GUSE GAP
The Dirt Corps is an organized group of riders, trail builders and mountain bike advocates based primarily in the Pacific Northwest Started in 2005 with 5 founders and have since grown to over 50 active members Our accomplishments include building a bike park for the city of Snoqualmie, holding the annual BENT event (a combined DH and Freeride contest), and conducting bike coaching sessions with the Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day Organization In addition to our building and advocacy efforts we also field a sponsored DH race team that attends local and national races This allows us to showcase our riding talent and provide feedback to our sponsors about the products they create and how to make them better It also exposes us to a wider range of terrain and features that we can then draw from when designing and building new trails and bike park systems Dirt is in our blood Semper Dirticus!
Guse gets the gap on The Snake Trail in Bellingham. Photo by Brad Walton. Cover: Matt in deep at PA. Photo by Greg Tubbs.
2008 RACING
2008 The
Dirt Corps had 40 entries across the Fluidride Cup races - 21 of which finished in the top 5 We landed 2 overall series wins in the expert class and a 2nd overall in sport in the Fluidride Cup Series We had 7 racers at Beacon Hill in Spokane and took 3 medals home and a rider in the top money Whistler Crankworx this year was a breakthrough for our team, with 12 results, 2 being podium spots We raced Super D this year where we earned 4 podiums Media coverage, in magazines like Decline, and websites (PinkBike, Fluidride, and Bones Over Metal) mentioned Dirt Corps racers on many occasions View the full 2008 Dirt Corps race results here: http://results.dirtcorps.com
WAS A BREAK THROUGH YEAR FOR THE DIRT CORPS DH RACE TEAM
Matt enroute to 3rd place podium in the AirDH at Whistler Crankworx. Photo by Fenton.
2008 RESULTS
P OD I U M FI N I S H E S Rider Dan Saimo Tristyn Duerr Matt Patterson Brian Guse Kat Sweet Casey Stamm Jennifer Tell Chase Schmidt Graham Barry Jim McCracken
Cat XM 42 XM 35 XM 33 JX 16 XW 30 XW 30 SW 27 SM 15 SM 33 SM 40
1st
2nd
3rd 1
4th
2 1 3 1
1
5th
1 5 3 1 3 1 1
4 3 2
2 1 1
1
1 1
Total 1 1 9 9 4 8 3 3 1 1
40 I N D IVI D UAL R E S U LTS Matt Patterson Expert Men 30-39 2008 Fluidride Cup 1st, 4th, 4th, 1st, 1st Overall 1st 2008 Crankworx Whistler Masters Men Air DH 3rd Giant Slalom 3rd 2008 Capitol Forest Super D 3rd 2008 Beacon Blowout 1st 2008 BENT 3 1st Brian Guse Junior Expert Men 2008 Fluidride Cup 2nd, 2nd, 1st, 1st, 1st, 4th - Overall 1st 2008 Beacon Blowout Open 3rd 2008 Crankworx Whistler Junior Expert Men Air DH 18th Garbo 13th Canadian Open 7th 2008 BENT 3 2nd Dan Saimo Expert Men 40+ 2008 Beacon Blowout 3rd 2008 BENT 3 14th 2008 Capital Forest Super D 7th 2008 SST Race Senior Class 4th Casey Stamm Expert Women 30-39 2008 Capital Forest Super D Expert 1st Pro 3rd 2008 Fluidride Cup 4th, 1st, 4th, 3rd - Overall 4th Downieville Classic All Mountain Expert Women 3rd 24 Hours Round the Clock Five Person All Female 1st Dakota 5-O Open Women 30-39 6th Kat Sweet Expert Women 30-39 2008 Capital Forest Super D 2nd 2008 Fluidride Cup 6th, 6th 2008 Crankworx AirDH 14th Seattle Cyclocross Category 4 7th, 1st, 2nd, 3rd Chase Schmidt Sport 15-18 2008 Fluidride Cup 1st, 6th, 5th, 4th - Overall 2nd Jim McCracken Sport Men 40+ 2008 Fluidride Cup 2nd, 9th, 8th Graham Barry Sport Men 30-39 2008 Fluidride Cup 6th, 7th, 4th, 7th,10th Tristyn Duerr Expert 30-39 2008 Fluidride Cup 8th, 11th, 13th, 5th 2008 Capital Forest Super D Expert 19-35 4th 2008 SST Race Senior Class 1st Jennifer Tell Sport 19-29 2008 Fluidride Cup 9th, 5th, 3rd 2008 Capital Forest Super D Sport 1st
2009 RACE CALENDAR Fluidride Cup 2009 Series Washington and Oregon Sea Otter Classic Monterey, California Mountain States Cup Chile Challenge Angel Fire, New Mexico USA Cycling National Champs Sol Vista, Colorado Crankworx 2009 Whistler, Canada Capital Forest Super D Olympia, Washington
Matt Patterson on the podium at Crankworx for his third place finish in the Jim Beam AirDH race.
2009 TEAM
CAT 1 EXPERT Dan Saimo (40) Matt Patterson (30) Tristyn Duerr (30) Graham Barry (30) Casey Stamm (30) Kat Sweet (30) Brian Guse (17) Chase Schmidt (16) CAT 2 SPORT Jim McCracken (40) Andre Ciabattari (30) Jennifer Tell (30) Bryce Kloster (20) Tyler Kloster (20) CAT 3 BEGINNER Jeff Peterson (40) Marcy Kloster (20) Sam Saimo (13)
Saimo finding the line at 38 during team practice.
THE GUSE!
BRIAN GUSE 2008 PACNW JUNIOR EXPERT CHAMPION Congratulations to Brian Guse for winning the overall title in his category this year! Look out for Brian next year at local and national race events.
Read more about Brian in his full page interview in the December ‘08 issue of Decline Magazine.
PROJECTS
2008 was a busy year for the Dirt Corps. Below are some of the notable achievements and projects that we completed: Established non-profit 501c3 status to raise funds and complete larger scale projects Completed in the Pacific Northwest Gravity Series and Crankworx races with a15+ person race team Completed Phase 2 of the Snoqualmie Bike Park and started planning for Phase 3 which includes a dual slalom course and jump park Held the 3rd Annual BENT Event - an invitational event held locally, designed to kick off the race season Initiated discussions with the local Forest Service and DNR to adopt local trails Continued to receive the support of our industry partners and identify opportunities for new sponsors Tyler Kloster clears out the intermediate jump line in Phase 2 of the Snoqualmie Bike Park. The bike park is an ongoing project that is funded by local donations and community volunteer efforts cordinated by the Dirt Corps.
TRANSITION
Rider Owned for Life It is not a slick marketing slogan but something that defines who we are as a company. Connecting with our dealers and customers from a rider standpoint is our number one concern. Through outstanding personalized and responsive customer service and unique niche product design that is important to everyday riders and forgotten by larger companies.
Kevin and Kyle taking a lunch break at the company cafeteria in Ferndale, Washington. Photo by Mike Metzger.
FUNKY!
Chase “The Funky Chicken” spreads his wings on the closing weekend of the Whistler Bike Park.
CONTACTS
If you want to know more about a particular aspect of the Dirt Corps please contact one of our members below. We welcome the opportunity to talk with you about our vision of the future and learn more the goals and objectives of your company or organization. As the old saying goes “the trail doesn’t build itself”. And that goes for our sport and industry as well. We’re here to make a difference and are looking for partners that want to do the same - let’s talk! Tristyn Duerr Sponsorship Director and Product Testing Coordinator tristyn@dirtcorps.com 425 773 0305 Matt Patterson Race Program Director and Trail Build Coordinator matt@dirtcorps.com 425 894 1377 Dan Saimo Creative Director and Senior Parkitect saimo@dirtcorps.com 425 417 2846 Tyler Kloster Engineering and Manufacturing Director tyler@dirtcorps.com 206 276 6393
Tristyn and Tork take a breather at the Mt. Hood race to reflect on the natural beauty of the local fern and fauna.