Season Finale

The Tara Llanes Classic MEGA DH ('mega downhill' must be enounced in a baritone monster-truck-rally-announcer's voice. MEGA DOWNHILL. It's unavoidable) was the perfect way to cap the Northstar Downhill Series for the summer. Bringing in 200 racers and loads of vendors this is the 5th TLC running with Tara herself MC'ing the event that has a great vibe.

The meganess in the Tara Llanes Classic lies in the fact that this course is almost twice as long as any other DH course - 10-13 minutes - with a nice lung-busting, leg-burning climb a few seconds into the race. Although the climb is merely a gap in time when it feels like your wheels are just standing still as you try to power your heavy, squishy-travel bike up soft powdery dirt, it got a lot of talk. Some competitors chose to ride their lighter all-mountain weapons and even spotted was a (gasp) skin-suit sported by pro-men's first place finisher Ryan Condrashoff. But obviously the dude knew what he was doing.

For most of us regarding bike selection and outfitting the climb took a back seat to what lay ahead on the descending trail, Sticks & Stones. This is a trail that lives up to its name. The dirt is loose-as-fook in the top section, sinking into corners and riding the slide. There a few drops off logs and because it's Northstar, always rocks, which then descends to the lower section into rock-garden-palooza - trying to make a clean pass through a particularly gnarly rock-garden was my highlight challenge of the day. The course then shoots the racer out to a speedy ending through the newly restored (nice job trail crew!) Datona Berms off the wooden-feature stadium jump to an all-star fly into the finish line. Way fun! And by the time the racer is at the bottom it seems the climb at the top is a distant memory, far removed by all the other radness encountered on the trip down the mountain.

Lending to the good vibe at TLC is its mission with proceeds being distributed between the Tara Llanes Road to Recovery Fund and the Reeve-Irvine Research Center to find a cure for spinal cord injury. Tara doles out the awards and gives hugs. Friends that have raced together all season are there for the last and final and tons of new faces who have traveled long and far all co-mingle. The vendors are there to show off their new products and offer support - much thanks to the Specialized tent for bleeding my SRAM brakes on my Santa Cruz V10 just minutes before I had to be at the start gate. Big thumbs up!!And here's the lowdown on the women's podium:
Female Open
1. Abigail Hippely 10:59
2. Robyn Embrey 11:11.4
3. Tasa Herndon 11:30.9
4. Adrienne Schneider 11:42.4
5. Rosemarie Daiek 12:18.7
6. Miranda Carr 12:46.4
7. Jaclyn Paaso 13:20.0
8. Mary Moncorge DNS (unfortunately Mary had other matters to tend to - her boyfriend's shattered wrist from practice)

Female Sport 29 and Under- a slight course variation from the Open competitors so times don't compare
1. Shanna Carlen 12:00.7
2. Anna Wigandt 13:43.7
3. Morgan Howe-Cobb 13:49.0
4. Allie Sorrensen 17:43.5

Female Sport 30+
1. Brooklyn Dewante 13:00.0
2. Kirstie Douglass 13:35.3
3. Marika Holmgren 15:49.0
4. Ivy Lui 16:13.1

Adventures in Ashland

Two races back-to-back in the past month have been held in Ashland, Or and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite places to ride! The trails are really well built; twisy, jumpy, tacky and berm-a-liciuos!!! all winding through a beautiful canopy of trees.

The first race was the Spring Thaw DH that only one of us from GOES (our new acronym for Girls on the East Side. Like it??) competed in. It was cold and snowy/rainy on race day but I managed to take 1st in my category and 2nd fasted woman on the mountain of the day earning me $100! (This well covered my race entry but not quite the travel expenses. Still, getting money for winning a race felt like a pro for a half-of-a-second, hehe). As usual I raced with some really great women and am glad to get to know more new rad lady shredders.Did I mention it was snowing/raining . . . and it was really c-c-c-cold? I sat in the car after my pre-race practice run wrapped in a sleeping bag and couldn't even take my helmet and goggles off because I was too shivery.Our second race, four weeks later, was the super fun Super-D. We started at the top of Mount Ashland and raced our way 12 miles through several different terrains, including Catwalk my new favorite trail that we raced in the Spring Thaw. Tina and I were the two GOES that represented and placed well in a tough category. Tina taking 6th and I seconds behind placing 8th. I wasn't feeling so great on race day - tired and a bit of a headache/sore throat but pushed through and managed to have a blast despite it all. Our plan for next year is to put in more XC training miles well in advance of the race because of the nauseating climb and for me - more rest!!! (and perhaps my own private room. Five of us crammed in a crappy hotel room with bikes, luggage, and what not and all were snoring and farting around me. Sheesh!!).

My new buddy that I see around at some of the races shot this photo. I look like I'm about to laugh because I think I am . . . all these guys on the side of the trail with beer cans lined up in a pattern and someone shouts my name. What, who? Oh, I can't let my concentration break. I've descended now to the Cinderella trail and it is steep and loose with tight berms and hoppy ruts . . . must concentrate, must not laugh, almost to the finish line!

After our race day on Saturday we spent Sunday exploring a few new trails down the mountain and I am now convinced that Ashland is the greatest place to ride . . . we'll be back sooner than later for sure!View from the top of Mount Ashland. There was snow at the top and warmth at the bottom. The trails finished at beautiful Lithia Park.

World Cup Schedule 2011

2011 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup
April 23-24: Pietermaritzburg, South Africa (XCO/DHI/4X)
June 4-5: Fort William, Great Britain (DHI/4X)
June 11-12: Leogang, Austria (DHI/4X)
July 2-3: Mont Sainte Anne, Quebec, Canada (XCO/DHI/4X)
July 9-10: Windham, New York, United States (XCO/DHI/4X)
August 6-8: La Bresse, France (DHI)
August 20-21: Val di Sole, Italy (XCO/DHI/4X)

Tammy Donahugh's Summer 2010 from Tammy Donahugh on Vimeo.