a victory lap to dominate the womens open Dual Slalom.

photo
Here is Lloyd 'Nlitworld' Smith racing Richard Crum for the glory in Sport Open Men. Wheel Sports East "Crumbler" took the race win, but Foes/661's Lloyd Smith got the overall! What will happen next year?
photo

The racing was tight for every run down- cowbells and cheering friends made this last race memorable as these two racers push each other faster and faster.

photo

Rotec's Ethan Mutoli played it cool and took 2nd in the last Dual Slalom of the year in Open Men.

If you need to see more images from this race go here and here.
Now enjoy another Shovelpick Production short of the last Fluidride Dual Slalom of the year.
Views: 2,022    Faves: 13    Comments: 3


Sunday Sept 28th DH Finals:

OK, so I haven't vented too much about this detail, but here it goes. The race organizers decided to move everything up one hour to use all the daylight available. Running a practice from 8am to 9:15am is seriously the most sadistic thing I've ever done on a bike. Taking on rocks and dropping 5 foot to holed out ruts is not something I'm able to knock out. Every single practice run I've taken before my race runs I either crashed or stopped completely. So I decided to get on the chair early and run the easier 'Sport' course for a warmup run with less consequences. Halfway down I realized that the crash I took in the rock garden really did tear some muscles and the swollen left hand was the other obvious sign that my race day is looking like bleak.

Here's what I would have to endured- THE TRACK DETAILS! (Something I haven't done in awhile- so here it goes):

PRO/EXPERT COURSE DETAILS-

Out of the 'START' box you pedal over some baby heads and a narrow trail. It drops to the right over more exposed rock and small brake holes- down onto an old jeep road you can get on the gas here - most coast it over the rocks and baby heads. Connect to the gravel Jeep road for a hard straight pedal into 'Arrowhead' Lots of gravel build up into the entry - then you dodge a small patch of trees and rocks as you traverse up a little bit (speed gets robbed here) and then it's a narrow trail again with pedal grabbing rocks everywhere. 10 seconds later you make it to the first technical turn- A deep hole behind a good sized rock on the left and a tree making you commit to a steeper line down the rocks. This is where I crashed on Sat. It gets steeper and rocks start reaching for rotors and bottom brackets here- another rutted out right turn drop around the 2nd tree and your maching down onto the 'old' sundeck area- roll the ladder through the 'Granite Gate' (2 SUV Sized rocks with yellow lift pads draped over them) and your clear of the upper portion of the track. Lots of roots emerge as you enter the dark forested section- over and through a few more car sized rocks and then its roots of hell as you enter the very steep wooded section. This is the part that boggled my mind the most, super steep- bermed out with roots all slicked up from the weeks previous rain. It was interesting to say the least. About 1/2 way down you get to meet the first log hole drop, either you roll it slow way left or send it fast off the right side to clear the hole, once your past that its time to face the triple log drops. First one has the ladder entry and was slick as baby poo, you drop it and then your looking at one big one with a crazy holed out landing zone with baby heads thrown in to make it interesting. A wooden ladder gets your heart pumping even harder as you roll over it entering a high speed berm- hold that solid and your on the way down to the last portion of the course. Pump the bottom hard out to the lower bowl- water bars and brake holes await anyone with strong arms. One last good jump, a crappy bridge to clear and its one fast pedal to the finish line.

photo
Each and every racer looked like they got ran over by a truck or they looked like a truck wanting to run over you. 8am Warm-ups starting.
photo
Several racers that got shorted on Sat's practice window were there early Sun to get in as many laps as possible before 9:15am cutoffs.
photo
I'd like to call this- WARM UP RUNS SUCK!
photo
Would you run the number of the beast and listen to Slayer on your race runs?

Racers Meeting!!
photo

Giant's Adam Craig lives in nearby Bend OR. It was super sweet to see him race the Dual Slalom. After each run he would pedal all the way up to the top while everyone else hiked. Adam wasn't a slouch on a DH bike either, he tapped into his roots and made everyone nervous. Stoked you made it Adam and congrats on your amazing season.

photo

Fluidride owner and longtime series supporter Simon Lawton on his first run, smooth as usual.

photo

Team Maxxis Pro Luke Strobel was poised to take the win and blistered the steep, rooted tree sections with ease.

photo

Ethan Mutoli attacked the rocks like they were flat.

photo

Project 529's Nathan Marsh wanted to capture the Elite Mens' title and pushed the limits.

photo

Local Boy Wonder Phil Weiring was only .3/100ths off of Sam Hill at Sea Otter this spring, so there's no doubt in my mind Phil will have his day on the podium next year.

photo

Cove Bikes has a talented following of racers- Canadian Darryl Bartlett has been earning it at every race he enters, here he polishes his season with a season ending top 10 finish.


Now you don't wanna think about your bud crashing, your teammate and you can bet when Ethan Mutoli heard that his wife Joy "went down" his heart raced way harder than his usual race runs. He made it up to her within a few minutes of hearing the news and had to grimace as she threw a leg over her bike and continued on, she had to finish. Joy Mutoli is the only women's pro racer and she set a high standard for finishing your run. I will never ever complain again about bad practice days after what I witnessed. She finished in 14 minutes and 57 seconds with a separated left collarbone and a badly sprained knee. The next photo's are shot by photographer Larry Maurer.

photo

Begin Bigtime Mama Bail Sequence

photo

Nice light. Tires dig.

photo
Nice 'Gleam" there as her voice in her heads goes "OOOOH SHHHHHHITTTTTT!
photo
My nomination for Picture Of The Day, someday soon!
photo
One order of Mud Pie for Joy coming up!
photo
Earth and Joy are one. Wow, you cannot sell me on clipping in...never. FLATS!

Wow, Joy Mutoli ladies and gentlemen. Let me say this again: SHE FINISHED HER RUN.
photo

And within 10 minutes of being bandaged, she was working on her tan.


Exclusive Video from Andy Tran of Syndrome Racing of Joy Mutoli's amazing story! See it unfold!
Views: 1,161    Faves: 1    Comments: 5


Ok, I'm proud to introduce you all to Andy Tran of Syndrome Racing. He was walking around with a broken collarbone and had scored the most coverage of the DH so he busted out this amazing video to show you the Fluidride DH in all its glory. I see riders from all classes attacking a very difficult course. (Thanks Andy!)
Views: 21,016    Faves: 262    Comments: 90

You gotta love the dashboard on Pinkbike now - You can see who's online and who's posting videos or pictures from your friends list. Well, I have a friend named Pete Donley who at my very first race was stoked to show me racing. We have been buds on bikes ever since that race and when I saw him 'pass' on this recent race it was like sitting around a camp fire telling stories. We had a great time just supporting all the racers in each class- he got to run around and document it while I was on the microphone doing the play by play. So without a further ado, I present Pete's version of the last Fluidride DH of 2008. (Lots of pictures of the awards!)
Views: 1,670    Faves: 10    Comments: 5


Hopefully you made it this far. For those of you that have read this much of the 'Mega-Fluidride Cup Finals' post, this will be the final chapter. All classes get 2 runs this race. The best times will count towards the overall placing. So if you have a bad first run, the pressure is on you the second run. But if you smoke the first run, you have pressure to improve that run. It's an element to racing I love.

On the pro men's side- A 44 year old man named Bart McDaniels has won the last 2 pro races. On his first run with a broken finger he sustained in Saturday's practice, he posts the fastest time of the season at Ski Bowl's Pro Course with a 2:17. He set a high standard for future races and racers. I remember watching Team Maxxis pro Luke Strobel's face when the two seventeen numbers were announced. He was smiling in awe and was later seen praising Bart on his knees in salutation to the king. For all 40 year olds out there that say you can't do it anymore because this and that- well buck up, there's a new John Wayne in town and his name is Bart McDaniels. Truly a genuine man, kind heart with a fierce eye of the tiger stare when in a start box. You can see he loves to make the young bucks of DH racing earn it. He's the Pacific Northwest version of Steve Peat. He adopts, he nurtures and inspires anyone he has contact with, a down to earth man. He deserves this glorious first ever title as the Overall DH Fluidride Men's Pro Champion. Congrats Bart-(Hat tip)

photo

Fluidride Overall DH Champion Bart McDaniels with broken finger posting the new course record of 2:17 and taking the race win.

photo

Team Maxxis (Ironhorse?) Pro Luke Strobel landing in the exact same spot as Joy Mutoli's tires, they both run Maxxis. Things that make me go hmmm? What tires did Luke get?

photo
At the time of this run for Ethan Mutoli, he did not know the extensive damage to his wife. He knew that if he went down and got hurt, it would be a tough drive home. He didn't and ended his season 4th overall. Congrats Ethan!
photo

Sega's Chris Bentley dominated the 40+ Expert Class and here seen heavy on the gas pedal going into the finish line push. Another Fluidride Overall DH Champion- 14 of em walking around now.

photo

Fluidrides Big Hairy Racing Machine Phil Weiring owned each practice run and set good times at the final race of the year. Next year I predict Phil will earn a podium, he is committed.

photo
Project 529's Eric Loney was the male version of Joy Mutoli, he broke 2 helmets over the weekend, took diggers that would take out most racers and still managed to post a 2nd in Elite Men. Looking forward to seeing Eric and guys like Team Robots Charlie Sponsel go Pro for 2009 thanks to USA Cysling's new rules. Welcome to the Pro's boys!
photo

Over the rocks and through the tree's each racer battles the elements of a race proven track. Here's a toast to all the racers for the great season.


Several racers came down the mountain- after 5 hours and 25 minutes of race action, the last racer of the year left the START box. It's got to be a lonely ride down with no one to cheer you until you get to the bottom to a roaring crowd. Here's the last racer of the year Andriana Maroz crossing the finish line.
photo

Where's the beer? Season is over. Oh wait- Raffle and Awards next.


It hasn't been officially announced, but anyone who organized the races knew that Todd Olsen has become a huge contribution to the Fluidride Cup. Each and every race Todd provided the quick know how and wasn't afraid to fix something at each and every race. Lars and Simon both in emails following the race wanted to make sure I put forth a good note towards Todd and his dedication to making the Fluidride Cup the greatest regional gravity series the NW. I personally had to race Todd in the first races and he's tough. Mid-season he switched to racing the Hardtail Open class. Proving his skills are on anything he touches. Thanks Todd- too bad the $100 bucks you threw down on the 2008 Specialized Demo didn't go in your favor.

photo

Ben and Todd, both wanted the win the Demo 8 in the money raffle.

photo

$20 Dollars worth of tickets will win this bike, can you believe it?

photo

)

The winning ticket. (Nice Shot Carl!
photo

To this man- Congrats Matt M. Bike was courtesy of Shiloh Cyclery in Gresham OR via Brad Delzer.

photo

Raffle Rats get ready.

photo

I threw down one wicked raffle- Prizes were flying, Brad Delzer was kicking me in the butt every 15 seconds, we tossed out over 3 thousand US dollars worth of goods kiddies.

photo

Ashley was pulling #'s, Young Brayden was handing them to me and it was over before we knew it.


Award Photos by Carl Warren/DH IMAGE FACTORY

I've been working on this article for 3 days- It would take another day to put every single podium shot up- so I'm going to just highlight a few and the rest can be seen here.

photo
Joy Mutoli holding the first Womens Overall Pro Cup and Title, you saw the photos, you seen the video and the POD (most of you called Joy a 'he') and now the season ending podium shot Congrats Joy!

photo

And finally they save the best for last- the Men's Overall DH Podium for the 2008 Fluidride Cup. 5th Place Casey Northern, 2nd Place Lars Sternberg, Overall Champ Bart McDaniels, 3rd Luke Strobel and 4th place Ethan Mutoli.


Sponsors to thank:
Fluidride
Virtual Descent
Dakine
Arrow Racing
Fox Racing Shox
Troy Lee Designs
Sunline
CrankBrothers
E.13
Maxxis tires
Shimano
SDG
Yakima Racks
Republik MTB Apparel
Mt Hood Ski Bowl Ski Resort
Stevens Pass Ski Area
Pinkbike
Decline Magazine
Bones Over Metal
Green Crow
Monster Energy
Olympic Dirt Society
Wa. State DNR
Hurricane Racing
Shiloh Cycles in Gresham Oregon 503 665 5538
Black Anchor Clothing

So in final closing of the largest single post ever done on Pinkbike for a DH/Dual Slalom event- I have a great closing note from Fluidride's Simon Lawton:

All I can say is I'm truly stoked to have some real racing happening around here. I had a great time at (all) the event(s), and I am already looking forward to next year.

Special thanks to Petr (Kakes), Tom (who does the starts), Greg, and the whole Hurricane crew, and of course crazy Todd (Olsen) for helping pull it all together. (He may have mentioned that he's now on the board of directors)

Simon


So stay tuned folks for next years 2009 Fluidride Cup schedule of events and more news about the Pacific NW Racing scene and the talent that it will bring to the world. Thanks for a great season and for reading my post- Toodles!

-Mike 'northwestdhdad' Estes


photo
Lars is stoked! Season is over and his series was a success. N-Dub Productions main man and visionary into the next FR Cup, What do you have in store for us Lars?

Author Info:
northwestdhdad avatar

Member since Apr 23, 2007
137 articles

12 Comments
  • 6 0
 next year they need to let open hardtail race on the expert course
  • 1 0
 Amazing job on the write up. Thank you. Despite battling health issues all year I made it to 3 of the ski bowl races, 2 of them against doctors orders and loved EVERY minute of it. I'll be back next year for sure.
  • 1 0
 Seriously great write-up, and absolutely huge. I'm bummed the season is over already. It went by way too quick. Can't wait to see what's in store for next season.
  • 1 0
 dude, excellent write up. i had no idea chelsea raced...and she's my nuun rep! lol. nice vids by miles and andy too!
  • 0 0
 must have taken you ages to put it all together - cheers for the wicked pics and nice course description too!
  • 0 0
 Great write up, thanks to all the contributors! And thanks for all the great pics throughout the season too! Smile
  • 1 0
 Great write up Mike!!
  • 0 0
 really good write up nice job
  • 0 0
 i miss home and riden like i want to!!!!!!!!!!! "damn you army"!!!!
  • 0 0
 VERY BIG
  • 0 0
 results?
  • 0 0
 At the time of this posting they were not available. I hope to update it soon.







Copyright © 2000 - 2024. Pinkbike.com. All rights reserved.
dv65 0.129958
Mobile Version of Website