Get ready to roll
Mountain bike races on tap
Mountain bikers with a hankering for competition will find no shortage of races over the next couple of weeks.
This weekend, the 20th annual White Knob Challenge takes place in Mackay, Idaho, August 7-8.
The following weekend, the Wild Rockies Series features the 6th annual Pomerelle Peaks near Burley. The cross country race will be staged on Saturday, August 14 and a downhill be held, Sunday, August 15.
For more information or to regis-ter go to www.wildrockies.com.
The White Knob, sponsored by Intermountain Orthopedics, is the longest-running mountain bike race in the Northwest and is a NORBA clas-sic.
For the second straight year, the format will be a stage race that in-cludes the traditional mountain bike cross country race along with head-to-head sprints and short-track races.
On Aug. 7, cross-country racers will take off from Main Street at 10 a.m. on a nine-mile ascent that fea-tures 2,300 feet of elevation gain. After circling behind the old mine in the Lost River drainage, cyclists will rush down through a boulder-strewn canyon before finishing along the river on the outskirts of Mackay. Total distance is 19 miles for all race categories.
Prizes will be awarded to the top three finishers in the more than 30 race categories. The top six cyclists in each category also receive points towards the overall three-stage cham-pionships. In addition, the White Knob Challenge is one of five races in the Knobby Tire Series Champion-ship.
Beginning at 4 p.m. on Aug. 7, cyclists will be placed in brackets for head-to-head sprints in the City Tourist Park. It will be a double-elimination race.
The final event will occur on Aug. 8, beginning 9:30 a.m., as racers gather on a dirt track adjacent to the City Tourist Park. Beginner racers will do a 15-minute short-track race. Sport riders will go 20 minutes while expert, semi-pro and pro riders will race for 25 minutes.
All awards ceremonies follow the short-track races.
For more information, contact Kurt Holzer (890-3118) or Tyler Welshimer (466-1818) or www.lostrivercycling.org.
