by 66 seconds over Riordan, with
Ashburn rounding out the po-
dium. Riordan also took the XC2
win, while Walker was second
in the class and fourth overall.
Grant rounded out the top five
overall.
As usual, Steward was not at
a loss for words.
"Man, this is the one," said
Steward. "This is the one I never
could get. It was so frustrat
-
ing not to win it after coming
so close so many times. I was
just picturing the last two hills,
the spot where I gave it up to
Johnny [Girroir] one year, to Kai
-
lub [Russell] another year, and
last year to Josh Toth. But when
I got there, I knew we had the
cushion, and it was good."
Riordan turned in his best
finish by far, taking the overall
runner-up position and first in
the XC2 class.
"I usually leave this race with
my lip on the ground and my
head between my legs," said
Riordan. "This place normally
kicks my arse, so I told the boys
I'm going to make this hill mine.
And yeah, it felt good. I got off
to a good start. I was last off the
jump, then tucked up the inside,
and I was second in our group
coming out. It was a big train,
but I felt good the whole time.
But, yeah, it was one hell of a
race."
Ashburn rounded out the
overall podium and, by doing so,
slipped back into the points lead.
"It was brutal," said Ashburn.
"Conditions were super slick and
super technical. I think Power
Point Hill was harder than it's
ever been this year. In the last
couple of laps, I was like, 'Man, I
gotta get up this thing because
it was so loose.' Stu got away
early; he had some good lines
on the backside, and I never saw
him again. I just charged from
there, and then Gus [Riordan]
WIND
IN THE
P42
Jordan Ashburn finished
on the podium in third
overall. He's still the
points leader by 12 over
Steward Baylor Jr.
