Ride Southern Utah sponsored the first inaugural Three Peaks Revival mountain biking race and festival on Sept. 22 through 24.
The main competition was a race starting at 10 a.m. and concluding at 6:17 p.m. on Saturday. For this race competitors could race in multiple formats. Some chose to ride solo as a test of endurance, some raced as a team and some rode for eight hours just to see how far they could get. Joey Dye, Marketing Director of Red Rock Bicycle said, “The goal of the race was to get people to not only come out to race, but to spend the weekend in the outdoors.”
Some of the other festivities at Three Peaks Revival included a beer garden, track stands or standstill (a technique bicycle riders use to maintain balance while their bicycle remains stationary), a bunny hop contest which involved riders jumping over bunny stuffed animals and group bike rides.
Dye said, “Three Peaks is such a cool venue, we wanted to give people a reason to show up Friday and leave Sunday—to make a weekend out of it.”
Raven Stafford, a sophomore from Cedar High School, was one of the contestants in the race. Stafford competed with her mom, this was also her mom’s first time racing. “We were both a little nervous to start the race this morning,” Stafford said.
Stafford said she has developed a passion for mountain biking over the past decade. She recently joined a competitive mountain biking team and is looking forward to future races.
Josh Onarheim from St. George has been racing for 20 years. “The course is awesome! It’s really fast. It keeps you on your toes. There are a lot of corners, some of them are a little bit sketchy, but it’s fun,” Onarheim said.
Even though only 60 people competed in the race, Dye said he hopes to have increased numbers in the coming years. “It’s always hard to start a new event. It’s hard to market for it,” He said. “But the great thing about the biking community is that is is very diverse. We have high school aged kids and old guys racing today.”
If interested in competing the Three Peaks Revival next year visit redrockbicycle.com or visit them on Facebook for more information.
Story By
Cassidy Harmon
reporter2@suunews.com
Featured Photo Courtesy of Josh Onarheim
