American Mountain Classic presented by Sho-Air Stage 3 Report and Photos; Brian Head, Utah;

Writing and Photos by: Greg Gibson and Shannon Boffeli

Four days of grueling mountain bike racing culminated with today's final stage of the American Mountain Classic. As promised the race promoters saved the hardest stage for last.


Today, the racers tackled two full laps on the renowned Brian Head NMBS race course. Each torturous lap included 2,800 vertical feet of climbing followed by a descent down the dreaded Dark Hollow trail which offered mile after mile of technical, rock-strewn singletrack that tested the abilities of even the best riders. Today's course would prove to be the toughest and produce more casualties than all of the previous stages combined.

We started stage 3 with the first few miles of neutral road climbing followed by an explosion at the front of the group when the big guns charged off. Incredibly, after 3 days of racing Jeremiah Bishop (Trek/VW) and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru/Gary Fisher)were separated by just 6 seconds. The two leaders rode a fast race at the front of the field and finished with another sprint to the line. This time, it would be JHK taking first, followed by Bishop just one second later. It was JHK's first stage win at the American Mountain Classic but not enough to take the top spot in the GC away from an impressive Jeremiah Bishop.

Pua Sawicki (Ellsworth) finished this week with a clean sweep of every stage in the inaugural American Mountain Classic. Proving once again she is the top endurance racer in the US. Heather Irmiger (Subaru/Gary Fisher)had another strong performance taking second ahead of Lea Davison (Trek/VW) in third.

As for my race it started off well until flatting my tubeless tire the first trip through Dark Hollow. After fixing it with a tube the seemingly endless parade of rocks took their turns pinching the tube. After three more flats, and a trip back to my hotel room for more tubes, I finished my first and hopefully not last American Mountain Classic.

Following the race, race director Tom Spiegel and the race sponsors from Sho-Air all agreed that the race was a resounding success and both parties look forward to making it all happen again next season. As a racer I certainly hope they do. With an excellent host community in Brian Head and fantastic trails the American Mountain Classic was a great experience and I look forward to the challenge again next season.