Local bikers raced head-to-head against professionals Friday, July 14, at the Northwest Tune-Up festival’s Specialized P.Series Pump Track Race. Around 80 competitors performed in the second year of this annual event.
Races were separated by gender and split into four categories — 12-and-under, 13- to 17-year-olds, 18-plus non-pro division and a pro division. The dirt track is designed for riders to pump through the course rather than pedal.
“The pump track challenge is about timing and coordination to be able to keep rhythm,” said Shaums March, U.S. Cycling National and Olympic team coach.
The potential challenge became clear when two competitors had to be taken off the track by first responders in separate accidents during the races. The first occurred in the 12-and-under qualifying round, and the latter in the men’s pro-division quarterfinals. Hosts and athletes tried to keep spirits high as the races were delayed while ambulances arrived.
Hayden Damon, 17, last year’s third-place finisher in the men’s pro division, said this year’s race had bigger names than the previous, which was more local.
“There’s a part of me that’s like the local, ‘Stay out of my town.’ But it’s sick seeing people come here and enjoy what Bellingham has to offer,” Damon said.
One of those big names is pump track world champion Niels Bensink of the Netherlands. He said he hadn’t heard of the race last year until after it had already passed. Having lived in British Columbia for the last two-and-a-half years, he wanted to compete in something more local to him. After he and the other competitors warmed up on the course two hours before the races began, he started to get a feel of the track.
“It’s really fast, tight, technical, which is nice,” Bensink, 26, said. “And it’s a bit longer than usual, so there’s definitely a lot of opportunities to make up time if you made a mistake. I like the track, it’s cool.”
Each athlete completed two initial races to qualify for their division’s bracket, one time on each side of the track. Once the brackets were formed, head-to-head matchups again had two attempts, once on each side of the course, with the accumulative time determining who won the round and advanced.
Dani Johnson placed first in the women’s pro division, followed by Kialani Hines in second and 16-year-old Ivy Newell, who finished third for the second year in a row.
Austin “Bubba” Warren finished first in the men’s pro division after edging out Bensink by 3-hundredths of a second in the semifinal round. Last year’s winner, Eddie Reynolds, placed second and Bensink finished in third.
