Just when you thought the XC mtb season was over and it was a tad too warm to do ‘cross, the Portland Velo team puts on their Weekend of Pain (on the Peak) & Sufferin’ (on the Summit) in the beautiful hills of Western Washington County on the very mountain Lance crushes during his annual Livestrong Ride.

Check out the very professional webpage for this race

Key sponsors included: Keen, Felt, Redline, Specialized, & Tifosi

Current nat’l champ Ryan Trebon came out and showed us how to take 2 barriers in a whopping 4 seconds: link to video

Crossniac Race Results:

• Jordan Frasier (Beg Men) – DNF due to asthma attack, raced single-speed
• Will Cortez (Men C) – 29th, raced single-speed

Sufferin’ on the Summit

• Will Cortez (Cat 2 Men 19-34) – 3rd, raced single-speed
• Brian Johnson (Cat 2 Men 35-44) – 8th

Pain on the Peak: race report

Key points:

• the recently cut straw made for super slow riding
• the loose straw combined with off-camber downhills transitioning to uphills made for amazing crashes!
• the loose top-soil made it ridiculously dusty and hard to breathe (I rocked a face-mask for the race)

Sufferin’ on the Summit: race report

• Lap 1: dusty & plugged up. The course was a real surprise with super sketchy downhills & ridiculously tight switchbacks
• Lap 2: I knew what was coming and strategically planned when to hike-a-bike so as to keep my position. Totally nailed all the downhills and my confidence soared.
• Lap 3: my cockiness gets the best of me as I forgot to lean the bike away on an off-camber descent resulting in an early lap crash. The downhill I stuck earlier comes back with a vengeance as I go in too hot and wipe out…I paid for that with some “road rash.” I go on to hold off Brian J. for a 3rd place finish in the Cat 2 Men 19-34.

-buddhabelly