Mountain bikers to Blast the Mass on Wednesday
The Aspen Times
The Aspen Cycling Club will shift gears for this week’s event.
After a long road race last week, the Aspen Cycling Club will host the annual Blast the Mass cross country mountain bike race today.
The club’s weekly race series will showcase the mountain bike trails at Snowmass Ski Area. Per usual, advance registration is not require for today’s mountain bike race.
Racers can sign up and pay at Base Village from 5 to 5:50 p.m.
Racing will begin at 6 p.m.
Entry fee is $5 for Aspen Cycling Club members and 10 for nonmembers.
There is free parking available at the parking garage at Base Village.
According to Aspen Cycling Club president Mike Maple, the long course for Senior Men A and Vet Men A will go up the Dawdler Work Road to the water plant and then turn left on the Village Bound trail.
The singletrack will continue onto KAR briefly before the intersection with the Thornton World Road.
Riders continue up this road to the Ullrhof Restaurant where they will pick up the Cross Mountain Trail.
The mountain bikers will take the Cross Mountain Trail to Government Trail, then go left down Anaerobic Nightmare.
Maple said riders then go left on the Tom Blake Trail and take it to Faraway Road.
Then it’s a climb up the paved Faraway Road for about 100 yards before a right on Tom Blake Trail.
The finish is back at Base Village, ultimately descending Easy Rider.
The Sport, Masters, Women’s and High School racers will take a shorter loop.
From the same start, the cyclists will pick up the Cross Mountain Trail after the Ullrhof and take it to East Rider and back to the start/finish.
For the younger racers, there will be a shortened course on Fanny Hill.
The after-race party will be hosted by the New Belgium Ranger Station, located on the Snowmass Mall near Fanny Hill.
The party will start about 7 p.m.
For more information, call the Aspen Cycling Club Hotline at 970-922-2200.
