The Center shared the Ride With Gratitude philosophy at the UCI World Cup 2024 hosted by Mt. Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, NY.
Taking Ride With Gratitude to the World Cup
Mt. Van Hoevenberg – the internationally renowned Olympic Nordic skiing and bobsledding facility in Lake Placid, NY – recently hosted its first World Cup cross country mountain bike races, and the Center was there to share the Ride With Gratitude attitude.
As a new venue on the circuit and the only US stop on the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) World Cup tour, anticipation and expectations for the event were high among both cyclists and the local communities that stood to benefit economically from the event. According to a story in the Adirondack Explorer, the Olympic Region Development Authority reported that the event attracted more than 11,000 people over three days that included elite division races in the marathon distance and Olympic distance.
The Barkeater Trails Alliance, which helps build recreation trails in Adirondack communities, hosted a community event in Lake Placid that featured speeches by former US Olympians Lea Davison and Christopher Blevins, live music, and a wild BMX stunt expo that drew hundreds.
The Center was there for the action, with Adirondack Program Director Leslie Karasin and Outdoor Recreation Manager Joe Fox spreading the message of Ride With Gratitude, the Center’s mountain bike etiquette campaign, and sharing a just-published map of mountain biking opportunities in the Adirondacks. The Center partnered with a dozen Adirondack mountain bike networks to create the map.
“This was a dream come true for me, to see many of my mountain biking idols and even meet a few of them,” said Fox. “The athletes competing were truly the best in the world, and seeing that level of skill and fitness in person was inspiring. Leslie and I had great conversations with so many people about what riding with gratitude means to them, and the maps were really well received.”
“Our regional partners were excited to leverage this event to make the far-flung mountain bike destinations of the Adirondacks better known,” said Karasin. “Big events like this are exciting, but their impact is often concentrated in the host community. Our goal was to reach the wide audience of mountain bike enthusiasts who attended and publicize the cycling opportunities in communities across the region to expand the benefits of the event to other locations.
The Adirondack mountain bike map project was born out of a regular convening the Center hosts with regional mountain bike organizations across the Adirondacks. With a goal of sharing information about best practices in trail maintenance, funding options, and ideas about signage and communication, the Center aims to provide some added capacity to the local mountain bike organizations doing great work.
Learn more about Ride With Gratitude, an outgrowth of the Center’s Bike Borderlands Initiative. Mountain bikers everywhere are encouraged to take the Ride With Gratitude pledge.
The mountain bike World Cup is scheduled to return to Mt. Van Hoevenberg next October. In the meantime, riders can find mountain biking adventures through the new Adirondack mountain biking map or the Bike Borderlands website.
