The Northwest Cup series kicked off its downhill race season in early April with the first event at Dry Hill in Port Angeles.  Kathy, Ady and Marie ventured over to shuttle, race and check out the pros.  We were excited to see that Diamondback was the new title sponsor of the series!  This first race was part of the ProGRT series which draws professional downhill mountain bikers from far and wide so it was extra fun to see how the pros get it done.

I headed over Friday morning for the 3 day event and was excited to be treated to great views of the Olympics and sunny skies.  This was my first DH event so the prospect of a sun filled weekend of riding eased the butterflies in my stomach.  For events like this the trails and access roads are opened up for shuttling 2 or 3 days before the race for practice runs.  Trucks are provided to haul groups of riders and their big squishy bikes up to the top of the hill to then rip down the trails and do it again.  The Cat 2 course, which I raced, had a bit of everything – tight turns, straight fast sections, steep rollers, technical roots and a few drops.  Days 1 and 2 involved getting familiar with the trails, checking out the more technical sections, picking lines, catching up with friends and riding until our legs gave up.  The much welcome sun and great trail conditions had us headed home each day with smiles on our faces.

Sunday was race day, wahoo!  The rain held off over night and while the skies were gray, we were all thankful that the course hadn’t been soaking water in all night.  The 3 of us ran in the womens Cat 2 class - what a great turnout of ladies!  The number of women racing in Cat 2 doubled from the 2010 races, a great way to kick off the series.  Our start times weren’t until early afternoon so we were able to watch and cheer for some of the Cat 1 racers as they finished at the bottom.  We shuttled up to the top one last time and while we were waiting our luck ran out and the rain started to come down.  I was a little nervous that this might change the course conditions but the previous days runs had been such a good time that I tried to focus on that instead.  The race run itself was over before we knew it!  While it had gotten a little slick and sloppy in spots, the course overall was great and we all had a ton of fun.  When I got to the finish Kathy was waiting there with the biggest grin on her face!  She pretty much summed it up when she said “That was SO much fun!  Can we do it again?  Let’s do it again!”

Before heading home we had the opportunity to watch the pros run down the hill.  Their course consisted of different trails with some newly cut sections that had everyone guessing what the fast line would be.  By that point the rain had settled in but the pros hardly seemed to notice.  Diamondback pro rider Kyle Thomas was riding a prototype of their new DH bike; we’re all eager to hear how that bike comes out and hopefully check it out when it’s complete.   The pros really knew how to put on a good show.  It really was amazing to see them fly through the tech sections and rail the turns at speeds most of us can just imagine.   First place for the pro men went to Danny Hart. For the women, local lady Jill Kintner took home the gold medal. 

There will be more races at Dry Hill throughout the summer, including XC races.  The Olympic Dirt Society along with volunteers do a great job if keeping these fun trails in shape, check them out when you get the opportunity.