Category: Uncategorized

Flathead Cycling’s yearly tribute race to Ben Parsons will be a race he would love! This year, they are going LONG! The race name has been changed to the Spirit Bear Mountain Bike Gran Fondo, and it’s going to be epic! Start and finish are at Herron Park again, but this time racers will ride out from Herron Park, along Foys Canyon Road, to Patrick Creek Road. There they will climb for about 9.5 miles along this beautiful gravel road until they reach the Emmon’s Saddle trail head for the amazing Foys to Blacktail trail. From there they will climb and ascend some of the best singletrack in the state, which offers spectacular views and challenging rock sections, ending up back at Herron Park, where they will descend the fun, fast, flowy Spirit Bear course from previous years. The entire loop is 24.5 miles, with 4200 feet elevation gain. Options for one or two loops are being offered. Ride it fun or ride it for glory! Plans are in the works for a barbecue at the end.

Cash prizes for those who take on two loops: $100 first, $50 second, $30 third. Merchandise prizes for first thru third in the one loop category!

Registration is here: https://runsignup.com/Race/MT/Kalispell/SpiritBearMountainBikeGranFondo

Montana has produced some great cycling talent over the years (Tejay van Garderen, Levi Leipheimer, Sam Schultz, Rose Grant all come to mind), and this young man from Polson is nipping at their heels! Showing some true Montana grit, Gabe has paid his dues and moved up through the ranks in road racing. The following is a press release from his new UCI team, Aevolo, which represents Canada, Mexico and the U.S.

https://www.aevolocycling.org/copy-of-aevolo-to-become-u24-team-i

Gabe’s dad just reported that Gabe has been accepted to travel to Greece on March 31 for a couple races! We here at MCA will be following Gabe’s career and wish him the best of luck…Go Gabe!

Spring is finally here in Montana and peeps are getting jazzed for a return to racing bikes on dirt and pavement! While some of us have escaped to the desert to get our dirt cravings satisfied before the trails dry here:

others are already out on pavement, riding past chilly still-frozen lakes:

Check out our events calendar for all the races and bike happenings coming up. After the pandemic induced dearth of events last year, this is going to be an action packed season!

Many races and events have been cancelled during this pandemic summer, but if you’re still itching to ride bikes fast, get ready for WMR’s downhill race series! The Ten Dollar Downhill races will be happening on Thursday evenings throughout August, and the Double Dip Downhill will be offered on September 19. See our calendar for all the deets!

We are so excited to announce that this gravel grinder is back again this year and will actually happen! What with so many cancellations, it’s exciting to hear that this fun and challenging ride is on! We wish the best of luck to organizer Brad Lamson, and hope all who partake can finally put all that training and fitness to use!

Nothing to report here, as far as our event calendar, due to the pandemic. Happily, though, we have all been outside riding trail and pavement! We are so blessed to live in Montana, where riding venues range from great to epic! Events will return, and we at MCA will be here for you to both promote and report on them! In the meantime, GET OUTSIDE AND RIDE!

Just when we were starting to fill in our calendar with some fantastic racing opportunities, the covid virus has decimated almost all of them. Not to worry though, many races are just being postponed and moved to later in the summer or fall.

In the meantime, since it is the “shoulder season,” you could always put together a little multi sport adventure:

First up is the MSU road race and team time trial in Bozeman, on April 18, hosted by the MSU Cycling Club.

Second offering for the weekend is the Missoula crit, on April 19, hosted by the U of M Cycling Club.

Though all three of these races are collegiate races, and part of the Northwest Collegiate Cycling Conference…they are open to the public! That means anyone can race! So come on out and support the start of road racing season in Montana! More deets on our event calendar page soon! See you out there!

14th Edition of Rolling Thunder!

This year’s edition of this iconic cyclocross race did not disappoint! It was a wee bit chilly, but everyone had a great time, riding, jumping, pushing their bikes in the backyard of Big Sky Brewery. From tiny racers to seasoned veterans, they left it all on the fun, twisty, challenging course. First time USAC race director, Cory Kaufman, did an excellent job putting on the race. This year, Thunder was the host for the Montana State Cyclocross Championships as well! See our results page for all the deets!

This year, race director Cory Kaufman has added some fun new classes, including a “Baggy Pants” mountain bike only race, “Try Cyclocross” beginners race, and free kids’ races (starting at age 3 and including striders!) Sign up the whole family and have a blast!