PORT ANGELES — The party starts today, gets serious Thursday and ends Sunday as the biggest non-World Cup mountain bike racing event in the country takes place this week.
The Northwest Cup mountain bike racing national championships are set for Thursday through Sunday at the Dry Hill course west of Port Angeles.
This is the second of three Northwest Cup events set on the North Olympic Peninsula, but this week’s the biggie.
And for the first time ever, the public officially is invited to the party.
There are two other firsts for the event that is in its fifth year in Port Angeles.
A movie about mountain biking on the level of Warren Miller’s snowboarding and skiing films will be available for public viewing, and there will be shuttle service to the track for spectators.
Parking problem
Shuttle service is important because Dry Hill has very limited parking. There’s barely enough room for the participants to park.
Of course, with a record amount of riders at 400-plus expected this week, that means even less parking than normal.
“This is the first time we have shuttle service because we don’t have a ton of room for parking, and we want to include the community,” Dry Hill race co-founder and co-director Casey Northern said.
“We would like to give the community a chance to see what it’s all about.”
This is a good time to see competitive mountain biking up close and personal, fellow co-founder and co-director Scott Tucker added.
That’s because spectators have the chance to see some of the top riders in the world this weekend.
World Cup caliber
More than 100 pros are expected this week, but more importantly, many World Cup-caliber riders — including champions and former champions — are expected as well.
Normally, World Cup-caliber competitors don’t ride in non-World Cup events, Tucker said.
“Our timing helps draw the World-Cup riders. They come here because we race before the World Cup season begins.
“They use the track as a good training ground.”
They like to train here because of the Dry Hill course, which is one of the few in the country that is up to World-Cup standards.
“This is a mini-World Cup,” Northern said.
“This is the biggest race in the country that’s not a World Cup,” Tucker added.
“The track brings Scott and I a lot of pride,” Northern said.
That’s because Dry Hill attracts the top racers in the world despite not offering a lot of amenities the World-Cup tracks offer.
And because it’s really a world-class course.
“We seemed to hit the nail on the head with our trail building,” Northern said.
But there will be some amenities this week for the national races.
In addition to the shuttle service, there will be a food-vending truck (Bighorn Barbecue of Port Angeles) and a coffee-vending truck at the track for spectators and participants.
The shuttle service and vending trucks will be operating Saturday and Sunday only.
The shuttle service will be available from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days at Adventures Through Kayaking and Harbinger Winery, 2358 U.S. Highway 101 West.
The two firms, in the same building, are located about 2 miles west of Albertsons in Port Angeles.
The van shuttle will leave every 30 minutes to and from Dry Hill.
The cost is $5 for a round-trip.
“Just drive west on Highway 101 and you will see where the shuttle service starts,” Northern said.
There is plenty of parking at the shuttle site.
Arriving today
It all starts today with mountain bike manufacturing vendors hitting the Port Angeles area.
Tucker and Northern are expecting some of the pros to start arriving Wednesday and more pros and amateur racers hitting the area Thursday and Friday.
Red Lion will be the host hotel.
There will be 300 amateur racers in addition to the 100-plus pros. A cap of 300 was put on amateurs to keep the event manageable and give plenty of time for practice runs.
“It’s got to be fun,” Northern said. “If a participant gets in a ton of riding, it’s fun.”
The cap for amateurs was reached a week or so ago.
“We have filled up with amateurs the last three years,” Tucker said.
The emphasis this week is on pros because this is the national championships, he added.
Thursday and Friday will be for practice runs only, thus no need for shuttle service.
Saturday will be for practice runs until 4 p.m. when the pros will have two hours of qualifying races.
There will be time for a little bit of practice Sunday with racing from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
But the real party will be Friday night at Vern Burton Community Center in Port Angeles.
The public is invited to the mountain bike national kickoff party from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. This is the first time the public has received an invitation to this event.
Friday’s function will include the premiere of the mountain biking movie “Strength in Numbers,” a raffle, no-host bar and food will be available.
Tickets to the party and movie cost $10 and include raffle tickets.
To get a look at the movie, get on YouTube and type in the name of the film.
This is the first time that the kickoff party has been held at Vern Burton.
“It can take 800 people,” Tucker said.
“We will have a ton of riders in town, and we wanted some place big enough for the public, too,” Northern added.
Another bonus for the races this weekend: The weather is supposed to be sunny and nice.
“The weather will be perfect,” Northern said.
A perfect weekend all the way around.
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Sports Editor Brad LaBrie can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at brad.labrie@peninsuladailynews.com.