Whitefish league offers mountain bike racing for all abilities

As American Floyd Landis battled it out for the Tour de France lead on Tuesday, another bicycle race was being contested in the mountains above Whitefish.

There, mountain bikers competed against each other along a six-mile course that winds through single-track trails, dirt roads and steep downhill sections.

The race was part of Big Mountain's Tuesday night race league, where roughly 40 riders competed on a course that this year has been made longer - but easier.

The course changes are part of an effort to attract more riders to mountain biking by appealing to a wider spectrum of abilities. The course includes a wide variety of riding experiences, from single-track trails through deep woods along mountain streams on the resort's Nordic center to technical riding on bridge crossings.

Tuesday night was the second race of the season in the Big Mountain league.

For cyclist Clint Muhlfeld, the league is a good way for him to enjoy mountain biking away from his intense professional riding.

In fact, the Tuesday night race league was how Muhlfeld got his start in bike racing six years ago. Now, he has become the No. 1-ranked U.S. rider in World Cup standings and he just found out that he's now the No. 3 mountain-bike rider in the United States.

Although the race league gives riders the chance to compete against world-class athletes such as Muhlfeld, the races are geared to a wide range of riders, from beginner to expert.

At Tuesday night's race, there were women out there for the first time, along with teenagers huffing and puffing up the steep sections. Organizers and racers encourage anyone who likes to ride mountain bikes to come out and try the course.

"It's a low-key event where you can really get competitive or just go out for a joy ride with your friends," Muhlfeld said. "It's a great setting for that."

But beware: The league is where Muhlfeld, who is sponsored by the Sportsman & Ski Haus/Cannondale, said he "got addicted" after winning that first race six years ago and moved into the professional ranks three years later.

The race league is part of Big Mountain's continuing focus on improving and maintaining its more than 30 miles of trail. Last year Big Mountain focused on its cross-country trails, with 10 miles of trail added by reclaiming old trails and adding new ones. This year, the focus is on the Summit trail, which riders can reach by taking their bikes on the chairlift.

The trail to the summit has been improved to make it more user-friendly, and crews have added more single-track trails, including some extremely difficult "double black diamond" trails.

"The summit trail was ready for a redesign, and we're providing it," said Jim Langley, head mountain bike coach at Big Mountain. The new Summit trail system also will offer something for beginner-level riders. "The beginners love it and the experts love it," he said.

Langley also coaches the Big Mountain Bike Academy. This year the academy is teaching students not just how to ride bikes, but also sports training techniques. "Mountain biking isn't just a sport, it's a lifestyle," Langley said.

That lifestyle sometimes involves pain - something Muhlfeld knows all too well.

"At this point in summer, I'm ready to not be hurting," he said. One of the portions of the race course goes along a small lake on Big Mountain, where rider after rider kicks up dust along the trail. It's one of the only flat portions of the course, and it's where Muhlfeld said he gets a welcome breather. "I get up to the lake and I'm just recovering."

Muhlfeld races in the marathon cross-country portion of professional mountain bike racing. His discipline is the ultra-endurance end of the racing spectrum, with five-hour rides stretching over 100 kilometers.

He's third in the U.S. national mountain bike series with one final race Aug. 6 in Utah.

From there, Muhlfeld, 34, goes to the world championships in France, pending the birth of a child expected in early August. "We'll see how it goes," he said. "Such is life … I don't want to miss the birth of my son."

Reese is the editor of Montana Living magazine.