Cool off in Snowbasin’s midweek mountain biking series
FILE: Chris Korpita comes around the last turn before completing the Beginner's mountain bike race during the Mt. Ogden Midweek Race Series at Snowbasin.
Davis Bailey, right, comes around the last turn before completing the Beginner's mountain bike race during the Mt. Ogden Midweek Race Series at Snowbasin on Wednesday, July 1, 2015.
Zan Treasure pedals towards the finish line during the Mt. Ogden Midweek Race Series at Snowbasin on Wednesday, July 1, 2015.
Jonathon Smithe competes in the Mt. Ogden Midweek Race Series at Snowbasin on Wednesday, July 1, 2015.
Vanessa Duarte helps her two-year-old son, Mateo, over a bump in the trail in the the kid's mountain bike race during the Mt. Ogden Midweek Race Series at Snowbasin on Wednesday, July 1, 2015. The weekly event features junior bike races while older teens and adults compete in more intense mountain bike races.
Down in the city and the suburbs, exerting any sort of energy seems like a bad idea right now, unless it’s to dish up some ice cream or turn on a fan. But up in the mountains, particularly at Snowbasin on Wednesday nights, it’s the perfect temperature to put the hammer down, roar up the mountain and then fly to the finish during the weekly Mount Ogden Midweek Bike Race Series going on Wednesdays now through Sept. 2.
While the series has been going on for years with other companies running the races, this year Snowbasin has taken the midweek series back in house and added a few races with the help of title sponsors Enve and 2nd Track Sports.
The race atmosphere is chill and friendly with the weekly bike shop sponsors ready to help (last week it was Skyline Cycle) with bike problems, kids striding around on bikes of all kinds, and riders sharing tips and high fives with their families waiting at the course start and finish.
“We wanted to take this in house this year to get it back to the standards we want to do it with and for it to be family friendly,” said Tim Eastley, Snowbasin terrain park manager and events coordinator. “We have kids’ races every week, and we increased the series from seven races to 13 races. We introduced the strider class, for kids without pedals or kids with training wheels, and we have a kids’ pedal class also.”
In the past Snowbasin hosted the Mount Ogden 50/100K in August, but not this year, and Eastley said the series is one step toward hosting a big event like that in the future.
“We’re working on getting another big race series, so we wanted to bring this in house to get people training and working up to a big race,” he said.
Although the series started in June, riders can join at any time. Each race is $13, with a one-time $5 plate fee. Kids’ races are $5. Adult riders (and advanced kids) can choose from four classes, Beginner, Sport, Expert and Pro, and while each class rides the same course for the week, the number of loops differs.
“This course is about five miles per loop and it’s the same course for everyone, it’s just that beginners have one loop, sport has two, and expert and pro have three laps,” Eastley said. “Every week we try to stay around the same distance. Next week we’re reversing this course, and we have three courses and then the reverse of every course, so that makes six courses total.
“It’s all about the distance,” Eastley said of how people determine which class to ride in. “It’s about how far they want to race.”
The pros take off first in a friendly start, with experts, sports and beginners going in successive waves, men and women together, although there are separate divisions for prizes. The kids’ races start after the adults have taken off and include a loop around the meadow for the strider/training wheel class, and some real mountain biking down a trail for the pedal class.
Gage Heslop, 13, of Ogden, was at the series for the first time trying out the kids’ races. He won his division and said that next week he plans on riding in the beginner class.
“It was fun. I thought that one was a little bit easy, though, and I want more of a challenge,” he said.
Lindie Demill, a sport-class rider from Kaysville, is riding in the series after a three-year hiatus and said she loves the courses and the atmosphere, and the fact that there are just the right amount of competitors.
“I’ve been mountain biking for six years now. I found these races and I love them. It’s an awesome course; you get the uphill, and the downhill is so much fun,” Demill said. “I like it because there are a lot of people but not as many as the midweek races that come out of Salt Lake. I still have a chance to place in my category.”
Demill said the she and her husband also take advantage of the summer gondola pass that riders who register for the whole series get with registration ($149).
“We love Snowbasin,” she said. “We usually ride the gondola up on the weekends and ride our bikes down.”
James Howton, a mountain biker who lives in Clinton, has done the series for the past five years and says he is always trying to get more people to come and ride the races with him. He won the race in the sport category for the week.
“Mountain biking is the funnest sport around, and it’s a lot cooler up here for sure,” Howton said. “They always put on a good event and the courses are awesome.”
Howton said there’s a lot to like about the courses, especially the 500 feet of climbing per loop, even if other people wouldn’t like the climbing so much.
“The scenery is beautiful and it’s less than a half hour from my house,” he said.
Zach Colton, a recent Ogden High graduate and member of the OHS mountain biking team, was second in the pro class and said he enjoys the course as well.
“It’s just a fun, little mellow race. I try to make it to as many of these as I can. I like how it’s local, the kids from the Ogden High team are here, and it’s just people I know. It’s just comfortable and fun.”
For more information on the races and schedule visit the website at https://www.snowbasin.com/events/detail/mt.-ogden-midweek-bike-race-series5 or http://www.mtogdenraceseries.com/
