Pomerelle Pounder Bike Race brings together competitors of all ages
Races took place over two days at Pomerelle Mountain Resort.
ALBION, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — The Utah Gravity Mountain Bike Series held their latest event this weekend at the Pomerelle Mountain Resort near Albion.
Hundreds of mountain bikers descended on the resort for the latest iteration of the Pomerelle Pounder mountain bike race. According to some riders, this course is a bit different from some of the other ones on the series.
“It’s always a fun course because it’s not open year-round, so I think the lack of maintenance makes it more rugged and downhill, so it’s always a good course to come up and enjoy,” said Dan Jones, one of the competitors.
“It was super, super dusty, it was like moon dust and so all the corners were super blown out and some of the corners were super sketchy and there was a lot of ‘pedal-y’ sections, so it got pretty tiring toward the end, but overall, it was a really fun course,” said 15-year-old competitor Ryan Chase.
Riders of all ages came out to the Pomerelle Pounder and there was even a novice course for some of the younger and more inexperienced riders.
Age is not really that big of a factor in an event like this, and many of the competitors skewed toward the younger side as many of them were below the age of eighteen.
One of the fastest competitors on the entire day was the 15-year-old Chase from Eagle, Idaho who talked about his introduction to the sport.
“I just met some friends in my neighborhood and we started riding bikes and going to the bike park and that passion just kind of grew together,” Chase said.
Chase and his friends are members of the Speed Factory Racing Team based in Eagle, Idaho. A handful of other teams were also taking part in the event.
In an individual sport like mountain biking a team aspect may seem odd, but it stretched far beyond just teammates supporting one another.
After nearly every single run riders waiting just past the finish would congratulate the next one who completed the course, regardless of age. It was so cool to see these bikers support each other even in the midst of competition.
“The vibe up here is super cool because everyone is in the parking lot, it’s kind of like a family down there so it’s really fun,” Jones said. “It’s a good community and good vibes with everyone, so this is one of the top courses for most of us.”
The mountain biking community is really a tight-knit supportive group and hopefully many of them will be back for next year’s Pomerelle Pounder.
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