It was a wild & woolly week at Windrock Bike Park in Oliver Springs, Tennessee, for the 1^st National Downhill Race of the year. An extraordinary field of international competitors showed up to brave the snow flurries, rain, & mud.

The first few days, no tires were allowed on the track, so riders walked down the course to inspect the race track and pick their lines. Riders were thoroughly impressed with the challenging world-class track. (Charlie Harrison & Nik Nestoroff)

Shuttle trucks rigged up by park owners Neko Mulally & Sean Leader took the riders up to the halfway point on the mountain for riders to drop down 1100’ on the 1.1 mile course.

Charlie Harrison sending the big step-down on his way to an impressive 7^th place in the Pro Men Category. It should be noted that three world champions were in this race, and Charlie was only 2.7 seconds off the win.

Nik Nestoroff made his big race pro debut, having finished 4^th in the world as a junior the previous year. Nik slid off track and lost some momentum, but continued to rally hard for a 16^th place finish that was 12 seconds back. Expect big things from Nik in the coming year!

Trevor Boldi also made his pro debut, but a slight bobble threw his kneepads off. He would end up 26^th despite the wardrobe malfunction.

2016 National Champion, Shane Leslie had a great run going until the final section where he slid out after landing a jump – costing him precious seconds. He got up quickly and salvaged what he could, ending up in 27^th place.

Junior Experts Dante Silva and Matt Sterling jump the 1^st step down into the whoops section.

In the Junior Expert category, Zach Gareis was flying and went fastest in qualifying. Then the rain came down on finals day and Canadian Ben Wallace edged Zach out for the win.

An impressive run from Northern California’s Matt Sterling would land him 3^rd In Junior Experts, his best national results yet!

Southern Californian Cole Suetos adapted to the mud and stomped his lines for a 4^th place in the Junior Expert Category.

New Jersey native Titus Nicholson showed he was comfortable in the mud, rounding out the podium with a 5^th place in the Junior Expert Category.

Dante Silva was smooth all weekend, showing off his BMX background on the gnarly Tennessee course. He would end up 8^th in JR EX.

David Kahn looked good all weekend, but some bobbles cost him time, and he would end up in 11^th.

Austin Dooley rolling rocks on his way to 12^th place.

Kaden Pankow would end up in 20^th place for the Junior Experts.

We’ll catch you next month for the 2nd National Race in Port Angeles, WA April 14-15.