NWCup #1 Dry Hill

The NW Cup DH series knows how to put on an event and this past weekend was no exception. I always have a great time whenever I head out to Dry Hill in Port Angeles and encourage everyone who hasn't tried a DH race to check it out, if not to race at least to spectate.  This being a Pro GRT stop there was quite the turnout as usual, with a big field of 15 women in both the Cat 2 and Cat 1 open divisions.  Go ladies!!!  

I also convinced a few of our single-crown teammates to check out a race here and everyone came away wishing for more race time -- some of our newbies even came away with podium spots in Cat 3!

We spent lots of time with the Knolly Nation race team (lots of us are co-sponsored with Knolly this year), and although I can't wait for my new Knolly Warden (enduro!!!) I was definitely jealous of all the new Knolly Podiums I saw. Very tempting...

Scott Wipperman, Cat 3 50+

Marc Garoutte, Cat 3 40-49 

Good times!

BuDu XC Race #6 360 Park

Kudos to BuDu Racing and the trail builders at 360 Park for one of the best race courses this season!  I for one loved the trails this time -- lots of fun jumpy sections and switchbacks made for laps that provided downhill payoff for the short uphill sections.  More like this please! 

Jason Konieczka (photo by Full Suspension Studios)

Lots of smiles too for the gorgeous weather!  Epic Racing was the last team left at the race as we stayed a while longer to hang out and enjoy the sun.  Although some PNW natives thought it was a bit warm, I thought the temps were ideal.  Should have carried a bit more water though!

Josh Viborel-Baker (photo by Full Suspension Studios)

Also, first timer Alex Weinert brought a bunch of Crush Kids Cancer Swag and his two sons and competed after doing a 5,000ft hill workout the day before on his road bike.

Dave Pringle's wife Monica Carrillo jumped right into her 1st mountain bike race and put in a solid 4th place finish.  Our ladies team is growing and having a lot of fun this year!

Team Results:

• Cat 1
• Thomas Farmer 1st 34 & Under
• Jason Konieczka 6th 35-49
• Cat 2
• Amy Josefczyk 2nd 40-49
• Dave Pringle 7th 40-49
• Anthony Barlow 9th 40-49
• Matt Levin 8th 50+
• Matt Houchens 3rd Clydesdale
• Mark Thomas 4th Clydesdale
• Josh Viborel-Baker 8th Singlespeed
• Marc Garoutte 9th Singlespeed
• Cat 3
• Megan Koziolek 3rd 13-18
• Janna Houchens 2nd 19-34
• Sandra Barlow 5th 35-49
• Monica Carrillo 4th 50+
• Shannon Sutherland 5th 50+
• Haden Mills 2nd 13-18
• Alex Weinert 11th 35-49
• Jon Nelson 5th 50+

Congrats to our podium finishers! 

Thanks also to Sandra Barlow and the Barlow family for providing lunch and thanks to our great sponsors!  Our team has been getting prepared for Enduro and downhill season with some goodies from Schwalbe Tires and Wolf Tooth Components!  

Cat 3 19-34 Podium (Photo by Amy Josefczyk)

Cat 3 13-18 Podium (Photo by Amy Josefczyk)

Cat 2 40-49 Podium (Photo by Full Suspension Studios)

Cat 2 Clydesdale Podium (Photo by Full Suspension Studios)

Weekend Race Report: BuDu XC #5 and Dry Hill Shuttle

This weekend was a busy one for Epic Racing.  I was tempted away from XC for a day of trail maintenance and DH shuttling at the Dry Hill NW Cup venue in Port Angeles.  Many of us are co-sponsored with Knolly Bikes and our Knolly team organizer generously arranged for some trail work and shuttle time to exercise some of the brand new Podiums.  It was a great day with lots of smiles for the near perfect trail conditions!  

Dry Hill (photo by George Smilov)

In contrast to the smiles was the toughness of this weekend's BuDu XC race #5 at Lord Hill Trails in Snohomish as seen by Thomas Farmer en route to his 4th place finish.

Thomas Farmer (photo by Northwest Adventuring)

Thomas received a moral boost in the form of a brief ride-a-long from Joshua Viborel-Baker at the start of the third lap.  This initiated a second wind that sustained Thomas through to the finish line! Thanks Josh!

Other Highlights of the Day

Tracey Koziolek
(photo by Full Suspension Studios)

Tracey Koziolek decided to get in on the racing action too.  This was her race debut and boy she picked quite the course for it!  Although it was a tough one I hear she is already looking forward to the next.

Janna Houchens, head down and determined, powered up the final steep and rocky ascent to the finish line.  She crossed the finish line with a big smile on her face.  It may have been because she had so much fun or simply that her race was finally over!

Griffin Barlow being the young family man that he is, opted to take in the sights and sounds mid-race whilst waiting to join his mom, Sandra Barlow, as she passed by on her lap.

Anthony Barlow spent his first mucky lap plotting and scheming his way out of a second.  He pleaded for a refund of half his entry fee to call it a day but the timing staff, though amused, were not interested in the offer.  Always the showmen, Anthony appeared to reserve his finish line encore - popping a wheelie across the finish line.

Anthony Barlow (photo by Thomas Farmer)

Marc Garoutte gave a valiant effort with singlespeed versus hill.  Having conquered 1,600ft of elevation at Lord Hill, Marc is now that much stronger and ready to take on the next venue.

Chip Richardson made an appearance at this close to home venue, appearing at the tent only minutes before his start.  Deciding he had had enough mud in the face, he installed one of Marc Garoutte’s awesome front fenders.  With the zip tie antennae left intact he worked his way to the start line to bump shoulders with his competition.

Dave Savory also makes his return to the race scene after a string of setbacks over the past several months.  Jumping right in to the fray with the Expert class he finished up all three laps with a smile.  Welcome back Dave!

Thanks once again to all of our sponsors including Chainbrew, Wildwater River Guides, Wolf Tooth Components, Center Cycle, Pearson Chiropractic and Rehabilitation, Schwalbe Tires, Bicycle Centre, Crank Brothers, CrapPhotos, Fanatik Bike Company, Lezyne, Mazama, and Boundary Bay Brewing Company.  Our Crank Brother's mud shedding pedals came in handy during this race and our Chainbrew chain lube will be used quite a bit post cleanup!

Cat 3 Ladies (photo by Full Suspension Studio)

Dave Savory (photo by Full Suspension Studios)

Chip Richardson (photo by Northwest Adventuring)

Mark Thomas and Cat 2 Clydesdale Podium (photo by Epic Racing)

Team Results for the day:

• Cat 1
• Thomas Farmer 4th 34 & Under (currently 1st in series)
• Chip Richardson 14th 35-49
• Dave Savory 16th 35-49
• Cat 2
• Anthony Barlow 9th 40-49
• Matt Levin 10th 50+
• Mark Thomas 2nd Clydesdale
• Marc Garoutte 8th Single speed
• Cat 3 
• Megan Koziolek 2nd 13-18
• Janna Houchens 2nd 19-34
• Alicia Taggatz 3rd 19-34
• Tracey Koziolek 4th 19-34
• Sandra Barlow 5th 35-49
• Shannon Sutherland 3rd  50+
• Justin Hamilton 7th 12 & under
• Griffin Barlow 8th 12 & under
• Haden Mills 2nd 13-18
• Dan Wheeler 6th 19-34
• Jon Nelson 7th 50+

2014 Epic Racing Cycling Team Charity Updates

2014 Epic Racing Cycling Team Charity Updates

 Epic Racing with the continued generous support of Afford-A-Vet Animal Clinic debut the New Crush Kids Cancer pop up canopy at the BuDu Lord Hill Race. 

Alex Weinert (the main force behind crushkidscancer.org) was scheduled to swing by and meet more of the team and take that canopy home.  This canopy will be used by the Crush Kids’ Cancer Cycling Team (the roadies).  Alex got held up and could not attend but has promised to attend and compete at the next race at 360 Park.

Speaking of Crush Kids Cancer, our team fund raising efforts so far in 2014 have totaled $411.03.  If you have not heard what they are working towards and what our contributions have done please read this short article https://giveto.seattlechildrens.org/impact/turning-the-tables-on-cancer?srctid=1&erid=232821&trid=70f87b2c-915a-42ed-b955-bda7486ede18

We have taken 5% of the 2014 team kit sales, accepted donations, and been selling Slop Shields (fork mounted front fenders) at each of the BuDu races.  Hopefully if the race day weather begins to improve we can organize bake sales, beverage and snack sales, ect… to raise additional money.  The team donation to Seattle Children’s Hospital to fund pediatric cancer research and treatment trials will correspond with the Crush Kids Cancer Cycling Team annual Seattle to Portland bike ride.  I know a lot of us will be racing on that weekend but if you are riding the STP get on board with these folks.  You will get access to private catered lunches, massages, and other perks along your journey while you raise money and awareness for pediatric cancer treatment.

Other charity work we have done as a team for our fellow teammates has been happening as well.   

We have provided a kind of scholarship opportunity to some of the kids on the team to enable them to participate in the BuDu races.  We, as a team, have covered entry fees, provided jerseys, assisted with bike purchases, maintenance, and upgrades to keep these young legs spinning pedals and producing smiles. 

We have another annual Epic Racing Tradition coming up soon and need a lot of volunteers to pull off. 

The annual Kids Ride out at Henry’s Ridge in Maple Valley is planned for Sunday June 15^th (Fathers Day).  The purpose of this event is to make a fun mountain bike day for the young ones on the team and in the surrounding neighborhoods that embrace the booming Mountain Bike culture that exists in the King County Open Space lands surrounding their communities.  In our 1^st year we have 4 kids attend and they had a lot of fun.  Last year we had somewhere around 30 kids and again everyone had a great time.  At the conclusion of the event we held a raffle that consisted of a bunch of team member donated bike swag and Afford-A-Vet donated pet items.  The grand prize was the Specialized Hard Rock bike generously donated by our Sponsors Center Cycle and Afford-A-Vet Animal Clinic.

This year we expect the number of kids to continue to increase and we will need more volunteers and more donations to be given away as prizes to the kids.  Also, this year will hold the 1^st Strider Bike World Championship XC race for the wee kids.  Contact Shannon Sutherland who is coordinating this event.  To see more photos of last years event click on this link  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.350615268394840.1073741843.260091464113888&type=3

BuDu XC Race #4 King County Soaring Eagle Trails

Although the weather up until race time looked threatening, the end of the day saw blue skies for the final Cat 2 races.  Trails were still muddy from the recent rains but overall much more passable that the last race at Port Gamble.  From my perspective it was just muddy enough to provide a good challenge while not being a complete slog-fest.  At least that's how it felt by the time Cat 2 races rolled around - the Cat 3 and Cat 1 races probably plowed the mud out of the way for us!

Thanks once again to all of our sponsors including Chainbrew, Wildwater River Guides, Wolf Tooth Components, Center Cycle, Pearson Chiropractic and Rehabilitation, Schwalbe Tires, Bicycle Centre, Crank Brothers, CrapPhotos, Fanatik Bike Company, Lezyne, Mazama, and Boundary Bay Brewing Company.

Cat 2 Start (photo by Jason Balajadia)

Haden Mills on the way to his first place finish (photo by Full Suspension Studios) 

Thomas Farmer getting a little air on his 29er (photo by Full Suspension Studios)

Cat 2 40-49 Podium Finishers (photo by Marc Steingrebe)

Cat 3 19-34 Podium Finishers (photo by Marc Garoutte)

Here's our team results for the day -- congrats to our 6 podium finishers and to Mark Garoutte for edging out teammate and "youngster" Josh Viborel-Baker by a spot in the Singlespeed category!

• Cat 1
• Thomas Farmer 1st 34 & Under (currently 1st in series)
• Cat 2
• Amy Josefczyk 3rd 40-49  (currently 1st in series)
• Anthony Barlow 8th 40-49
• Matt Levin 10th 50+
• Matt Houchens 4th Clydesdale
• Mark Thomas 5th Clydesdale
• Marc Garoutte 7th Singlespeed
• Josh Viborel-Baker 8th Singlespeed
• Cat 3 
• Megan Koziolek 3rd 13-18
• Janna Houchens 2nd 19-34
• Alicia Taggatz 3rd 19-34
• Shannon Sutherland 6th  50+
• Haden Mills 1st 13-18
• Dan Wheeler 9th 19-34
• Jon Nelson 7th 50+