MACUNGIE, Pa. – They come from all over the country.
“Everywhere: California, Colorado, Alabama, Florida, Vermont — you name it,” said Gary Kline, director of marketing and guest experience for Bear Creek.
The USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships are underway for a second year at Bear Creek.
“There are multiple different courses depending on what category you’re racing,” said Kline. “We have the elite/pro racers, and they’re going to ride on a very difficult, technically challenging climbing course.”
Over the course of five days, athletes from ages 6 to 90, including some past Olympians, will hit the course. This year, the current Olympians weren’t able to make it.
“Unfortunately, our current Olympians are in Paris,” said Justin Evans, USA Cycling operations manager.
Wednesday night, the younger groups helped kick off everything.
Kieran Surbe of Chester, New Jersey, told 69 News, “I did the red course. It was about 10 miles with 1,500 feet of elevation.”
The heat and humidity made it even harder.
“There’s a lot of times I want to give up,” said Surbe. “I just think to myself, ‘I’ll never forgive myself afterwards.’”
Zoe Hicks said she also had to push her way through. This was her first national race, and she did quite well.
“I won,” said Hicks.
She described what it’s like to cross the finish line.
“It’s just like, one, it’s over, and two, you just feel really proud of yourself,” Hicks said.
There will be a lot to be proud of over the next few days.
“These are lifelong goals for some of our masters and some of our juniors that are hopefully going to be future Olympians,” Evans said.
The event runs through Sunday.
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Publish date : 2024-07-17 23:30:00
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Author : News-Sports
Publish date : 2024-07-18 08:45:17
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