Stormy Saddle Enduro - Race Recap and Results

Stormy Saddle Enduro

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY // RYAN WIEGMAN

Not that far inland from the temperate foggy coastal town of Arcata is the Lacks Creek management area, which plays host to the Stormy Saddle Enduro (SSE). Put on by Redwood Coast Mountain Bike Association (RCMBA), the local mountain bike club, SSE is primarily a fundraiser to support local trail building efforts in Humboldt county. The Pro/Expert/Open race has five stages, totaling about 25 minutes of racing and about 3,500 feet of climbing over 19 miles. The Beginner/Sport race skips the first, and trickiest stage which is full face mandatory for the pros, cutting off a 700-foot climb, leaving these categories with about 2,800 feet of climbing over 15 miles.

Racers have the option of camping the Friday before the race to pre-ride the stages which are known to be traitorously loose, and several did, but most made the drive to be there in time for race start at 10am Saturday morning. Racing started not long after the riders meeting and had some fierce competition, with the pro category winner only ahead by 12 seconds after over 20 minutes of racing. Equally as impressive, was that four different pro riders took stage wins, demonstrating the low margin for error on the course.

Snacks and coffee were provided for racers at registration

The volunteers were briefed and sent to their stations before the riders meeting

Pro Men's second place winner, Justin Graves gets registered before the riders meeting

A quick riders meeting allowed for questions and course description and then it was off to the races

Stage One: Chutes

Expert, Pro and Open categories started racing on stage one "Chutes" which is a steep technical trail with loose rocks and chute like rock gardens the whole way down

Adrian Reyes makes his way down Chutes racing in the largest category, Expert Men 18-29

Larry Sussman had a good day in the Pro category and took third overall

One of the steep rock drops on Chutes trips up a Sean Storment from Oregon who valiantly went back to the top and gave it another go during his race run! If thats not passion for progression I don't know what is

Justin Graves skillfully handles one of the trickier drops on Chutes on his way to sixth place for the stage in the pro category

Derek Roelle opted for the hardtail, citing the 3,500 ft of climbing

Stage Three: Tomfoolery

Marcus Appy, one of the main event sponsors of the race with his local eye care practice A to Z, makes his way down Stage 3 in the Sport men 40-49 category. Tomfoolery is the longest stage with the fastest time coming in at 10:51

Stage three passes right through the main race area where spectators and volunteers can catch a glimpse of the racing action.

At 15 years old, Elizabeth Odell, did great at SSE, not to mention she's been in the top of the pack for the Nor Cal High-school league lately

Tomfoolery passes through oak prairie and grasslands on its way down to the bottom of the mountain

Noah Sampson took first place in the Sport Men 30-39 category

Stage Five: Hot Lap

Mike Lee's BMX style on the jump trail pulled him an extra three seconds ahead of second place pro Justin Graves

Wesley Brooks, from Chico, took the bottom step on the podium and did it with style

Local rider, Dylan Write rounded out the pro category but his time would have had him in top contention in all other categories

Sussman's saucy style was no doubt a part of the reason he ended up on the pro podium

Tony Lewis getting loose into a berm at the top of Hot Lap

Reilly Hohman pushed hard, but just missed the podium by four seconds in the Pro Mens category

Graves was one of the last riders on course after taking the climb as easy as he could

Results

After all racers finished, the food and raffle began

Ali Osgood (1) and Kaydee Raths (2) atop the pro women's podium

Justin Graves (2), Mike Lee (1), and Larry Sussman (3) on the pro podium

With Tomfoolery being such a grueling stage, the two fastest times where awarded $100. Justin Graves and Ali Osgood, who happen to be dating, were fastest man and woman on tomfoolery and took home $100 each.

The raffles grand prize was a new Pivot Mach 6 from Adventures Edge and local rider Travis James walked away from the race with a new whip

Big Thanks

A big thanks is owed to everybody that made this grass roots event possible. All the volunteers, the sponsors and the riders combined to make a safe, fun event for the community. Not only did the club raise money for trails, but everybody had fun while doing it too.

If you want to donate to the trails, or check them out, visit https://www.redwoodcoastmtb.org/.

Results and information about Stormy Saddle Enduro can be found here https://humboldtenduro.com/

A full set of race photos are available for sale at my website here https://ryanwiegman.smugmug.com/Events/Stormy-Saddle-Enduro-2017

Posted In:
Racing and Events

Author Info:

digitallcowboy
Member since Aug 29, 2012
6 articles

8 Comments

Jimmy0 FL (Aug 6, 2017 at 12:51)

Right on! Sorry i couldn't make it, looks like an awesome event! Stoked Gravy is coming in hot out of "retirement"

ehvan (Aug 6, 2017 at 19:02)

Miss ya Jimmy! Hope to see you soon at a race somewhere!

Toryt7 (Aug 6, 2017 at 19:26)

I was wondering if this was your territory Jimmy. Looks like a really fun race.

gravitypirates (Aug 13, 2017 at 14:00)

Thanks guys, fun to be back in the hunt! Was a great day of racing on a superb Enduro track.

mblar (Aug 7, 2017 at 13:57)

Great to see local race coverage.

jrocksdh (Aug 6, 2017 at 20:15)

Is someone pointing a gunnat Graves? Hands up, dont shoot

jrocksdh (Aug 6, 2017 at 20:16)

Trails work looks killer there!

p-dub-4 (Aug 7, 2017 at 5:13)

Good to see my bro J. Graves on Pinkbike!!!