After an awesome ride in last week’s Nevegal WC race, Smyles came into 7 Springs relaxed and confident. It showed in the morning’s qualifying, when he beat out a world-class field (including Palmer, Saiz, Voreis and Peat) for the top spot in the finals.

	Miles Smiles

He then repeated his speed in the finals, edging out teammate Jurgen Beneke (GER, Giant) for the win by shaving a mere .99 seconds of Bene’s time. "I’m so stoked," he said. "I have great mechanics and an awesome bike – it’s probably the least expensive bike on the circuit!"

Elke Brutsaert (USA, Schwinn/Toyota) – like Rockwell – is from Durango, and also stunned the NCS field when she repeated her win from round one in Big Bear. Elke topped last year’s Seven Springs winner Marla Streb (USA, Yeti) by 2.8 seconds, saying she just tried to ride a clean run through the heinous rock gardens of Pennsylvania. "I though I had a flat tire, but kept punching it and didn’t even look."

As it turned out, her tire was fine, but the conditions made all of the top women think their tires were going flat. With huge boulders and sharp rocks all over this short 1.2-mile course, it’s no wonder. Seven Spring’s track is like an amusement park ride – short and sweet, but a nice compliment to the other NORBA courses.

Lopes, Giove win Dual Slalom
Saturday evening featured the weekend’s other DH event, the dual slalom. With the same cast of characters and only slightly different bikes, these two related disciplines always bring out the crowds – and the action.

Under long shadows and perfect weather, Brian Lopes (USA, Volvo-Cannondale) beat out rival Mike King (USA, Haro) in the best of two final round of the men’s racing. Times were close on this well-groomed track, which featured hairpin turns and smooth transitions – making for great spectating. In the consolation round, newcomer Wade Bootes (USA, Trek Volkswagen) beat Pistol Pete Loncarevich (USA, Vans/Ironhorse) for third place in the consolation round.

	Champagne for all my friends

Women’s racing was a close battle between favorite Katrina Miller (AUS, Jamis) and Missy Giove (USA, Foes/Azonic). While Miller has won nearly every DS or dual race she’s entered, Giove is fired up this season and didn’t give an inch to the Aussie, winning by a narrow margin. In the consolation round, Big Bear’s winner Leigh Donovan (USA, Intense) was bested by Lisa Sher (USA, Foes/Azonic), the two taking 4th and 3rd respectively.

So racing finally ended Sunday afternoon with some downhillers (like Lopes and Co.) wrestling in the pits and bunny-hopping guard rails, the traveling circus packing up to head for Cali-for-nia. The Zone will be in full effect at this world cup event, so check back here in a couple weeks for more fun MTB action.

— Ari Cheren, working the stateside tour for MountainZone.com