Congratulations to all the racers that competed in the new Pro Mountain Bike Gravity Tour (Pro GRT). While the Port Angeles course may have been a bit challenging for competitors to get there, racers were rewarded by a great course and excellent competition. SRAM racer Curtis Keene was not only there, he won the inaugural event! Here’s what Keene had to say about the Port Angeles Pro GRT race...
“Once again P.A. was amazing! Awesome turn out, good vibes, great weather, killer track,
and tight racing. We were welcomed with perfect weather even thought sat evening we got
some showers, but only to make the track perfect for race day.
Katie Holden smoked the womens by 5 secs over Kathy Pruitt. Ian Hylands photo
The usual fast people were there. Strobel, Lars Sternberg, Bart McDaniel, Casey Northern. A bunch of rippers showed up for this race as well...Kieran Bennet, Ryan Condro, J.D Swaguen, Chris Boice, Joey Schusler, Andrew Mitchell, Neko Mullany and others. Over 80 pros I believe. They awarded $160 for the fastest qualifier, so I decided to give a solid run and got it by 2.5 secs over Bart McDaniel..who by the way is 44 years old!!! My fricking idol!! ace time came and I was feeling it. I knew it would take a good run to win. Especially with Strobel/ Sternberg in the house. So I was last to go and gave it!!! Smooth run, good lines, pedal hard and ended up winning by 3 secs over Strobel. Stoked!! I even got some money - $1000! Bike feels amazing. So excited for the race year. I’m pumped on the whole program I have going. Specialized, SRAM/Avid/RockShox/Truvativ, Gamut, Chromag, DT Swiss, Five Ten, Scott goggles, and Trail Head Cyclery.”
Curtiss Keen puts the hammer down. Ian Hylands photo
Men’s Downhill
1. Curtis Keene (Freemont, Calif.)
SRAM, RockShox, Avid, Truvativ
2. Luke Strobel (Renton, Wash./Team Maxxis)
3. Ryan Condrashoff (Colorado Springs, Colo./X-fusion-Intense)
4. Andrew Mitchell (CAN)
5. Joey Schusler (Boulder, Colo./Yeti-Fox Shox)
Women’s Downhill
1. Katie Holden (Kirkland, Wash./Specialized)
SRAM, RockShox
2. Kathy Pruitt (Santa Cruz, Calif./Jamis)
3. Katrina Strand (CAN/Oakley)
4. Abigail Hippely (Aptos, Calif.)
5. Darian Harvey (Durango, Colo./Cannondale)
Ya think Holden is happy with her result? Ian Hylands photo