Moments before the first finisher of the day crossed the finish line on Wednesday, June 9, Summit Mountain Challenge Event Director Jeff Westcott reflected on what this moment meant to him and the rest of.
Photo from Summit County Mountain Bike Allliance
With Memorial Day this year comes the full-fledged start to mountain bike season in Summit County, and local leaders are excited for a strong summer after a 2020 when the community was affected by novel coronavirus regulations.
“That’s what I’m exactly excited about: the return to normal,” Maverick Sports Promotions Event Director Jeff Westcott said Friday, May 28. “This season is pretty much a 180 (degree turnaround) from last year, when we could only proceed according to the current guidelines. This year, we were encouraged to plan for normal and scale back if necessary. And that’s a different vibe ‘if necessary.’”
Photo from the Zander family
To event director Jeff Westcott, the first Imperial Challenge in two years felt like a joyous holiday.
“It felt like Imperial Eve,” the Breckenridge resident said about Sunday night.
For women’s lightweight champion Jill Sorensen, the Imperial’s return felt like a community reunion of friends even though it was physically distanced. To men’s lightweight race winner Chris Tatro, it felt like an end-of-winter, start-of-summer cornerstone.
“For the first time, it felt like we’re getting back to normal,” Tatro said. “It felt good for me, personally, and it felt good as a community. It was a wonderful day.”
Photo by Elaine Collins
With snow scarce in Summit County, the one winter sport that has benefited from the conditions is fat biking.
At the heart of fat biking this winter has been the town of Breckenridge’s Gold Run race series, which just wrapped up its third of four races this winter.
The series, operated by Jeff Westcott of Maverick Sports Promotions, has attracted more than 40 people to race in a virtual format, where racers record their course times on the Strava application. The first races of the season were Dec. 12 and 19 before racing returned Saturday, Jan. 23. The final race will be Saturday, Jan. 30.