Bikers from the area shredded trails and jumps this weekend at the Rubberhead bike festival.
The event is split into two main categories. The first, which took place Sunday morning, was the Dreadhead Super D.
Seth Holton, who came in from Seattle, won the overall fastest in the event.
Holton described the event as a sprint and did it in just over 16 minutes. He did the Seven Summits ride the day before.
He added that he would be back, hopefully in the wintertime, to take advantage of the snow.
Tyler Merringer, who helped with both events, said this year’s Dreadhead was a more approachable format than last year. “It was a less intimidating format for a lot of people,” Merringer said. “We’re hoping to build on this race now and really get a bigger crowd. We had probably about 35 riders in the Dreadhead.”
He said it was so good that he’s sure there will be twice as many people next year.
The event came into some planning troubles back in September and had to be postponed.
“As far as the organization goes, it was certainly a bit of a pain — you know, the logistics of insurance and other stuff,” he said. “It came down to Rory (Belter) doing quite a bit of the work in terms of all kinds of details.”
The weather though was great.
“We had as good weather as you could get,” he said. “We were looking at the weather forecast and it hadn’t looked so promising.”
He added that they had the winning formula, with organizers that care about the event, great trails, good weather and the good vibe around Rossland.
“It was unfortunate that things like insurance aren’t that easy. It’s pretty hard in this day and age to jump through all the hoops that are required to put on an event such as this, so it’s good to see the volunteers pulling it off, despite the difficulties.”
He said that for him though, it was a lot better to have the event now since in September he is so busy with the Poker Ride. “It’s nice to have two separate events. I could actually race.”
Ryan Kuhn organized the Dreadhead and said the event went great.
“I think people had a blast,” Kuhn said. “The course was really fun and people enjoyed it. Can’t say enough.”
Kuhn also wanted to thank those who came out to help.
“A lot of volunteers showed up and did a great job and I’m really happy with the way things went,” he said. I did the run as well and had a blast. Almost busted a gut but I was impressed. Times were quick. It was competitive, so it was fun.”
He describes this year’s course as more “flawy” and easier than last year’s. Next year they may make things a little more difficult, but Kuhn added that having fun is the important thing.
Rory Belter organized the Huck-en Berry event, which had 16 riders showing off their tricks.
It was the third year of the Huck-en Berry and the second year at the Centennial dirt jumps, near the turnoff into Rossland from Highway 3B.
“The first year we did it at Red Mountain,” Belter said. “But we though we’d build on some jumps that we have and make them better.”
That way, he said, they have something to come back to and don’t have to tear them down every year.
“It’s kind of depressing tearing down all these jumps,” he said. “We all want to jump and the kids here progress so much more when they have better jumps.”
The organizers wanted to thank everyone who helped with the event.