By Amy Jespersen
Two members of the Carbon Mountain Bike Team competed last week in the first Pan American Games ever held on U.S. soil. Mountain bikers from all over North and South America converged upon Soldier Hollow, some competing for a spot on their country’s Olympic teams. Some of the countries represented were Canada, Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Mexico.
Andrew Loveless and Tacoma Smith both competed in the Eliminator round on Wednesday, May 8. This race consisted of 3-4 riders doing one short lap of .3 miles with the top two moving on to race again and again until they’re eliminated. Loveless finished in 15th place and Smith finished 16th in their respective categories.
Both boys competed in the Cross Country race on Saturday. Loveless raced in the 17-18 year old category 2 division, riding 4 laps of the 3 mile course and finished on top of the podium.
Smith raced in the 17-18 year old category 1 division, riding 6 laps on the 3 mile course, and finished 67th out of over 100 riders. The race was called early due to lightning and poor conditions on the course.
Smith and Loveless, as well as several other riders from the Carbon team, have spent the first few months of this year training and traveling around the state and country to race. The team looks forward to starting the season at the beginning of June and racing in August.
Photos by Amy Jespersen
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- Photo by Amy Jespersen
