STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
Celebrate life on two wheels this weekend during the annual Ride Sun Valley Bike Festival.
The four-day festival launches with the flaming log pull in front of Billy Olson’s Power House Pub in Hailey. There’ll be live music and a bike building contest. And this year’s festival will include the Idaho State Criterium Championships.
“We’re excited about that because we’ve never had the state criterium championship before,” said Ray Gadd of Visit Sun Valley.
Ride Sun Valley brings hundreds of bicycling enthusiasts to Sun Valley. About 300 come to compete in the SCOTT Enduro Cup, many of them bringing their families with them.
“The festival’s great because you can compete at a highly skilled level or you can participate in one of the more easy going Stoker Rides,” said Gadd.
Sun Valley Resort will open lift-served biking on Bald Mountain on Saturday, July 1. But bikers should be prepared to find temporary closures for the SCOTT Enduro Cup race on that morning.
Bald Mountain Trail will be closed above the Traverse Trail from 8 a.m. to noon. Warm Springs Trail below Traverse Trial will be closed from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Cold Springs Trail will be closed from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day and the trails east of the River Run Bridge will be closed from 2 to 4 p.m. to accommodate the Kids Mountain Bike Race.
Trails will reopen after the races.
The SCOTT Enduro Cup isn’t the only big bicycle event happening on Bald Mountain this summer. Pete Lane’s Mountain Sports will present Norco Bicycles Demo Days on July 8, offering riders a chance to demo Norco Sight and Range models from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the base of River Run. Lift tickets will be provided free that day for demo riders.
And the Fox Pro Frame World Tour will be held July 7, with pro athletes Josh Bryceland and Josh Lewis touting Fox full face helmets form 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Lawn games will be provided that day, along with free lift tickets for those trying helmets.
The resort is also building new trails this summer that will connect the existing Lupine and Saddle Up trails above the Roundhouse Gondola to the base of River Run, giving riders a 10-mile top-to-bottom riding experience. Until now they’ve had to ride the Wood River Bike Path back to the River Run base area.
The intermediate run will be 3.7 miles long and descend 1,370 feet, while providing jumps and berms. The advanced trail will be 1.2 miles long with a 540-foot descent, jumps and berms.
Here’s the schedule for Ride Sun Valley:
THURSDAY, June 29
5-7:30 p.m. SheepTown Drag Race Registration and Happy Hour. Main Street Hailey in front of Power House Pub. The event is open to the public.
7:30-10 p.m. SheepTown Drag Race Prelims. Cyclists will drag logs behind them during the prelims, but the logs won’t be lit until dusk. Free.
10-10:30 p.m. SheepTown Drag Race Finals. Yup, the logs will be afire as a DJ spins sound.
FRIDAY, June 30
2-8 p.m. Ride Sun Valley Expo. Ketchum Town Square. Free.
2-8 p.m. Opening Concerts, Ketchum Town Square. Luc McCann and friends will play from 2 to 3 p.m.; Stanley Idaho’s Casey Jack Kristofferson and friends will play from 3 to 4 p.m. And the Sheep Bridge Jumpers from Ketchum will play from 6 to 7 p.m. Free.
2-5 p.m. Women’s Ride Clinic focusing on skills and mechanics. Ketchum Town Square. Free.
2-5 p.m. Men’s Amateur and Juniors Ride Clinic focusing on skills and mechanics. Wood River Bike Coalition Tent in Expo area. Free.
2-5 p.m. Local Stoker Rides, leaving from Expo Area. The easier two-hour ride will encompass Corral Creek and possibly the White Clouds Trails. The three-hour ride will follow the Edge of the World—the top of Oregon Gulch to the bottom. Riders will be shuttled to the site and ride back to town via the highway or dirt. Free.
6-7 p.m. Buddy Pegs’ Kid’s Scavenger Hunt, Expo area. The hunt, organized by Buddy Pegs , will involve finding different letters at Expo tents to spell a secret word. Prizes will be awarded to those who complete the hunt. Free.
Also a Decorate Your Own Number Plate table for the Kids MTB Race and Pump Track Championships will be set up.
7-8:30 p.m. Cox Community Bike Build. Expo area. Cox has purchased 10 SCOTT kid’s bikes and recruited local businesses to compete in a contest to build them. After the contest, the bikes will be donated to local kids. Free.
8:30-9 p.m. Friday Night Raffle, with proceeds benefitting the Wood River Bicycle Coalition. Expo area.
9:30-10 p.m. Boise’s First Chair, will finish out the night with its two-piece fusion of melodic pop and driving rhythms provided by keyboard and drums. Free.
SATURDAY, July 1
8 a.m.-4 p.m. SCOTT Enduro Cup presented by Vittoria: Day 1 Enduro Course. Riders will race on more than 3,200 feet of vertical alpine riding on Bald Mountain. The event is part of a four-stop competition that started at Moab, Utah, went on to Angel Fire, N.M., and will finish up at Park City, Utah. Fee to compete.
9 a.m.-6 p.m. Ride Sun Valley Expo and Bike Demos, downtown Ketchum. Free.
8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Local Stoker Rides, leaving from Expo area. The two-hour ride goes from River Run to Warm Springs. Free.
The longer starts at Greenhorn Gulch and heads out Red Warrior with riders cycling back on Warm Springs Road. A shuttle will be provided to Greenhorn. Free.
12:30-1:30 p.m. Kids MTB Race, with registration starting at 11 a.m. River Run Base Area next to River Run Bridge. For kids 12 and under Medals and prizes will e handed out, with courses formatted to the appropriate age and skill levels. Free.
4-6 p.m. Andrew Sheppard Band will perform a cockeyed medley of soulful country, rock n’ roll. Free.
4-9:15 p.m. Idaho State Championship Criterium, Ketchum Town Square. State Championship medals will be awarded to the top three Idaho participants in each race. Cost to race is $30 in advance or $35 day of.
9:15-9:45 p.m. Criterium Awards and Saturday Raffle, benefitting the Wood River Bicycle Coalition.
10-11 p.m. Saturday Concert.
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. The ride encompasses portions of the Harriman Trail, Baker Creek Road, East Fork Baker Creek Road, Easley Hot Springs Trail and Oregon Gulch Trail.
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.
Classes will be divided into men’s and women’s in mini racing (6 and under), 9 and under, 13 and under and open/pro. The 6 and under kids hit the track first with the women’s and men’s last. Free.