STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
Sage School student Zane Lynn admits it would be cushier if he had been behind a desk in school.
But he and fellow high school students Elliot Sweek and Oliver Wiedemann instead spent four hours of their Saturday pedaling 11.17 miles up and down Bald Mountain, descending 6,345 vertical feet as they competed in the SCOTT Enduro Cup bike race.
Today should be easier, they say. All they have to do is pedal another six miles over Sun Valley’s e backcountry, racking up another 3,240 vertical feet.
“I prefer backcountry all the way,” said Lynn. “Today was tought—we had to bicycle from Ketchum Town Square to the mountain, go up, then down Warm Springs, go up, then down Cold Springs and bike back past the hospital.”
The boys were among dozens of pro and amateur riders who are testing themselves in the four-part series that ends in Park City, Utah.
Lauren Bingham, a high school student from Salt Lake City, was taking part in her third Enduro Cup.
“Moab is brutal. You’re pedaling the whole time. Angel Fire, N.M. , is interesting—it has a lot of tables that are super flowy. Baldy is more technical. Every corner is real tight,” she said, holding her hands a foot apart.
“And the trail was pretty loose at top. It’d fall away—you could see where people had fallen off. I’d do a 180-degree turn. Then sprint 500 yards, then do another tight turn. But I decided I had to go for it.”
The Endurop Cup is held in conjunction with Ride Sun Valley Bike Festival, which has been chock full of events ranging from bicycles dragging flaming logs to Saturday’s Criterium to a bike building contes among local businesses.
The latter was won by the Ketchum Firefighters and their crack bicycle builder Rebecca Rusch.
The festival concludes today with the Idaho Pump Track State Championships—a spectator’s delight.
SUNDAY, July 2
8 a.m.-3 p.m. SCOTT Enduro Cup presented by Vittoria: Day 2 Enduro Course, Sun Valley backcountry. Fee to compete.
8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Local Stoker Rides, leaving from Expo area. The easier ride follows trails in Adams Gulch. The longer one cruises the trails around Galena Lodge with a shuttle form Ketchum Town Square. Free.
9 a.m.-3 p.m. Ride Sun Valley Expo and Bike Demo. Free.
Noon-3 p.m. Enduro Cup Finish Party with live music provided by Nothing but Heroes. Free.
3-4 p.m. Enduro Cup Awards and Sunday Raffle with proceeds benefitting the Wood River Bicycle Coalition. Expo area.
5-9 p.m. Idaho Pump Track State Championships, with registration and practice beginning at 4 p.m. Ketchum Bike Park across from Atkinsons’ Park at 7th and 2nd Avenues. The park, built in 2009, is one of the nation’s premier public pump track facilities with a layout similar to a skate park.