Mountain-bike races won't return to Deer Valley

Good riddance!

Mike


http://www.parkrecord.com/summit_cou...ts/ci_12648888

Mountain-bike races won't return to Deer Valley

Resort won't see NORBA, Perfect 10 this year
Kristina Eastham, Record contributing writer
Posted: 06/19/2009 04:37:00 PM MDT

Neither the Perfect 10 Relay nor the National Mountain Bike Series
(often called NORBA) will return to Deer Valley's trails this summer.

The National Mountain Bike Series, which has included Deer Valley as a
race location for the past 12-14 years, has had trouble drawing
sponsors and competitors due to the increasing cost of travel. The
series itself has dissolved.

"The National Series went away as it had stood for almost 20 years in
that form. And there's another national series going on now called the
U.S. Cup that is cross country only," Tom Spiegel, the former promoter
for the National Mountain Bike Series, said. "The old National Series
included all disciplines of mountain-bike racing. That's the big
difference."

Another difference is that the U.S. Cup is divided into Western and
Eastern circuits and the West Coast race locations are mostly in
California "for sponsorship reasons," according to Spiegel.

"I think economics have just changed the way we do business, including
the fact that the series, the U.S. Cup, this year is based primarily
in Southern California," Spiegel said.

The owner of Team Big Bear Mountain Bikes, Spiegel said he has seen an
increase in local racing and local events, such as last weekend's
Pedalfest, part of the Intermountain Cup Series, as pro teams and
national events dissolve.

Another race that won't be returning to Deer Valley this summer is the
Perfect 10, a local 10-hour relay in which riders, or teams of riders
up to four, rode a
seven-mile loop, based out of the Silver Lake area of the resort.

"I just don't physically have the time," Heinrich Deter, the event
coordinator, said. "I think it was successful and all the events like
that tend to grow over time, so I think that another one would
definitely be successful."

Erin Grady, communications manager at Deer Valley, believes that two
fewer events at Deer Valley will not impact the popularity of mountain
biking at the resort.

"We have been looking at other event options and just nothing has come
through at this point," Grady said. "I could definitely see some
coming through in the future."

Deter agreed that the loss of these races opens up new doors for
promoters and the resort.

"As a mater of fact, I'm hoping that somebody takes up the torch and
brings something else to town," he said.
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