It was a wild & woolly week at Windrock Bike Park in
Oliver Springs, Tennessee, for the 1st 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 7th 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 4th
in the world as a junior the previous year. Nik slid off track and lost some
momentum, but continued to rally hard for a 16th 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 26th 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 27th
place.
Junior Experts Dante Silva and Matt Sterling jump the 1st
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 3rd In Junior
Experts, his best national results yet!
Southern Californian Cole Suetos adapted to the mud and
stomped his lines for a 4th place in the Junior Expert Category.
New Jersey native Titus Nicholson showed he was comfortable
in the mud, rounding out the podium with a 5th 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 8th in JR
EX.
David Kahn looked good all weekend, but some bobbles cost
him time, and he would end up in 11th.
Austin Dooley rolling rocks on his way to 12th
place.
Kaden Pankow would end up in 20th place for the
Junior Experts.
We’ll catch you next month for the 2nd National Race in Port
Angeles, WA April 14-15.