PORT ANGELES — It was an invasion of Canadians, in a sense, as the neighbors up north dominated the first leg of the Northwest Cup Series downhill mountain-bike races at Dry Hill this past weekend.
Canadian riders captured three of the top four places in both the men’s and women’s professional races, held late afternoon Easter Sunday.
The Canadian men also took six of the top 10 and 12 of the best 24 positions.
“We had 50 Canadian racers, which is a huge jump in numbers for our races,” Dry Hill co-organizer Scott Tucker said.
There also were 50 female racers, which also was a big jump from the 20 who traditionally compete.
“[The increased participation] says to me that we are growing [as a venue],” Tucker said.
The Canadians and women headed an onslaught of new racers as the mountain bikers set a new attendance record for a non-national championship event at Dry Hill.
“We were expecting 250 to 300 riders but we had 340, which is a big jump in numbers for our races,” Tucker said.
Even the numbers for the pro racers increased for a non-national championship event.
“We had 40 pros, and we usually get 25,” Tucker said.
This is the fifth year that Olympic Dirt Society, sponsor of the Dry Hill races, is running the races.
Traditionally, the national races — which are scheduled in three weeks in Port Angeles — attract the largest participation.
So Tucker is expecting an even bigger crowd for the April 26-29 national championship races at Dry Hill.
“There will be 400 for sure, probably more, for the nationals,” Tucker said.
Amateur racers need to register soon because the amateurs will be limited to the first 300 while 100 to 125 pro racers are expected. There is no limit on the pros.
“We are filling up quickly,” Tucker said about the registration for nationals.
Professional riders are mostly World Cup competitors and champions, according to Tucker.
The weather gave an assist to the good attendance because the dry, warm weather gave the races a festive atmosphere.
There was a little of everything going on as Dry Hill organizers even celebrated Easter with an egg hunt Sunday with some pretty potent prizes.
“It was a perfect weekend,” Tucker said.
“[The dry weather] kept people on the hill instead of going back to their hotel rooms to shower between races.”
Riders get soaked in mud from head to toe when it rains during the races.
Including spectators and riders, there were probably 500 people on Dry Hill at any given moment, according to Tucker.
“Everyone left elated,” Tucker said.
Organizers gave out 66 awards at the end of the day for the top three finishers in 22 categories, including pro and amateur.
On top of all that, Dry Hill had an Easter-egg hunt for everyone Sunday between races.
Organizers sent everyone down the hill to the parking area, then hid plastic eggs on the track.
Every egg had candy or prizes.
“There were 20 nice prizes, including a $300 camera,” Tucker said.
All prizes were donated from Northwest Cup sponsors.
“They are mostly industry sponsors,” Tucker said. “There are 25 different companies that sponsor us.”
Overall, Dry Hill is becoming more popular every year.
“I think it’s going to be a big year,” Tucker said.
“I’m getting a lot of positive feedback. Email after email, people are telling me that they love coming here.
“We are growing and getting better. This is a real gem for the riders.”
The top racers this past weekend were men’s pro winner Remi Gauvin of Nanoose Bay, British Columbia, and women’s pro winner Jill Kintner of Seattle.
