The sport certainly has grown in the U.S. and across Colorado since Purgatory hosted the first International Cycling Union (UCI) World Championships in 1990. That year, Ned Overend won the first world title, and he\u2019s been in Durango to watch the town continue to flourish as a mountain biking mecca with two Olympians in Todd Wells and Howard Grotts and numerous national champions and budding international stars across all age groups.<\/p>\n
\u201cNext year is going to be interesting,\u201d said Overend, who volunteered as a course sweeper during last weekend\u2019s high school event. \u201cIt\u2019s maybe going to be bigger. Especially with the high school kids, there\u2019s so much participation, you know? That\u2019s more racers than even the world championships here I think. The collegiate fields are big, too. Some of the elite racers here, they do get a lot of exposure and a good amount of spectators, but what\u2019s cool about collegiate and high school is the participation numbers are so big. It\u2019s bigger than any event we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year, 822 high school riders qualified for the state championships, and they represented 67 schools. The league has grown each year, and more than 1,300 athletes competed during the regular season this year. A year ago, 620 kids participated at state, up from 561 in 2016. It is possible more than 900 athletes will qualify for state in 2019, and more teams are formed seemingly every year.<\/p>\n
There were 51 collegiate teams represented at this year\u2019s national championships in Missoula, Montana with roughly 400 competitors.<\/p>\n Durango has a chance to host more than 1,200 mountain bikers, their coaches, families and supporters next October during a traditional shoulder season for tourist activity in our mountain town. It\u2019s big money for Durango businesses and a chance to attract future visitors, too.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is going to be real exciting for us,\u201d FLC cycling director Dave Hagen said. \u201cWe can finally show off our team for the hometown crowd. There\u2019s a lot of great energy going right now in this community. We will try to roll out the red carpet.\u201d<\/p>\n There is a hope from many in the cycling community to split the events across two different weekends so each event can have its own weekend in the spotlight. While it might be a great opportunity for high school racers to witness the next level of mountain biking by having an opportunity to spectate collegiate nationals, it could create a bit of a logistical nightmare, especially for Fort Lewis College, which hosted campus tours and the awards banquet for high school riders this year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re hoping both parties can work together to make it so it\u2019s not the same weekend,\u201d Hagen said. \u201cIt would take some away from each other. They are both really marquee events that should standalone, as far as I see it.<\/p>\n \u201cThat would almost be too much cycling too many places. I don\u2019t know what I\u2019d do.\u201d<\/p>\n Iron Horse Bicycle Classic director Gaige Sippy was integral in getting the high school championships to Durango and will again be a big player in next year\u2019s event. He also would have a personal choice to make if both events fall on the same weekend next year, as his son, Ivan, will race for the Durango High School team after he placed third at this year\u2019s freshman boys category race. His daughter, Camryn, also was a member of the Fort Lewis team for cross-country and short-track races at collegiate nationals this year as only a sophomore.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember when the Fort Lewis program started, and it was a really a game changer as far as getting younger people here to ride their bike,\u201d Sippy said. \u201cHagen and his crew built that culture that really Durango Devo was formed out of. To potentially watch both of those things taking place in one weekend, that much youth cycling on one weekend in our humble little town, it would be fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n Everyone involved in Durango\u2019s cycling community has praised the world of Purgatory Resort owner James Coleman and Mountain Capital Partners mountain bike director Hogan Koesis for making mountain biking a priority at the mountain once again. The last big event at Purgatory was the 2001 World Cup, but cross-country racing was held in town with the start and finish line at Fort Lewis College\u2019s football field, while the downhill events were held at Purgatory. All of next year\u2019s collegiate nationals will be held at Purgatory, with a new cross-country course and a Pro Category 1 downhill course.<\/p>\n Koesis brought big-event experience with him when he was hired last spring. The company and was eager to host big events this year, but many of those were canceled because the 416 Fire did not allow for all the trail work to be completed. Now, the 2019 races are the priority, and Koesis is happy to be part of the excitement of Durango mountain biking.<\/p>\n \u201cI love that these events are Durango centric,\u201d Koesis said. \u201cDurango is making recreational decisions and has embraced that cycling is real and helps during shoulder seasons. It\u2019s great for the community.\u201d<\/p>\n Sippy believes the two championship races could coexist on the same weekend next year with two different venues ready to be utilized. Even if the events are split across different weekends, there\u2019s no doubt October 2019 will be a rocking time for mountain biking in Durango.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a chance to play in front of our home crowd for the first time really,\u201d said FLC mountain bike coach and Durango Devo co-founder Chad Cheeney. \u201cWe can show them how much fun we are and how much fun the collegiate scene is in general. We\u2019re all looking forward to playing host to all these other schools and showing them the added spice we have at our races and the Durango things we do.\u201d<\/p>\n