A Festival of Speed
DOWNHILL ALL THE WAY
WRITTEN BY Christian Belleau
PHOTOS COURTESY OF Jon Huey
The earth sucks, or so it seems sometimes. One of the wonderful mysteries of the universe is gravity — that force that seems to create an attraction between all masses. In the case of planet earth, the gravitational force is measured at 32.174 feet per second. So, as you sit there reading this article your body is by some mysterious force being attracted to planet earth at this rate. If you jump out of an airplane, the same applies. You will fall to earth at the rate of 32 ft/s2. Put your car in neutral on a hill and it will coast down the hill being pulled by gravity towards the center of the earth at this same rate of acceleration.
Festival Of Speed 01
While gravity remains an infinite mystery, it delights those who attend the annual Festival of Speed International Gravity Association’s World Championships. This event is held in Goldendale, Washington, each year. Those that attend this “coaster” event know gravity all to well, and benefit by it. They come from far and wide to ride the Maryhill Loops Road, a 3.6-mile section of rural road that has been refurbished for this special event. With a rise of more than 850 feet and curves that offer gradients of more than five percent, the Maryhill Loops Road has gained an international reputation. As a result, the Festival of Speed now draws an international contingent to compete.
The entrants are a mix of skateboarders, longboard riders, street lugers, inline skaters, and gravity bikers that have a need for gravitational speed. They are “hill hunters” searching for the ultimate riding spot. Many of those who compete travel the world from South Africa to North America in search of the ultimate ride. Top U.S. riders are from California, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and even North Carolina.
Racers are challenged to complete the downhill course in the least amount of time. The challenges are to have a good start, mantain the best course line, retain the most kinetic energy through the turns, and maintain the best course position against the competition. It looks easy, but rest assured, riders are challenged to keep a low aerodynamic profile, a good course position, proper drafting of other riders, and endurance in order to best their fellow competitors.
Riders come equipped with safety gear, which includes leathers, gloves, helmet, and shoes. While reaching speeds in excess of 40 miles per hour, they sometimes have spectacular crashes. Then they careen into hay bales that line the course, which help to reduce any chance of injury to the rider by absorbing their kinetic energy. However, the gear is state-of-the-art, so injuries are minimized and fun is maximized.
Equipment varies in price. Boards can range in price from as little as $100 to well over $300. Leathers can be spendy, costing as much as $500 or $600, sometimes more. A good helmet may cost as much as $600 dollars. While the all important set of gloves range in price from $50 to $300.
A good place to get information about gravity sports such as longboarding and street luge is the International Gravity Sport Association (IGSA) site: igsaworldcup.com. There you will find great photos, a calendar of events, a rule book, interviews, multimedia, and news. This is also an excellent site for links to other information sources about gravity sports too.
During the Labor Day Weekend (Sep 5-7, 2009) this year, the IGSA will host a World Cup event on the Maryhill Loops Road. This promises to be one of the premiere events for 2009. It will attract North American riders as well as some international competitors according to John Ozman, one of the event promoters. While the event will deliver some eye-popping action, the Maryhill Loops Road is just five miles south of Goldendale, Washington, and less than two miles north of Biggs, Oregon, and the spectacular Columbia River Gorge. The race course is also very near to the wonderful Maryhill Museum and the Maryhill Winery (Maryhill Winery has a wonderful tasting room where you can taste award-winning wines and a view of Mt Hood to die for). Goldendale has many nice sites to see too, including a mountain-top observatory and a unique history museum. There is also very good fly-fishing at some of the nearby rivers. Bicyclists will enjoy the twisting and winding roads too, as the scenery is beyond good.
If you want to experience the pull of gravity and see riders in action, this is definitely an event not to miss. Goldendale is just one and one half hours from either the Tri-Cities, Washington, or Portland, Oregon. I recommend you make a weekend of it and take in The Dalles, Oregon’s, Columbia Gorge Discovery Center as well as some spectacular windsurfing and kiteboarding at Hood River. Hood River has a great steam-engine-powered train ride too, so don’t miss it.
The Festival of Speed is an event for the whole family, so load up the van and set your GPS course for Goldendale, Washington. This event will draw you in.
For more event information:
Lorraine Reynolds
Golden Event Planning, LLC
Phone: (509) 773-0567
E-mail: goldeneventplanning@gorge.net
For visitor information:
cityofgoldendale.com
el.com/to/thedalles
hoodriver.org
visittri-cities.com
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