By Katy Savage
Mazie Hayden, a 23-year-old Killington Mountain School graduate from Pittsfield, has become a regular presence on mountain bike race podiums.
This will be her fourth time at the Fox U.S. Open of Mountain Biking. She got third place in Dual Slalom in 2022 and fifth last year, while she got 15th in Downhill last year and was disqualified in the dual slalom.
“One thing that is super different about this race is that it’s the only race in the U.S. that draws such a large international crowd,” Hayden said.
Hayden is competing in Downhill and Dual Slalom again this year. This will be her first time competing at the event under her new own all-women team. Hayden and her dad started GT Wild Rye Racing last fall. It’s sponsored by a bike company called GT Bicycles and a women-owned clothing company called Wild Rye. Hayden asked two other KMS athletes, Riley Miller and Sarah Hamlin, to be part of her team.
Hayden created it to empower more women in the traditionally male-dominated sport.
“Seven years ago, when I first started racing, there were almost no women at most regional events I attended,” Hayden said on a recent Instagram post. “Now, I often see 20-plus racers in the amateur women’s category, especially in the junior women’s. I am so glad to see the women’s field grow, and even happier to get beat handily by juniors more and more. But in all seriousness, I can’t wait to see how women continue to push progression in this sport — seems like we’re picking up momentum. I really hope that those in the mountain bike industry and those with power in the downhill social sphere continue to or begin to support all these amazing and female riders, because they certainly deserve it.”
Hayden, who grew up ski racing and mountain biking, is currently living in North Clarendon. She’s planning to move to Maine next month to work seasonally as a ski coach at Carrabassett Valley Academy in Maine. She’ll devote more time to mountain biking in the summer. Until then, Hayden is in the hunt for another podium at this weekend’s U.S. Open.
“I would love to be in the top five but that’s never easy because we always have a lot of talented people show up,” Hayden said. “I want to podium in the Dual Slalom.”
