Bike race on the Riverwalk patch

Congrats to Backyard Bikes for running a successful first cyclocross race in Davis. Here are the photos
www.akaflash.com/coverage/biking-cyclo-cross-nov-14-2009/photos

Sixty-odd racers zoomed around the Riverwalk property in an anaerobic sprint round a course of grass, tarmac, trails and obstacles. Cyclocross is a niche sport in between mountain biking and road biking that many have never even heard of, but it is a popular variation for many serious cyclists.

More mountain sports events based in Davis is the future of Davis.

I recently watched a documentary called Race Across the Sky. While not a particularly special piece of work, I found the story pretty interesting. The Leadville 100 mountain bike race has put Leadville, CO, on the map. Abandoned by business following the mining boom, Leadville languished for decades. When I lived in Denver in the early 80's Leadville was known for its grand boomtown building architecture and simultaneously its paucity of economic activity.

Incumbent business types in Davis -- not mentioning names -- have grumbled that mountain bikers don't help local businesses. I say that reflects more on the missed opportunity than the lack thereof.

The Leadville doc was no doubt made and marketed on the Lance Armstrong factor. He had ridden it once before but this time he won, and did so in front of the documentary camera, and boom -- the Leadville 100 is now 100 times hotter, and the queue to ride it no doubt 100 times longer. That's great, but the long term buildup to this was the year-in, year-out, management of a great race in a great place...an extreme race that came of age in an age that celebrates all things extreme, and all who triumph in these rarefied altitudes of mountain sports.

The fellow that runs the Leadville 100 is a community leader. His gig is not just running a race but to include anyone who would dare, and everyone who supports the race and its racers. This is not just literally his position, it is how he feels and how he behaves in the community. The Leadville 100 is about the non-finishers and the families, friends and fans as much as the obvious. It is a race, but it has a huge halo of positive energy and economic benefit for the community. That. Is. What. Davis. Needs.

And it may not come in the package of one race, but there will be an anchor race around which all the other events revolve. It may be a race that exists today but eventually breaks through. Perhaps it will be an adventure race, a mountain bike race, a cyclocross race, a trail race...I don't know. It was a race called "24 hours of Canaan" a long time ago, but that was before its time and did not stay in town.

Sometimes, when nearly everyone who's been at it for 20 or 30 years knows exactly why this and that won't work...well that is when the opportunity can emerge. This Cyclocross race is nice to see in Davis along with Revenge of the Rattlesnake, the WV State Championship race and others. We could host 20 mountain sport events from Davis instead of 3 or 4. And one of them will become a major regional or national event.