Ashland 12-Mile Super D Race
Ashland, Oregon
June 13-14
GT Bicycles MTB phenom Eric Carter took part in the Ashland 12-mile Super D race this past weekend in Ashland, Oregon. It is Oregon's most challenging endurance downhill race of the year and is steadily gaining popularity as one of the premier mountain bike events in the USA. Located just miles from the California-Oregon border, Ashland has a strong cycling community and impressive network of trails combined with top notch shuttle services to the top of Mt. Ashland. The 12-mile race course drops 5000 feet with approximately 800 feet of climbing and average finish time of 40 minutes. The weather was mixed with showers and fog in the days leading up to the race but the course remained surprisingly dry in most areas and most of the racers were happy with the conditions.
A new event was added this year, the Avid Chainless Challenge, which took place on Saturday. Racers tried their luck racing down a 3 mile course with no chains on their bikes. That's right, all chains were removed before the start and the main goal would be to not use the brakes anymore than needed. It was a fun idea that is different from most race formats. The race ended in Ashland's beautiful Lithia Park where SRAM was on hand to offer support to all racers in attendance. SRAM provided new chains to all the racers when they finished. Eric Carter hopped on his GT Fury and went to the start. Despite a great start with good speed halfway down the course, Carter got tangled in some tight bushes while railing a corner. He pushed himself back up to speed and finished a respectable 7th place finish.
Sunday was the main event, the 12-mile Super D. Racers gathered at the top and started in 1 minute intervals. The fast course started on a wide open fire road that transfered into some epic singletrack trails. Eric got a strong start off the line on his GT Marathon but unfortunately got a flat tire only a few minutes into the race. He repaired the flat ASAP and still finished the race in 40:52...an impressive time considering the flat tire. Regardless of the bad news for Eric he had a positive attitude after the race and is already looking forward to next years event. A great time was had by all and GT would like to thank all of its sponsors for their continued support.