Audio By Carbonatix
This weekend, SolVista Bike Park hosts the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships for the second year in a row, bringing the top cross-country, downhill, 4X mountain cross, super-downhill and short-track competitors to Granby Ranch. Some of the bike park itself will be closed to the public to make way for the pre-qualified athletes, but the gritty and grueling gravity games should make for some gnarly spectacle under the chairlift: The SolVista bulldozer team’s been pushing dirt around and piling it up under the Quick Draw Express lift for weeks, getting ready for the big show.
“We’re very excited to return to SolVista Basin for a second year,” says USA Cycling spokeswoman Keri Kahn. “It’s an ideal venue for USA Cycling to hold its Mountain Bike National Championships. In addition to the world-class terrain, it’s a very spectator-friendly environment. The centralized location makes it easy to take in all the action.”
Buy a $25 lift ticket for the bird’s-eye view, and ride the rest of the trails in between races (competitors will have lift priority over freeriders, but you’ll still be able to ride). For the biggest thrills and spills, check out the downhill and super-downhill races on Saturday and Sunday (starting at 8 a.m. and running all day). After watching to see how it’s done, grab some new gear at the Tech Expo tents and come back next week to bang yourself up like a pro on the Nationals terrain.
For a schedule and more information, visit www.SolVistaNationals.com or www.USACycling.org.
July 15-18, 2010