Bike race rides into Logan
The first annual Mean Green Mountain Bike Race will take place Saturday as one of the culminating events of A-Week in Green Canyon. The women’s race will start at 11 a.m. and themen will race at 12:30 p.m.
Jake Young, a senior studying Spanish, is one of the primary organizers of the race. He has been working on organizing it for the last year.
“I just could not graduate from Utah State without seeing a mountain bike race go through,” he said.
Young has been actively mountain biking since he was 14 years old. A North Logan native, Young has found no shortage of great places to ride.
“I have a few secret trails up Logan Canyon,” he said. “Some of the best riding is higher [up Green Canyon], but the race location is ideal for an early-season race.”
Young said the course is fun and has sufficient passing zones for more advanced riders. For beginners, however, he said this is a perfect chance to get their feet wet in the race scene. He said the spring weather is great for riding.
“The spring weather is fun,” he said. “You get muddy? You get muddy.”
Young said the purpose of the race is to increase membership in the USU Cycling Club. The club had its inception in October 2000 and its members compete on the NCAA level in both mountain and road racing, Young said.
“I always thought USU should have a mountain bike race,” he said. “It has everything else.”
Even though fun is what the race is all about, winners in each race will receive prizes. Young said nearly $1,000 in prizes are going to be given away in raffles.
The cycling club seeks to aid in the sport’s growing popularity.
Dylan Taylor, a junior studying public relations, said he frequently meets mountain bikers who don’t know the club exists.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to get mountain biking more popularized here,” he said.
Cycling is re-emerging thanks to athletes like Lance Armstrong, Young said. In January, Marty Jameson, one of Armstrong’s teammates in the Tour de France, spoke to club members about professional cycling in Europe. Young said club members spoke to Jameson for two hours.
Advertising for the race has been done mostly in Cache Valley, but is sure to attract some of Northern Utah’s finest from the University of Utah, BYU and Weber State University, Young said.
He said Beaver Mountain Ski Patrol will provide medical services.
Registration is open to the public and is going on at Sunrise Cyclery, located at 138 N. 100 East in Logan.
The $12 entry fee includes a T-shirt featuring the race logo. Late registration will be available at the race site Saturday. The fee is $14 and will close at 10 a.m.