Excellent recap by Darin that he orginally posted on STR. Chivo is the mechanic that built my Sunday. Bill is Karl's dad.
From left to right: Crash Maxwell, Brian, Bill & Chivo
Photo by BCAB
(You may have to be logged onto STR for the pics to show.)
Enjoy.
-----
Well, I'd been planning on doing this race for about the last 8 months (before the gas prices got outa hand), and it more than lived up to my expectations!
Chivo (Raul @ The Path) and I left Thursday night around 10pm for the drive up to Ashland Oregon.
We were gonna meet my good friend Bill, from Bellingham, Washington there on Friday, and get ready for our fun weekend. Our other buddy Brian, from the Seattle area, was also meeting us there on Saturday morning.
We made it into Ashland around 11am Friday, and met up with Bill.
Our cabin for the weekend was GREAT!
It's called the Mt. Ashland House http://www.mtashlandhouse.com/ and was only 7 miles from the top of the mountain where the race was being held.
Our weekend CASTLE.
And my road tripping Escape, with our bikes. I brought both, the Dawg & the Stinky, and Chivo brought his Moment.
So after getting lunch, and doing some planning, we had time to go hit the course for the first time. This time around we would shuttle ourselves, but for Saturday, we were set up with http://www.ashlandmountainadventures.com/ for two rides up.
Back to Friday....
Bill would be riding his Ventana, Chivo his Moment, and I'd ride my Stinky down this time.
I'd planned on racing on the Dawg, but since good ol' Stinky was here, it'd get some love too!
We reached the top, and decided to just cruise and have some fun, and get to know the course.
You could really get some speed entering the start of the race.
There is a nice little drop right off the bat, but I'll get to that later.
Bill heading down.
Fast flowing fire road right off the start, that quickly turns to double track, then single track.
Then the climb starts.
It really wasn't that bad. But at over 7000ft of elevation, it felt pretty rough.
Chivo heads up, with his seat down and single chainring up front.
Bill's right behind.
And the the REAL FUN begins!
Chivo and Bill weaving thru the tree's.
You could really get a flow on, on this trail.
Twisty, and turny, with just enough pedaling sections thrown in to keep your heart pumping.
Moto Chivo!
From there it went up just a bit more, then more DHing thru the tree's.
Bill, riding Southern Oregon style!
After some more fast flowing single track, you dump out onto a fireroad. You could have a lot of fun here. Super fast, with some really fun wall rides.
And back into the tree's we go....
There was really only one section that had any tech to it. It was short, but still real fun. We road it a few times to get a good line, and of corse pictures.
Chivo entering the rocks.
Bill on the rocks.
And little ol' me.
We found this little gem along the side of the trail. At first I almost past it up because the top of the log was pretty chunky and worn.
But hey, so am I, so why not?
The greenery was simply amazing!
Bill flowing on down the trail!
A little more trail with rolling climbing, then some fast DH, then switchbacks, more fast DHing into more switchbacks to the last, fast finish straight.
FREAK'N COOL!!
After Brian arrived Saturday, we hooked up with Ashland Mountain Advevtures for two shuttles up.
THIS is a shuttle vehicle!
Our first run down would be sorta like our Friday ride. Taking it easy, and letting Brian get to know the course.
He was riding his Intense Spyder, and I brought the Dawg along for the day. Since I'd be racing on it, I wanted to get in a fast run in.
Without a lot of details.....(yes, it's FAST FLOWING FUN) here's the pics from Saturday.
The guy's crusing along.
Moto Bill!
Smile'n Brian!
Bill and Chivo heading down.
Bill switchbacking.
Brian and chivo.
After the first cruz down, we headed back up, and stepped it up a notch.
Not full speed, but at a good pace to see what was realistic to shoot for.
Brian's GPS showed him at 49 minutes.
Mine showed me at 55 with a small crash.
Here's what my GPS showed; http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5999546
Chivo ended up with a pinch flat up top, but was right on me until then.
Brian passed me on the climb, and I never saw him again.
Bill came down just a couple of minutes after I reached the bottom, with a BIG smile on his face.
We got back to the cabin to prep the bikes for the race, and to Brian's dissapointment, Chivo found three cracks in his Intense frame.
Now what?
Well, I did have two bikes up here, and we are the same height.
Brian would race on my Dawg, and I'd run it on the Stinky.
SWEET!
Race Day.
Chivo thought about trading in his Moment for a Dawg. He changed his mind because it was a little bigger than his Moment.
Race day was a blast, and a rough learning experience all at the same time for me.
I walked down the course to the first little drop to get a couple of pics since I had time before my start.
The "original super-bada$$" at Super D.
Mark Weir.
Chivo hitting it. He wasn't as fast, or smooth as Weir, but it worked!
Chivo ended up getting another flat, but still finished with around 55 minutes.
After watching some of the pro's do the little drop, my ideas starting changing on how I was gonna hit it.
I knew I could clear it, but sometimes my landings aren't all that they are supposed to be.
After talking it over with Bill, his advice was to just roll it, stay on two wheels, and get it from there.
I should have listened!
I ended up launching it, and clearing it, and crash landing!
I lost my rear brake, the lever pulled out of the plunger, and for a while lost my front and rear gears. I was stuck in my small chain ring up front, and the smallest ring in the back.
Spinning down the trail was killing me.
Faster...faster...
Until the climb!
After getting to a point where I couldn't pedal any longer, I stopped and got the rear shifter to work.
The front was stuck in the small ring for the rest of the race!
Ever try to hit switchbacks at speed with just a front brake, but no rear brake?
I did.
Put me down for three more crashes!
I ended up with a time of 56 minutes, with no rear brake, no middle chainring, and three crashes.
I can live with that.
Brian ended up with a time of 49 minutes, with Bill hitting 55.
The awards were pretty cool looking.
But there wouldn't be any comming home with us.
The drive home was pretty uneventfull, but full of beautiful scenery.
A sunflower farm around Davis.
Weekend ride totals;
Elevation gained 2400 ft
Elevation descending 20,000 ft
Race entry fee - $50
Miles driven - 1525
Money spent on gas - $307
A nice place to stay for two nights $90
Racing The 12 Mile Super D at Mt. Ashland Oregon, with GREAT friends - PRICELESS
Road trip anyone?
"This stinks! This is total BS!" - Bob 'Bulldog' Briscoe