fbpx

Mountain Bike Mayhem

By Beacon Staff

A crowd of 70 mountain bikers gathered alongside Whitefish Mountain Resort’s maintenance shed last week, the muggy evening cooled by a toppled sprinkler throwing a mist over the assembled cyclists.

When Josh Knight, the events and recreation manager for the resort, finished his countdown, the expert-class riders in the Thursday Night Race League rose from their saddles and set off along the course. On this particular night, the league’s second race of the season, the trail followed a 5.2-mile loop along Big Mountain’s lower terrain. The experts would ride three laps, the sport-class twice and the beginners once. The route climbed the Borealis trail, which passed in and out of forest across the ski runs, then joined a trail called Elk’s Club until reaching a long, gradual uphill on an access road.

Here, where the racecourse joined the road, was where the riders parried for position, shifting into higher gears and pumping hard to put a few meters of distance between them and their competitors before reentering the single-track once more.

Passing a cyclist on a single-track trail is extraordinarily difficult. The trail dips and winds, passing narrowly through trees and over rocks. Navigating such features on two wheels is challenging enough without trying to pass someone negotiating the same terrain. It’s why much of bicycle racing is spent simply following the rider ahead of you, staring at their back, waiting for the opening to pass to present itself. The descent along the newly improved summit trail was fast and loopy.

But while bombing down a trail at high speeds is an undeniably intense way to pass an evening, the overwhelming atmosphere at the Thursday Night Race League is mainly one of mellow camaraderie. Young kids in T-shirts and sneakers line up to race along with spandex-clad racers who are serious enough about the sport to shave their legs to cut down on wind resistance. Grey-haired men and women who have been mountain biking for decades line up with those just picking up the sport. The carbon fiber, dual-suspension race-bike is every bit as welcome as the 20-year-old steel hard-tail.

Knight says the organizers of the Thursday Night Race League make a conscious effort to avoid cultivating an atmosphere in which only the best cyclists feel comfortable, both in the tone they set as organizers and the trails they choose for the racecourses, which are usually around 4.5 miles in length.

“The way we’ve been able to grow the league is by providing very fun trails, but accessible for all groups,” Knight said.

As a result, the league, now in its 11th year, is drawing between 70 and 80 riders per week, of all ability levels and experience.

“The last few years we’ve just been concentrating on good fun loops,” Knight added, “and trying to take away the gauntlet-style race course that weeds out a lot of lower-level riders.”

The fee is $10 per race, or $50 for the whole 7-race season, though at this point, five races remain. Registration begins at 5 p.m. and the races begin at 6 p.m. Several hundred dollars in prizes are given away every night.

And though beginners and intermediates are welcome, watching the experts ride is impressive as well. At this stage of the season, the expert stage is up for grabs. Ben Parsons, one of the top cyclists in the valley, was almost unbeatable last season, but on this particular night, a flat tire prevented him from finishing.

“He didn’t win last week and he didn’t finish today,” Knight said, “so who knows, in this mixed-up, crazy world.”

For more info on the races, contact Josh Knight at 862-2911, or check out the events calendar on skiwhitefish.com.