BELLEVUE/COLLEGE
HILL DOWNHILL
BELLEVUE, WASH.
On Sunday, Aug. 29, the Cascade
Racing Association hosted the third annual
College Hill downhill races. Participants
from Washington, Oregon and California
met in Bellevue, Wash., to determine the
fastest racers of the day. The weather was
a comfortable 76° with clear skies and
cloud banks to the west.
The day's first event was Giant Slalom
and the word "Giant" was accurate. Span-
ning the entire length of the downhill
course, 4 of a mile, and using the
maximum width of the race course, Rick
Ried, an Olympic downhill coach and local
ski racer, set a demanding wide offset
course. Control was the word of the day.
Only six pro racers braved this serpentine
course.
With a best two combined times of three
runs format, the first heat had Coleman
with the fastest time followed by Miller and
Hutson, the second run went to Miller with
Cliff and Hut pushing hard. The third and
final run, Rick Fike blazed into first with the
fastest time of the day, 52.625, followed by
Miller and Hutson.
The final results were Byron Miller
defending his Giant Slalom title with Cliff
Coleman sliding into second and Rick
"Tiny" Fike squeaking by Hut for third.
The day's next event was Luge. The
format was fastest time of two runs to seat,
and best two out of three runs head to
head. The pro contingent only held three
contestants. Mike Smith of Bellevue
literally fought his way for a first-second
battle, with complaints of interference and
unsportsmanship. The disputed results
were Scott Wood first, Mike Smith second,
and John Stryker in third spot.
The amateur Luge drew the largest
contingent of skaters with 13 in the field,
and it proved to be exciting head-to-head
racing. Here the racing was for fun and the
competitors' sportsmanship showed
following the pros' poor display.
Roy "not a wood" Wakeman scorched
the course for a strong first place, with
Peter Pond pushing hard in second place
and Carter Turk holding on for third. The
crowd missed the presence of Madrid's
Roger "No Respect" Hickey and Perry
Fisser, Roger grabbed the attention of the
fans last year with his "do or die" attitude.
After a short Gator-Ade break, the
reason for even being here was ready to
commence. The Downhill field of 20
entrants, pro and amateur, was ready to
put it on the line.
With between 75 and 100 spectators in
each of corners 2 and 3, the qualifying
started. Again the fastest time of two runs
would seat you 1 through 8. Then the best
two out of three head-to-head heats.
The fastest qualifying time was posted
by Hut, 36.83, who was skating well
considering the unnerving incident of
having the shuttle trucks unscheduled
journey up the hill, forcing John to take line
into the brush to avoid a serious encounter.
The next fastest qualifier was Dave Wood
at 36.89 and "Tiny" Fike was third with
37.02. The remaining top eight were
Caedman Bear, 37.09; Byron Miller, 37.43;
Chris Pettyjohn, 37.89; Scott Wood, 37.93;
and in eighth, Cliff Coleman, 38.36.
The first round had Hut easing by Cliff in
two straight close heats. It was Dave Wood
shutting the door on Brother Scott and
Tiny Fike getting by Berkeley's Chris
Pettyjohn in two semi-controlled runs.
Caedman was a surprise winner after
Byron "Blazing By" Miller left his board in
turn one.
The semi-final matched "The Hut" with
Caedman and "Tiny" Fike against Dave
Wood.
In the first run of the semi-final heat, Hut
had the edge coming out of turn two. In
setting up for turn three, Caedman went for
an extremely difficult inside line, resulting
in both skaters wearing "modified" speed
suits. The crowd hushed as both skaters
were slow to get up from the pavement.
Both were "OK" and the racing continued.
The next match-up pitted Rick Fike and
Wood, with Fike leading into turn three,
and Wood coming on strong. It was a
photo finish and Rick won by a glance.
The referee did not see the incident with
Hut and Bear and left the decision up to
Hut, who was the fouled racer. John, in
true sportsmanship fashion, called the run
a bye for both.
We are now making up Hut and Bear's
re-run of run one and Rick and Dave are
making run two. Caedman and Dave both
take advantage of John and Rick's wide
turns in corner three and jet to win their
respective runs.
In the third and deciding run for Dave
and Tiny, Rick led again into turn three but
slid wide and in correcting was headling
due west toward the curb. Up onto the
sidewalk and gaining control, Tiny at-
tempted to exit the sidewalk back onto the
street, where he took a spectacular "beef"
while Wood drew a tight line and breezed
to an easy win.
John and Caedman were in their second
run. John again led into turn three, but
made the identical mistake and Caedman
drew the tighter line to slide by John and
win two in a row to advance to the finals.
Dave Wood obviously had his sights set
on first place and by his improved tuck and
aggressiveness, showed he was in
physical shape as well as practiced
The finals were Dave and Caedman to
Battle it for one and two, with John and Rick
paired for three and four. Neither Hut nor
Tiny were really interested in more bumps
or bruises and agreed to a tie and split the
prize money.
College Hill again proved to be the most
demanding course for a sanctioned race
on the West Coast. Few of the day's racers
finished the meet unscathed as borne out
by the cherries and hastily repaired speed
suits for the next weekend at Capitola.
The CRA would like to thank all the racers who
turned out to race and all the fans who came to
urge them on. Also a note of thanks to
Bikefactory Bellevue, Santa Cruz, N.H.S.,
"Indy," Tracker and especially THRASHER for
all their support throughout the racing year.
Doug Hitch/Rick Fike
Cascade Racing Association
RESULTS
Bellevue/College
Hill Downhill
PRO G.S.
Byron Miller
Cliff Coleman
Rick Fike
$45.00
20.00
15.00
John Hutson
PRO LUGE
Scott Wood
$60.00
40.00
20.00
Mike Smith
John Stryker
PRO D.H.
David Wood
Caedman Bear
John Hutson/Rick Fike
AM G.S.
Lance Shafer
Denny Watson
Rob Bohnsack
AM LUGE
Roy Wakeman
Pete Pond
Carter Turk
Kent Hallsted
AM D.H.
Roy Wakeman
Mel Ancheta
Charlie Cohan
$220.00
110.00
$55.00 ea.
FOGTOWN CONTEST
Hey! THRASHER, you guys gonna cover
that Fogtown contest that was held out in
Golden Gate Park on Oct. 19, 1982?
Yeah! Hey that was a fun contest. Carlos
came through with the second annual and
had a pretty good turnout. Everybody
came out to watch and have a good time.
Some fan even had a TV set out there to
see the '49ers lose. Racers came from
around the Bay Area to compete in a
casual slalom and downhill event. The
weather was bitchin'. Our very own Miss
Lamar was the starter. The hill was fast
enough if you pushed like hell. Timing was
by Indy. Prizes were furnished by Santa
Cruz, Thrash mag, Independent, Tracker,
and a broom by Skates on Haight.
Who won?
You know, the notes are pretty sketchy but
it looked like Nick Palladino worked his
way into first in the 17 & under slalom while
Cathy Azzarello eased into the tops of the
women's division. Denike edged into first
in the pro slalom ranks while Chris Cook
stole the 18 and over AM honors. Then
there was the downhill race, which was
cool 'cause they started it off with six, 4
man heats. Some heavy dicing and
drafting there. Blackhart literally punched
his way out front and stayed there to edge
off Denike in the final. Rick said, "I just
waited until they stopped pushing...then
pushed a coupla more times and got in my
tuck."
Sounds pretty good. I can't wait.
Tim Lockfeld pressing for speed at a fun downhill
contest in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.
Friedman photo.
Ginny
Hershey