Pinnacle Race series continues this Friday with Super D format

All about the hole shot

The local bike racing series, the Pinnacle Race series, continues this week with the Super D, a format that blurs the lines between cross-country and downhill racing.
“It’s a little bit of both,” explains Evolution Bike Park manager Christian Robertson. “It’s mostly a gravity-fed race but there’s enough pedaling that you have to work in a few places.”
The Super D opens with a Le Mans-style start at the top of the Red Lady Express lift before sending competitors off on the trails.
While in past years they used the Luge trail for both the Pinnacle and Mountain States Cup Super D races, Robertson has something new in store for riders this year.
“I’d like to use a new trail we’ve been working on called Awakening,” says Robertson. “It should be open, hopefully, Friday morning.”
The racecourse will start with primer before hitting Painter Boy and then turns onto Awakening. From there riders will the hit the final stretch of the course on Warming House Hill to the finish at the base area.
“It’s plenty fast and you can ride it on a full suspension cross-country bike,” suggests Robertson.
Travis Scheefer won the Super D last year and has some advice for those looking to jump into the fray this year.
“I think it’s all about the hole shot,” says Scheefer. “You want to be the first one on the single track.”
However, he admits there’s a little more to it than that.
“It’s not just about the downhill,” adds Scheefer. “There’s a decent section of pedaling so you’re sprinting pretty hard. You have to be able to power across the flats.”
Registration for all of the Pinnacle Races is at the 9380 deck the day of the race from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. The Super D race will start at the top of the Red Lady Express at 6:30 p.m.