This sunday, the sun was shining and the mood was festive. It was a good turnout for the second switchbacks of the year. People from all over Oregon came for this one with the presence of only a few Tacoma or Seattle visitors (as Chip informed me). Still, the dedicated boarders got practice runs all morning until the race started. Judy, Cathlamet Downhill Corral coordinator, made chili and brought it for any to enjoy. It seemed like a mellow morning in no rush to start racing.
The winter may have been pretty long, but people were going for it like they’d been riding for a couple months. The prevalence of stand up pre-drifts among the riders made it evident that the skill level of Oregon riders is rising. More and more kids are picking up on the more expert techniques of downhill riding. It’s great to see.
From left to right, 4th Robin McGuirk, 3rd Chip Wood, 2nd Billy Meiners, 1st Casey Morrow
In the end, it was familiar faces reaching the semi-finals. The finals were the regulars of our scene. Billy and Casey have had a particularly long history of being either first or second in Switchbacks races. Represented in the podium shot is PDX Downhill, RipCity, Eastside, Landyachtz, Subsonic, Daddies, Pavement Princesses, and fixed gear bikes.
JP announces the first assigned heats
Chip leads a heat early on in the day.
Patrick leads into the second corner.
Nick cuts inside of Tim.
Adison leads Robin on a heat.
JP figures out the brackets for the next round while riders take more practice runs.
A tight heat through the final corner.
Curtis solidly dives into the final corner.
Billy leads Casey in the Semi-finals.
The winners of the Semi-finals walk to the top for the final round.
Adam tells Billy he is going to win.
Casey has a significant lead in the finals.
Those are significant pinecones in the air.
Casey has a significant smile in this shot.
My camera couldn't quite focus on this in time.
Chip is the most stoked of them all.
It was a pretty large group of riders their that day.
Casey gets the scrilla and Billy flashes his fixie.
From left to right, 4th Robin McGuirk, 3rd Chip Wood, 2nd Billy Meiners, 1st Casey Morrow
More photos at my website:
http://jonhueyphotography.com/swbs2011apr
Danny, Jackson, and a couple other kids came down from Seattle! I think Peter Broberg was there too, not the regular Seattle crowd but shredders nonetheless!
I was there holding it down for Tacoma. Danny and I both made it pretty far in the heats. Switchbacks is always fun and stoked it was dry
Yeah, me Jackson miller and peter were there representing WA, top ten at switchbacks woo!
New Mexico misses Casey Morrow! Such a sick skater!!
All of the Skate School students are following his every move! Go Casey!