Photos from the 2010 Mount Ogden 100k

September 1, 2010

By Jared Hargrave

Mountain bike racers line up at the starting line of the Mount Ogden 100k/50k

Mud. The 2010 version of the Mount Ogden 100k/50k at Snowbasin will be remembered for the mud and the havoc it caused on the trail. Heavy rain pounded the course the night before, leaving the singletrack a mucky swamp (it also caused a sleepless night for me since I camped in the Snowbasin parking lot.) On the treacherous first lap, every racer, from the pros to the amateurs, had to stop and clean mud from their forks just to be able to move… and they were the lucky ones.

Anticipation builds before the start of the Mount Ogden 100k relay. Rider: Adam Symonds

Reports came in of riders crashing soon after the starting-line gunshot because of the challenging conditions. Dislocated shoulders, broken collar bones and fractured legs were among the most serious injuries. Pros dropped out of the race, tires went flat, and a junkyard of broken-down bikes littered the sides of the trail where racers frantically attempted to fix their bikes despite the mud that caked everything like concrete.

Boom! The blast of a gun marked the start of the Mount Ogden 100k.

Then came the second lap, and things got much, much better. The sun and wind dried out the trail, and what was at first a muddy bog quickly became tacky, sticky-fast dirt. The conditions were so good that, for me, the second lap ranked among the most fun rides of the summer.

Racers take off from the starting line of the Mount Ogden 100k.

Those of us who participated in the 100k relay were even luckier as the 3rd and 4th riders on the teams pedaled on a trail that dried out even more, with the bonus of racers becoming more spread out as time went by.

Racers begin the starting ascent of the Mount Ogden 100k Relay.

Lucky me: I competed in the 100k Relay for Team Lung Butter and got the awesome second lap thanks to a coin toss that favored me. Unlucky me: I got a flat tire on the rocky section about a quarter of the way into the course. Double unlucky me: While pumping up my spare tube, the valve stem broke in half, leaving me with no options to continue the race. So I picked up my bike, bushwhacked through the scrub oak down to the road, hitched a ride with a nice lady in a Subaru back to the starting line, fixed my bike, and had to start my lap over again. Total time lost: 1 hour.

Racers go neck-and-neck soon after the start of the Mount Ogden 100k at Snowbasin.

My second attempt went off without any problems and I was very satisfied with my time of 1 hour, 40 minutes for the 17-mile, 2,200 vertical foot lap. But despite riding well, the mechanical difficulties cost Team Lung Butter an hour that landed us in second-to-last place (we would have finished 4th otherwise.)

Jared Anderton nears the end of the Mount Ogden 100k Relay.

In short, despite the rough start, the 2010 Mount Ogden 100k/50k/100k Relay was a fun, laid back, damn good time. You can download the complete race results on the Mount Ogden 100k website.