2015 Race Report // Day 4

OAKRIDGE, OREGON, September 28, 2015. It is Monday morning and racers are still lingering by a smouldering fire in the middle of camp – no one really wants the Trans-Cascadia race to be over. Since Wednesday when everyone arrived the base camp vibe here has been one of good times, friendship, story telling, and celebration. There have been antics and hijinks (that’s what we call Lars Sternberg and Mark Weir), and there has been an genuine camaraderie that has brought every single one of the sixty-six racers into a club – they are the people who took a chance on a first year event, and won. Event Organizer, Alex Gardner, says, “[The race went] beyond any expectation, it went so smoothly, everyone here came for the same reason and it was fabulous.”

The event was amazing, definitely the coolest multi-day, or really any event, I’ve done, just really the whole package was incredible, the racing, the trails, just this amazing crescendo of different styles and everything building up from a backcountry kind of feel to the classic mountain bike trails of Oakridge. And then with the camping and hanging out afterwards, the camaraderie and the good social and making so many new friends, hanging out and really have a good time. It was incredible! – Logan Wetzel

Despite some epic crash stories that left people gripping the side of scree slopes or landing on their faces after encountering root balls in the shadows, all sixty-six racers rode hard and finished all of the twenty-one stages. Alex says, “the way the riders rode the trails was incredible, they rode fast but they also respected the trails, they did what we asked, I think they had a good time!” Aaron Bradford who maintained a lead in the Pro Men’s category after Day 2, survived the scariest moment of his four days on the last stage of the race, “I figured I probably shouldn’t push it, but I still wanted to contend. There’s this one section on Alpine right before you get down to the covered bridge and there’s this little G-out thing, super techy. But when you’re analyzing it and you’re coming up on it, there’s this little line to the left where you can kind of jump the whole thing. I came into it and I hesitated and I thought I could, and then I hit the brakes and dropped right into this dip. I sent it huge and as I was in the air the seat came up and pressed me in the chin and then it looped around my Evoc bag chest strap. It hooked and as soon as I was moving forward my head hit the handlebars and Mach whatever. It was absolutely insane, I don’t know how many feet I rode just looking at my front tire, but then I broke the clasp mechanism. I was free to go but I was still pretty woah. . .”

Luckily Aaron was able to ride it out and win the $5000 cash prize for the overall Pro Men category. Geoff Kabush took second and Logan Wetzel came from behind to take third. “I knew it was the last day so I was riding a little less conservatively, just trying to give it everything I had knowing that the end was near,” says Logan. “I pedalled hard and just took a little more chances than I had been the rest of the week. I didn’t really know how fast I went because the stages today were different than the other days so it was hard to really tell how fast we were going but it ended up turning our really well and I had a great day, a lot of fun.”

The women’s podium stayed consistent all week and ended with Rosara Joseph taking the top prize of $5000, followed by Rachel Walker in second and Jenny Konway in third.

Last night, after dinner and podiums, around a fire that Mark Weir ensured was raging, midway through roughly 400 beers, and watching a super moon eclipse, there really wasn’t anything that could have made for a more perfect finale to the race. “These are the events I like to support,” says Aaron. “I do the EWS and I love those events, they are amazing and each event is totally unreal. But when you come to a place that people are really passionate about, like a certain region and they love it and they want to show it off to the best of their ability and they do that and they succeed – this is one of the best ran events that I’ve been to. It’s crazy; there are no glitches. Someone asked me if there was anything that I would change and I honestly thought about it for a good amount of time and the only thing I could come up with was maybe more Nutella for the desert aisle. The trails were rad, the people are rad, there are bonfires every night, it was good!”

When asked about plans for Trans-Cascadia 2016, the Event Organizers were coy in their responses. “We’ll do something,” said Alex. Whatever it is they do, after this event, you can be sure it will be gold.

2015 Race Report // Day 3

OAKRIDGE, OREGON, September 26, 2015. Day 3 took racers to a new network of trails closer to Oakridge, Oregon. Not only were the trails a progression from the rather untouched trails of the fist two days, but the stages progressed from rainy and cold to dry and loose throughout the day. “Today’s trails were incredible; I think the best day so far of all three, mainly because there was a huge diversity in what we rode.” John ‘Fuzzy’ Mylne describes Day 3, “we rode everything from super dank, wet loamy trails on the west side of town to the dry, loose, and driftin’ trails on the east side, and everything in the middle. There were steeps, off-camber, exposure – everything was there today, we got a little mix of everything.”

Craig Harvey echoed Fuzzy’s take on the day, “the conditions were a little bit different on Stage 1 and 2, they were a little bit wetter and then we moved over to a different mountain for the rest of the day and it was a little bit dryer. [The trails] were a little bit more developed than in the previous two days but they were still challenging. It was nice to have a mix of conditions and the wetter stuff was great. The dryer stuff today was a little bit more similar to where I come from down in California. It was all phenomenal.”

“I’m loving [the event], it’s a great time, everyone gets along great, and the meals are great. The organizers are putting together a great event.” – Craig Harvey

Even though the volunteers were out in the varying weather conditions all day, it would seem that nothing could dampen their excitement for the race or their ingenuity. “Today was really cold but it went really fast. It’s pretty crazy to be sitting in the middle of the woods with nobody around you in the freezing cold. I made myself a tent shelter, I made it out of my clothes and my bike.” Jessica Crump, who has been on timing for the event, describes her less than comfortable morning in the woods, “the times were still good though, everyone was stoked and screaming at the end of the finish, they were sticking around to ride out with their friends.”

“Watching the video I was thinking about how incredible it is, what we have done over the last three days is amazing. Today in particular, we almost had three different riding conditions in that one same day. We went from rainy and greasy gnarly to loose and sketchy to loam, fast and just crazy. It was quite the day.” – Brian Valverde Regional Sales Manager, Shimano America

While racers shuttled to Stage 1, the event team set up the new base camp at Tire Dog Ranch – a beautiful expanse of land surround by a thick forest and rustically decorated with everything from tailgates to wandering chickens. After Stage 15 racers made a stop at Brewer’s Union Local 180 pub before pedalling to their new ‘home’ for the next two nights. “It was such a nice little touch to be able to hang out there with everyone sitting in chairs, talking about the day,” said Brian. “Everyone had their challenges and their victories and it was great, we all had a big beer in our hands and it’s some of the best times of mountain biking is that time right there – coming fresh off the trail and just being able to talk about your experience and everyone has a different take on it.”

The intimate size of the race, at sixty-six racers, has lead to a unique, fun, and friendly event. Alex ‘Krunk’ McGuinnis is enjoying the camp vibes, “I think that with [blind] racing it’s really fun at the finish line because everybody gets to share stories about the goofy stuff they got themselves into and most people aren’t surprised that everyone behind them and in front of them did the same thing so it’s great to share that with the people you are trying to beat down the hill. Comradery, moral, everything is on an all-time high right now – a lot of laughs, a lot of high-fives, people sharing transfers and stories. It’s really social. It’s really fun!”

William ‘Wild Bill’ Roussel knew that he wanted to be involved with the race when he started to talking to Race Organizer, Nick Gibson, about this event over a year ago, “it really intrigued me that we would have potentially the opportunity to do something this big in Oregon. I mean really, a four-day event, the logistics of that are amazingly challenging and the fact that they pulled a group of people together to get this done in an area like this, in Oakridge, is incredible.”

“It was Oakridge, it was his event, and the people who are behind this. . . I had to be a part of that.” – William ‘Wild Bill’ Roussel

With all the love in the air it is hard to believe there is an actual race going on, especially one with $16000 worth of prize money on the line ($5000 for 1st, $2000 for 2nd, and $1000 for 3rd in both Pro Men and Pro Women’s categories). Rosara Joseph nearly doubled her lead on Rachel Walker after yesterday’s stages, and is going into the final day with a nearly a 5 minute cushion. Aaron Bradford also widened his lead over Geoff Kabush to maintain the top step in Pro Men. Alex McGuinnis had fell back to 5th place opening up the 3rd step for Nick Hardin.

The 4th, and final day on Sunday will included a morning shuttle to Stage 16 followed by 6000 feet of descending with only 3000 feet of climbing.

2015 Race Report // Day 2

OAKRIDGE, OREGON, September 25, 2015. After 17.8 miles of trail on Day 1, yesterday may have looked like a minor reprieve on paper at 15.6 miles, but with the scree slopes, flat switchbacks, and pedal sections, it didn’t feel like one. The course took racers back on some of the same trails as previous days but in the opposite direction. “It was cool to see the terrain that we road yesterday sort of in the opposite direction,” says Barry Wicks, “you think ‘oh we know what we are getting into,’ but you totally don’t because you’re going four times or ten times faster.” Even local racer, Jack Love said, “definitely helpful that I got to see [the trails yesterday], but I wished I had looked a little harder going up them.”

Day 2 included another five stages that at one point allowed the racers to transition through basecamp where they could pickup a fresh made gourmet lunch before continuing on. After completing Stage 9, the racers were shuttled to within a mile of the start of Stage 10. Coming from a cross-country background, Barry says, “the last stage was pretty baller – we don’t usually get to do twenty minute descents unless you ride uphill for two hours. The bus ride kind of sucked and then you realize, ‘I didn’t have to pedal up here and this descent goes forever so it’s totally worth it!”

“Sections today were pretty exposed in some parts, the dirt is good though, there are a lot of pine needles to drag your tires away, but it’s good fun.” – Jack Love

Staying true to the blind racing format, the routes for each day have only been released at the racers meetings the evening before. This has led to he development of some technique from rides like Barry, “I like to go last so I can see the lines that everyone is taking – and I’m like ‘how’d did they go over there? They must have jumped like 30 feet or something, I’m just going to ride the normal line.’” And for others it has lead to some crashes. Lev Stryker, currently in second place for Amateur Men, describes his crash yesterday, “I came around a corner [on Stage 7] that was a little blind and I was a little too far outside and all of a sudden my front tire was gone and I basically dug my toes in like I had ski boots on as far as I could because I felt like I had fallen off a cornice. I was just like all claws in the freakin’ wall to stop. The next stage I was shaking in a few little exposed bits but pretty good overall.” But it didn’t shake him up too badly, “I’m still second in Amateur. A local guy, Eugene, came back and now he’s a few seconds ahead of me so that battle is on!”

“I saw the scree slope coming, there’s a little left hand chicane that cut some people off – I believe Mark Weir might have tomahawked a little bit which I’m sure would have been really exciting to watch. I had a good highline, it’s kind of like lava dust in there and you can see if there’s any tracks, I went super high and connected it and then had so much speed I for the next turn that I completely over shot it so then I slowed ‘er down – I think I broke even on that.” – Aaron Bradford, Pro Men Day 2 Leader

The screen slope on Stage 7 caught a few people, including Mark Weir, “After we hiked up the sand, I thought ‘oh this is sweet, it’s all damp and nice,’ and it comes in and you could load it high left. So I load it left and I go to do a French nose wheelie because I think I’m good at that and then I realize that I’m not French, and the wheel dug in and was like, ‘oh, but it’s sand.’ I’m going over the bars and thinking that I’ll roll a somersault because it’s so steep and then get back on the bike. I did two somersaults through the corner and then my bike rotated around and I’m like, ‘mother –‘, you know wen you’re kind of pissed off, but I can’t be too pissed. And then the next one came and it looked like a Swiss Army knife half opened and I club-cyclisted every one of them, I’ve never felt so dominated on corners that I thought I could own. It was a humbling zone. I was only 9 seconds off and I was doing somersaults down the hill. And then the rest of the stage, like Lars said, he ran it mad – like fuck this, I’m just going to go for it.”

Mark may have tomahawked down the screen slope, but it was Lars Sternberg who owned the biggest of the crashes on a transfer stage yesterday, as Mark tells us.

Rosara Jospeh who maintains her lead in Pro Women also had her “first proper crash in the last stage of the day” but she says, “I escaped relatively unscathed I just want to keep having fun, which means riding the same as always and trying to push it a bit, but today was definitely rowdier. The trails were more challenging than yesterday – tighter, rockier, steeper, and just higher consequence.” After Stage 10 and two days of riding, Rosara has a 2:53 lead over Rachel Walker.

Aaron Bradford closed a decent gap took a 20 second lead over Geoff Kabush by the end of Day 2, “I felt pretty confident after each stage I felt smooth and fast, I stood up every time I should and I certainly feel strong right now.”

“It’s amazing, the vision has come through 100%, and grander than I think any of use really imagined, which is awesome! And the hoots and hollers at the end of the stage finishes are really what it’s all about!” – Mercedes, Event Team

For Day 3 Trans-Cascadia moves the riding, and basecamp, closer to Oakridge where racers will experience slightly more travelled trails, but ones that continue to set the standard for fun, flowly descents.

“I’m super impressed, it’s probably one of the best events I’ve been to in terms of organization – super smooth.” – Rosara Joseph, Pro Women Day 2 Leader

2015 Race Report // Day 1

With only a few days to go until the inaugural Trans-Cascadia race, the Modus Sport Group has been out getting the trails into prime condition before the racers arrive on Wednesday, September 23. “We truly love this sport and the wilderness. We are also very spoiled by our professions and get to go ride places like this all the time, we want to make that experience a reality for others,” said Race Organizer, Tommy Magrath, about choosing to hold the event in Oakridge, Oregon.

The primary goal of the race is to share this special location and amazing trail system with the world. Secondly, it is to host everyone in a remote location and promote that special kind of camaraderie that can only come from a multi-day event. “We were looking for an area that was capable of a backcountry feel, and had enough trails that were not well known so we could have a blind format race. We also felt like it was a good area to give back to a community that is benefitting us.” Tommy continues, “We chose the multi-day format because there was no possible way to ride all the trails in one day, and we want racers to have the full experience – camping, riding, eating, partying, and making new friends.”

“We want to get more involved in advocacy for trails and events in our sport to keep our future strong for business and recreation. We also want to showcase our great region for mountain biking while bringing a quality event to our MODUS Sport Group territory,” explains Alex Gardner, another of the race’s organizers. The backbone of this project has been the hands-on commitment of the MODUS Sport Group in the Oakridge area. “We’ve put in some big days. But first, I have to give credit to those guys and gals putting in the work, week in and week out. Each of our communities has people that work endlessly on our trails, these are the people we have to all be aware of and make sure we say thank you to,” says Nick Gibson, the third of the race organizing trio, he goes on to say, “trail building, and working with those building and clearing trail, has been super fun and rewarding. It feels like we are giving back a bit.”

The event is personal for the group organizing it; Tommy grew up in the industry, “any new side of mountain biking that I can see, I am eager to get my hands in. I am really excited to see the race come to light.” With Alex’s racing days behind him, he says, “I miss getting ready for competition; training and tuning equipment for the best performance, an event like this keeps me close and allows for some hard work, creativity and cutting edge conversations about the sport.” And Nick sums it up by saying, “riding and hanging out in the woods with our people, that what it’s all about for us.”

All this preparation is solely to showcase the great terrain in Oakridge, the southern edge of the Cascades. It is a “mix of steep loamy tracks, rocky sections, open meadows and shaded canopies that are linked together with buff single track.” The team has nothing but praise for the local community, describing it as “an established community with incredible trails – the perfect place to host the 1st years of Trans-Cascadia.” The team cannot wait to welcome the racers and share this place with them, and they look forward to sharing the race with the world through race updates and social media throughout the event.

About the Promoters

Modus Sport Group – Modus Sport Group understands that mountain biking is not just a sport, it’s a way to grow an appreciation for the world that we live in, we feel that this is critically important and we understand that it takes effort and work to insure this experience for the generations of riders to come. As Trails Stewards we hope our work will open up new areas of riding and contribute to maintaining current trials in order to create lasting and sustainable riding areas that will be ridden and enjoyed for years to come. For more information visit Modus Sport Group.