Underworld Cup!

Sea Otter was fun. Beacon was fun. Riding around Duthie is fun. However, none of those things are real downhill. Sure there might be a downhill section or a technical feature, but not multiple minutes of high speed, mud slinging, mother nature trying to kill you downhill. Luckily we were able to experience those things with only a short ferry ride over to lovely Port Angeles Washington for the 2014 Underworld Cup.

Short ferry ride through a busy shipping channel.

Ruth and I arrived Friday afternoon and met up with Verg to grab a few practice runs. This was the first time I was able to ride my DH bike on a proper course, with real tires. We grabbed our bikes and headed to the lift line. HOLY CRAP! The lift line was massive. It turns out this is the largest race ever held at Port Angeles and there were 500 racers! They only use two trucks on Friday, so the line took forever. We were there for the entire afternoon and only managed to get two runs.

Practice was really important on Friday, because I had to qualify on Saturday. Due to the amount of people, practice on Saturday was split up into 3 hour blocks, except for Pro, which was only 2.5 with qualifying starting right afterwards. I was feeling really good with my runs and even managed to follow Strobel for a lap until I wrapped myself around a tree. I went back to the pit to get ready for my qualifier.

Practice run. Thanks to Tommy for the rain jacket!

While we were waiting for qualifying to start, the rains came in. It started dumping and everything turned ito a muddy river. I headed up to the top with my rain jacked on and didn't even take it off for my run. After about 100 yards, my goggles were covered in mud and I was pretty much riding blind. I had a series of small mistakes and missed one jump in the middle of the course. I was blown away when I crossed the line into 2nd place, 0.9 seconds behind Dean Tennant.

Qualifying times

After everyone finished, I ended up 9th! I couldn't believe it! I actually thought the timing might be wrong with how bad my run felt. However, I was feeling really confident for Sunday to fix my mistakes and try to save some time and move further up the results list.

I forgot spare shorts. I had to wash mine in the hotel room.

On Sunday you only get one practice run. I normally feel really awkward and slow, but not today. I felt connected to the bike and ready to go. My run was right where I wanted it to be and I couldn't have been more excited to race.

I hiked up the course to watch Ruth's race run. I'm still blown away that my wife does this with me. The course conditions this weekend were so nasty. Everything was wet and covered in slick mud hiding criss-crossing roots and the steep pitches. I couldn't be more proud of my wife than watching her navigate that course!

Ruth coming through one of the first corners on White Knuckle.

After Ruth's run, I headed down to get ready for mine. I took the last shuttle to the top of the course and pedaled around on the road for a few minutes before heading to the start gate.

My run was pretty much flawless. There were a few small things I could have done better, but it was one of the best race runs I've had. I crossed the line and went into the hot seat by 3 seconds and was the first person to break the best qualifying time barrier. I ended up getting beat by a few others and had to settle for 8th, but I was only 0.5 seconds off the podium and only 2 seconds off the win! The top 8 times were so close.

Final times!

I couldn't be happier with how the weekend ended up. I'll post some more photos as I come across them. We have a break from racing for a few weeks. Ruth and I are excited to do some riding in some new places!

-KT