By Brooke Geery
Much like their winter brethren, mountain bikers are a hardy sort. They’re not going to let a little thing like a global pandemic spoil all the fun. So, although the Bike Bum race series, normally held on Killington Resort’s network of trails, was not able to happen at the resort this year, organizers regrouped and moved things just down the road to the Killington Mountain Bike Club’s trails behind Base Camp Outfitters on Route 4. This year, riders negotiate the TBR (Thundering Brook Road) trail, which was created in seven days by KSA Built.
KSA Built founder Jay “Rosey” Rosenbaum also races in the event, and can be found at the finish, making sure timing devices are returned, and congratulating everyone on their times as they breathlessly cross the finish line.
“Our event, like most mountain bike events, is a community of people who are excited to be there and creates a great inclusive atmosphere,” Rosey said. “The mountain bike community is a very welcoming group and we’re always excited to see another rider out there enjoying what we love to do.”
The series kicked off a bit later than usual due to Covid-19, on Aug. 5. and will continue to run every Wednesday through the end of September. Riders can drop in at any time between 2-5 p.m. to take their laps, and the times are cumulative through the season. You can sign up for Bike Bum either as a team of five ($175) or as an individual ($45 for the season, $15 for one race.) Starting Sept. 9, the times will shift to 3-6 p.m. to enable any student participants to finish their school work before racing. All of the money raised by the events goes back to the Killington Mountain Bike Club and its efforts to build more trails in the area.
Normally, each race is capped off with a party at a local bar, where the day’s winners are announced. But this year, those parties are off. The good news: Holding the races off of the resort means no bottle laws, so the celebrations can commence as soon as the rider’s run is finished. Or, if they prefer, it’s a quick pedal to join the rest of the KMBC trail network from the end of the race.
“There are a number of trails built by three different builders that comprise the KMBC,” Rosey said. “Each builder has their own interpretation of how they see the landscape. I like to work with the natural rock and incorporate them into technical features whenever I can. Our current race trail, TBR, has an enormous rock right at the start that can be ridden as a wall ride/rock roll as an option. My long time tenure as a terrain park builder comes across in my work as I see items to jib or play off of on the trails.”
Since there are no individual celebrations this year, organizers are planning a final send off for the season. “We are trying to put together a “special event” of a relay race for potentially the final race of the season,” Rosey said. “ No one is doing that type of event in mountain bike racing and our current timing system is finding us the flexibility to try out something special and awesome. Details are still being worked on, but it could be a new style stage race for mountain bikes no one has seen.”
For more information on the races and results so far, visit killingtonmountainbikeclub.org/bike-bum.
