Cyclists head for the hills
One of the country’s biggest, toughest mountain bike races comes to Sandpoint this weekend.
More than 1,400 fat-tire racers, including five Olympians and dozens of steel-thighed professionals, are expected to compete in the 2004 NORBA National Mountain Bike Race Series at Schweitzer Mountain Resort beginning Friday.
The race is the sixth stop on a nine-race national circuit and the only event of its caliber in the Northwest, according to the National Off-Road Bicycling Association. The national finals take place at the end of August in Durango, Colo.
Registration is up slightly from last year, when Schweitzer hosted the event for the first time, said Lisa Gerber, spokeswoman for the ski area. Course conditions also are looking better. Last year’s heat and dry weather covered many of the trails with five inches of dust.
Unlike last year, The Outdoor Life Network will not be broadcasting the races, Gerber said. But interest in the event seems to be growing. More racers and spectators are expected. Registration is allowed until the day before the races.
“This has put Sandpoint on the map, as far as the mountain biking community is concerned,” Gerber said.
Hotels in the Sandpoint area are filled for the event, but a handful of rooms remain in Bonners Ferry and Hope, Idaho, Gerber said.
Racers compete in a variety of events, ranging from the crowded, hilly short track to the 100-kilometer marathon race. A crowd favorite is the downhill, during which racers rocket down a 2 1/2 -mile slope atop heavy bikes equipped with disc brakes. Sections of the downhill course are too steep to hike, including the infamous Altar Boy stretch, which earned its name for the racers’ need for a priest if they aren’t careful enough.
Most of the endurance events take place Saturday. The “gravity” fueled races are Sunday, Gerber said.
U.S. Olympic team members Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski and Todd Wells, both from Colorado, will be at the race. Horgan-Kobelski is a four-time national champion. Also racing will be Canadian Olympic team members Ryder Hesjedal and Seamus McGrath, and Argentine Olympian Jimena Florit.
Some of the racers will compete for points in the national race circuit. Many others, including Sandpoint rider Charles Mortensen, will race to win points in a Northwest regional circuit.
“It’s pretty competitive, but it’s primarily for fun,” said Mortensen, who placed fifth last year in the cross-country race.
Another Sandpoint racer, Emma Millar, will compete in the cross-country and downhill races. Millar, 15, is the current point leader in her age and skill category. She’s hoping for a better finish than last year, when she placed third out of three.
“I was just there to have fun, but I’d really like to do better in my hometown,” she said.