The 2022 Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships will return to Purgatory Mountain Resort next week. Fort Lewis College will host the event at Purgatory again, and hopes for a snow-free race.
The team is also looking for volunteers to help make it a successful national event. Volunteering is an excellent way to see the races, the team said, and is a much-appreciated way to give back to the cycling community. FLC is looking for a wide variety of “vollies” to help with everything from course marshals to U.S. Anti-Doping Agency commissaire assistants.
To sign up, visit https://bit.ly/3ErAJd4.
People also may contact volunteer coordinator Kevin Kane for more information at kevin.barrett.kane@gmail.com.
Volunteers receive a T-shirt, the opportunity to win daily “Vollie of the Day” prizes and a front-row seat to the national championships.
The championships include cross-country and gravity races across five events – cross-country, short-track cross-country, a team relay, dual slalom and downhill. Athletes will compete on the 1990 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships course that Ned Overend won. The entire short track, cross-country and dual slalom courses are visible from the base area, so spectators can cheer on friends, family and classmates.
“Purgatory is delighted to host the national championships again this year,” said Dave Rathbun, general manager for Purgatory Resort. “Our goal is to bring major races back to Durango on par with the UCI World Cup race in 2001. Many of the nation’s top professional cyclists call Durango home, and we have some of the best riding and cycling culture in the U.S. We will continue to develop opportunities to bring national cycling events to the Durango area.”
Practice for the championships will begin Thursday, as will the first preliminary rounds of the dual slalom. The qualifying round will begin at 3 p.m. Thursday.
On Friday, the cross-country championships will be held. The LC men will race at 9 a.m. and the FLC women will compete at 11:15 a.m. The dual slalom finals will also begin at 3 p.m. Friday.
Saturday will kick off with the downhill seeding rounds at 9:45 a.m.
The short-track championships will also be held Saturday, with the FLC men starting at 1:45 p.m. and the FLC women following at 3:15 p.m.
The championships will conclude Sunday with the downhill finals, beginning at 10:30 a.m., and the team relays starting at 2 p.m.
