British athletes Ella Mclean-Howell and Max Greensill (Provided photo — Naj Wikoff)

The UCI Mountain Bike World Series at Mount Van Hoevenberg this past weekend were remarkable on multiple levels.

No question, without New York state’s significant investment in upgrading the Olympic venues for the 2023 FISU Winter World University Games, the Olympic Regional Development Authority and the community would not have been able to bid for and host the mountain bike event. The upgraded base lodge, biathlon and cross-country ski trails met Warner Brothers Discovery Sports’ needs on multiple levels, including a team of staff and volunteers experienced in hosting world-class events.

The shuttle bus system honed during the past two World Cup ski jumping events resulted in plenty of buses and parking, enabling ORDA to move people quickly from their parking areas to the racing area, with the coordinators shifting the number of buses going to either the Olympic Center Miracle Plaza or the North Elba lacrosse fields as needed. Critical to the success was provided by the New York State Police directing traffic at the intersection of state Route 73 and Bobsled Run Lane, especially on Sunday when they had to field traffic entering and leaving the sports complex with visitors heading for home via the Northway.

The course layout, which included the cross-country hills near the base lodge, provided lots of exciting viewing opportunities for the spectators, be it the finish line or up on the hill where some rugged sections and a dramatic “shady” curve were created, as well as locations out near the old biathlon course. Warner Brothers Discovery Sports had 28 camera positions installed throughout the course, plus overhead drone cameras, enabling spectators to watch the racers on the large screens placed in key viewing areas and those spread throughout the base lodge.

The event had the buzz of an international bazaar resulting from the diversity of international athletes and their support teams, but also by their fans, many of whom follow their favorite riders from event to event. The many languages spoken in the lodge, on the shuttle buses and the hillsides fed the bazaar-like flavor of the event.

Chris Ball and Ravi Rajoomar (Provided photo — Naj Wikoff)

The athletes’ slight physicality added to the wonderment of their achievements and ability to ride full out on such a brutal course. Standing still, you might think they could be blown away like a fall leaf in a gentle breeze, but there is no question the bikers could probably withstand a hurricane, as they demonstrated during the pre-event practice when mud and rain couldn’t damper their output.

On Saturday evening, a WHOOP Series Roundtable featured WBD Sports reps Scott Young, senior vice president, Chris Ball of WBD Sports-UCI, Ravi Rajcoomar of People for Bikes, Jeremey Powers of WHOOP and Kris Cheney-Seymour of ORDA, moderated by Kate Mason of TNT Sports. The participants conveyed a three-fold message: Mountain bike racing is a fast-growing sport they feel has great potential for growth in the U.S. and Canada. They loved the Hoevenberg venue viewing it and the three-annual events as vital assets for expanding participation and interest in mountain bikes sports. And, their main goal is to encourage people of all ages to take up biking.

“The Mount Van Hoevenberg site is a spectacular venue,” said Young. “We are pouring everything we have into ensuring this mountain bike series will succeed.”

“Nowhere else in the world in other sports can you ride on the sport’s field of play,” said Rajcoomar. “You and I can’t go play football in Giants Stadium, but we can ride your bike on the World Cup course here in Lake Placid. On the athlete’s side, too, where else can you sit and talk with top mountain bikers? You can’t do that on Sundays with the NFL, but here you can. The riders are great ambassadors of our sport; they want to get more people on bikes as we do.”

Naomi Havelick of Keene Valley appreciated the athletes’ accessibility, showing me her posters signed by Haley Batten and Jolanda Neff, two of the world’s winningest riders.

From left are Bill Dickson, Kathleen Martens, Darienne Dickson and Joe Martens (Provided photo — Naj Wikoff)

“Getting their autographs was a goal,” said Naomi. “Jolanda was very generous; I was happy to be able to chat with her a little bit and get her autograph.”

Many were stunned to learn that ORDA’s hosting of a WHOOP-scale UCI Mountain Bike World Series was a first for the agency. ORDA had no prior experience in hosting a high school, college, national or Can-Am mountain bike races. This was a first and required designing and constructing a course from scratch.

“Hosting a World Cup mountain bike race was not on the radar when we built the venue, but it’s as if it was purpose-built for such an event,” said Rebecca Dayton, general manager of Mount Van Hoevenberg. “Everything we built for biathlon and cross-country translates well to the cross-country mountain bike event. We have a staff that’s used to hosting big events, so even though this is not an event we’ve done before, our staff and volunteers know all the bits and pieces that go into an event. We learned the details required by mountain bike racing, and now, as we go forward, we hope to get better and better.”

“This was our first time hosting mountain bike racing, and already, it’s become a signature event for us,” said Joe Martens, ORDA board chair. “I am proud of the ORDA team for putting together an amazing course. The teams and riders loved it. We are already looking forward to next year when we add in the downhill event as well; this year, it’s being held at Killington.”

Noah Ramsey of Toronto, 11th place finisher in Saturday’s UCI XCO U23 men’s race, has competed in Lake Placid before, then in CAN/AM Hockey, his favorite sport growing up. Ramsey didn’t start competing in mountain bike racing until 12fth grade, a relatively late age, but he has made significant progress.

Tait Wardlaw and Kris Cheney-Seymour (Provided photo — Naj Wikoff)

“The course was pretty simple technically, but it was very tough physically with all the climbing,” said Ramsey. “It was a nonstop-threshold event going up and trying to recover as much as possible on the downhills. You had to go hard from the start and not settle back on your wheels because if you did, you’d have a massive struggle to get back up. I’d love to come back to race and visit; the mountains are super scenic, and the colored leaves are unreal.”

Inspired to take up the sport by seeing it in the 2012 Olympics, Ella Mclean-Howell praised the location and all the Olympic venues.

“I can’t say I enjoyed the course when racing, but in practice, it was a lot of fun,” said Mclean-Howell. “It was very physical, and now that it’s dried out, it’s very fast. The downhills are not super technical, but they are enough so you can make some time on others. I would like to see Lake Placid hold more races like this; it’s stunning here, and the community is great. I look forward to coming back.”

(Naj Wikoff lives in Keene Valley and has been writing his column for the Lake Placid News since 2005.)