The 2012 Summer Dirt - AKA - The Endless Summer!
BUILD
The Dirt Corps is super stoked to announce the completion of the BC | DC dual slalom course at the Duthie Bike Park. Designed and led by Bobby Stenson and Cameron Hoefler, this pro level racing trail is the second major Dirt Corps installment at Duthie. The BC | DC trail is designed as an advanced race course whereas the Semper Dirticus trail is focused mainly on freeride and jumping. It was a huge team effort to get the course finished on time for the grand opening of Duthie in March. A special acknowledgement goes out to father son team Jay and Ben Gore who went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure the final punch list was crossed off and everything completed on time.
The Phase 3 Flow Trail at the Snoqualmie Bike Park is slated for completion this Fall. Once completed, the new addition will add 3,000 feet of trail to the existing bike park and opens up another dimension to the park that riders of all ages will benefit from. In addition to both of these efforts we’ve also been hard at work pitching in on the completion of the new upper section of Preston at East Tiger Mountain. This new section adds a mile and a half of pump and flow that beautifully complements the harsh angles of the classic switchback Preston trail. With the opening of this new segment Evergreen and the DNR have already planned routing for 5 new miles of All Mountain trail that will optimize and re-energize this classic northwest mountain biking destination. Now if we could just get it opened year round!
RIDE
With all of the trail work that we do in the Fall, Winter and Spring everyone on the team looks forward to the summer months of riding and racing. We also recognize that our surrounding communities eagerly look forward to the ride season so we do our part to get them ready. In early June we teamed up with Greggs Cycles again for the 6th Annual Tanner Jeans Bike Rodeo where we serviced more than 1,000 bikes and prepared the local Snoqualmie kids and parents for summer riding. The Dirt Corps took care of the basic bike checks while the awesome full service 2 man team from Greggs took on the harder repairs.
In July, Kat Sweet held the Sugar Showdown at Duthie Bike Park. The Showdown is an all women, two-day training and freeride competition that is the first of its kind in the northwestern United States. On day one, 8 pro coaches from across North America - DH champions, slopestyle superstars, IMBI certified instructors - led different levels and multiple generations of women riders through basic skills before progressing to jumps, drops, wall rides and berms. On the second day, more than 50 pro and amateur riders from across two countries threw down their best tricks on Duthie Hill’s Semper Dirticus and Voodoo Child lines while being cheered on by a large gallery of spectators.
RACE
The 2012 race season has been more exciting than the wheel size debate that is raging within the mountain bike industry at the moment. Our season started off with a couple of big milestones, both for our team, and racing in the PNW. This year we ushered two pro riders into our ranks! After dominating the Cat 1 ranks for several years team captain Matt Patterson upgraded to pro. And after proving herself to be the fastest Cat 1 woman in the NW last year, Karen O’Connell stepped up to the women pro ranks and won the 2012 Northwest Cup.
Our Junior Team has made steady progress again this year with Zach, Kye, Eric, Nik, Ben and Emmet all making impressive progression in their racing and results. In the Oregon Enduro Series, the South African wild-man Dave Hutton continues to dominate Cat 1 taking the overall win in both 2011 and 2012. The addition of the Enduro series extends our race season and offers the opportunity to explore the far corners of our sister state.
In terms of results, we achieved many goals. Our team members entered 94 races, won gold in 11, silver in 14, and bronze in 7, for a total of 32 podiums. Without a doubt, the Dirt Corps were once again the dominant team in Northwest gravity racing.
A SPECIAL THANKS!
These companies and the folks that support us are a big part of why we’ve able to keep this crazy dream alive that we call The Dirt Corps: Trek Bikes, Greggs Cycles, Troy Lee Designs, Five Ten Shoes, Deity Components, Smith Optics, SixSixOne, Fox Racing Shox and the super human folks at SnoRidge CrossFit that keep us fit.
And last, but certainly not least, a huuuge thanks to all the parents of the Junior Dirt Corps riders for their unwavering support and the positive vibe that they provide.
Semper Dirticus!
Who's Ready for Whistler? These Guys Are!
Matt Patterson Welcomes Dave Hutton to the Dirt Corps
South African Dave as he's also known, and I have been riding and building trails together for years. 2004 was when we first met back when Saimo and I were first getting DC off the ground and building trails prolifically on Snoqualmie Ridge. We were originally introduced to Dave through the old Big Bikes email list, where some local freeride legends like EB, Armando, and Chad Black to name a few first formed our collective friendship.
Since then Dave has grown tremendously as a rider and trail builder. He's one of the driving forces behind the Middle Fork Snoqualmie trails which you might have heard referred to as The Peeler. With Dave having just recently moved to North Bend and with those trails becoming recognized by the DNR, expect to see some more great things in that really killer zone.
This past year Dave stepped up his racing, and got serious about his Super D. He won a couple of the Oregon Super D events and finished so consistently in the very competitive Cat 1 men 40+, that he won the overall series! I'm excited to announce that Dave will be spearheading the Dirt Corps Gravity Enduro effort for next year. We'll be looking to have a bit more of a team presence at these events and I want to encourage those of you who are interested in this style of racing to take advantage of this opportunity for our team.
I went to one of the Oregon Super D's last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's very similar to a DH event, I saw many of the same faces from the other series of events we already go to, plus lots of new folks too. For 2012 I'm encouraging the team join Dave and I for more races in the newly announced North American Enduro Tour Series.
For the Dirt Corps, this is an opportunity to diversify our racing team and represent our sponsors across a wider market segment than just the strictly DH crowed. And for Dave, he'll get the support of our sponsors and some of our team members choosing to participate in those events, and of course a Dirt Corps team jersey to wear on the podium!
I encourage you all to welcome Dave and also get some dialog going about events plans for next year and if you're interested in being one of the team members racing in the Enduro events.
Stoked to have you aboard bru!
- Matt Patterson, Dirt Corps Team Captain
