Headed 300 miles south this weekend to Ashland, Oregon for the grueling 12 Mile Super D, which holds the title of Oregon’s longest downhill event. Thanks to being laid up with a broken leg, I had to sit this one out and attended as a mere spectator. The sun was out and the weather was great, a perfect weekend for a race. I have to tell you, Ashland is an ideal place to be when everyone’s on a bike. I drove down on Saturday morning and arrived to see the little mountain town filled with people looking to see if they had what it takes to compete. This year was the races’ third season and was again headed up by race coordinator Tita Soriano. The turn out was pretty impressive this year, more than doubling last season’s number to hit just around 150 applicants. This Super D course is a nice outlet for a multitude of riders at a variety of riding levels, combining the two worlds of downhill and cross-country riding to bring a lot of cool people up to the top of Mt. Ashland. The Ashland race is often compared to the Downy Hill Super D, which has a cap of 200 applicants and is a widely respected event. Tita is hopeful that with the good turn out and the increase of interest, this race will soon be up at the top of the Super D world. The race was title sponsored by Mongoose Tribe this year and, with more and more sponsors within the industry taking interest each season, the podium wasn’t lacking in swag.

WTB pro-rider Mark Weir won the race with a time of 35:22. I talked with another local pro, Jared Hobbs, who finished with a time of 37:52, who said the ride was excellent. He was riding a Specialized Enduro, a demo that was provided by Ashland Mountain Adventures, who also run a shuttle service for riders in Southern Oregon. He was running Arrow Racing's Savage Tires and Fomula’s ORO K24 Brakes. Other than that the bike was stock. When I asked him what about how the bike rode he responded simply with, “Well, the triple-chain ring worked really well.” Hobbs wants to thank Bill Roussel for providing him with the bike.

- Jared from Ride-This


Jared Roediger is a member of Ride-This' shop downhill team and hails from Hillsboro, Oregon. In the future, you'll be hearing a lot from Jared as he heads to events and checks out bikes, parts, gear, events and talks with pro and local riders just trying to enjoy the sport we love.