CAPITOL FOREST CLASSIC!!

The Capitol Forest Classic was only the best race weekend of the season. I'm biased, you say?Okay, let's look at the facts: two days of racing, free onsite camping, a delicious BBQ included in the race entry, a raffle that included a car stereo and $2000 gift cert for a new bike both days, accurate timing by a crew of well-organized volunteers, fabulous weather, a Super D and XC course that served up some of the best singletrack the NW has to offer, maintained by the one of the hardest working (and definitely the most kick-ass) trail crews in Washington, Friends of Capitol Forest. Try and beat that. Just try. That's what I thought. You can't.

Day 1: Super D

This course went down our namesake trail, Green Line 6, and anyone who raced could probably see why we named our team after this trail. A mix of tight switchbacks, swooping berms, flowy singletrack, roots, rocks, and even some small features, this trail has it all. Recent logging made conditions extra dusty and dry; the loose corners in the fresh clearcut caused even the pros to hit the brakes and proceed with caution. This didn't stop GL6 racer Matt Jagger from getting a smokin fast time of 20:21, winning the Open Men's category and coming within a minute of Nathan Riddle's sub-20 minute course record. Unfortunately, there was also some carnage on th

e course. Two people took a trip to the emergency room with injuries, one of them being GL6 ripper Kerry Tarullo. Kerry broke her collarbone and now has a steel plate and a number of pins in it, courtesy of Green Line six (the trail, not the

team.) On the bright side, her recovery is going well and hopefully she can get back on the bike soon!

Super D results:

Open Men:

Matt Jagger, 1st

Luke Brechwald, 4th

Derik Archibald, 5th

Kyle Curtin, 6th

Open Women

Michelle Kautzmann, 2nd

Expert Men 36+

Bernie Miller, 2nd

Henry Gertje, 7th

Glenn Graham, 8th

Lee Peterson, DNF (mechanical)

Expert Women

Rachel Delateur, 3rd

Sport Men 36+

John Curtin, 4th

Sport Women

19-34

Courtney Anderson, 1st

Erin Roe, 6th

Kerry Tarullo, DNF (injury)

Day 2: XC

FOCF has had a problem with rain in the past. In fact, the sloppy conditions of the 2008 XC race are near legendary. Not this year. But the cunning weather gods were just as punishing; instead of rain, we got heat. 97 degrees of heat. On a course with 2,500-4,000 ft of climbing, that's like twisting on a rotisserie in hell's BBQ. Many a strong racer was brought to their knees, or rather, their granny gear. Where Saturday's Super D saw broken shoulder sockets and collarbones, Sunday's carnage came in the form of cramping, vomit, and DNFs. The XC course started out with a fast rolling warm up, then began climbing through clearcuts on trail 8, which was like pedaling through an oven. However, once the trail entered back into the forest, the heat became more manageable. After reaching Wedekind, racers went across the "Crestline" trail, which served up some technical uphill sections which were hike-a-bikes for most. Racers were rewarded with a run down the Super D course from Saturday. Sport racers were done after reaching Fall Creek (16 miles), but the Expert/Open racers had to turn around and complete another 10 mile loop, which meant one more climb up though the clearcuts on 8. Despite the heat, GL6 had another excellent showing, Michelle earning 2nd in Open Women, and Erin and Courtney crowding the Sport Women 19-34 podium in 2nd and 3rd place. This was also Kyle's first XC race in the Open category. Although he had some incredibly bad luck with mechanicals, suffering both a broken chain and a flat tire, he and his bike still managed to finish the race!

XC Results:

Open Men

Matt Jagger, 6th

Luke Brechwald, 11th

Kyle Curtin, 12th

Bernie Miller, DNF

Open Women

Michelle Kautzmann, 2nd

Expert Men 36+

Henry Gertje, 8th

Expert Women Singlespeed

Erica Keller, 1st

Sport Men 36+

John Curtin, 13th

Sport Women 19-35

Erin Roe, 2nd

Courtney Anderson, 3rd