True Grit Epic: Cyclists find perfect day for gritty ride; STGnews Photo Gallery

Written by Andy Griffin
March 14, 2015
True Grit Epic mountain bike race, Santa Clara, Utah, March 14, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

SANTA CLARA – Gorgeous weather greeted hardcore mountain bikers Saturday morning as the True Grit Epic bicycle endurance race rolled into motion in Santa Clara and the surrounding hills and desert.

gritlogoThe event, which started and finished in downtown Santa Clara, featured 50-mile and 100-mile courses that wound through the rugged Southern Utah terrain.

The 50-milers, who began at 9 a.m., traveled through three riding areas in St George – Red Bluff, Curly Hollow, and the Boomer Hill area of the Santa Clara River Reserve. The course is actually 46-miles long, with 43 of the miles on dirt and rock trails. Total elevation gain for this course is 7,604 feet.

The 100-milers, who began at 8 a.m., did basically two laps of the 50-mile course with an additional loop added on. Total climbing for the 100-mile race is 15,016 feet.

Elevation changes during the 50-mile True Grit Epic race. |Graphic from True Grit Epic website.
Elevation changes during the 50-mile True Grit Epic race | Graphic courtesy of True Grit Epic website, St. George News

More than 400 professional and amateur racers participated in the event, with a post-race meal, concert and social event scheduled for Saturday night.

The National Ultra Endurance Series is made up of only 13 mountain bike events across the country, plus one international race in Costa Rica. For 2015, the National Ultra Endurance series will offer a shared $13,000 in cash awards and additional prize packages.

For race results, records and a schedule of the post-race events, go to the True Grit Epic website.

St. George News photographer Robert Hoppie was in Santa Clara and captured this photo gallery:

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery. 

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andy Griffin has been in sports media since 1989 and has covered BYU, Utah State and the Utah Jazz as well as all sports in southern Utah. A journalism graduate of USU, Andy has carried on a dual career as both a sports writer and a sports broadcaster and has been heard around the country. He has also been published in USA Today, Sport magazine, The Sporting News, Fairways magazine, the Los Angeles Times and locally in the Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Spectrum. Andy was “The Voice of Region 9 sports,” for many years. He also hosted a daily sports talk show for three years called AG in the a.m. Andy has been married to his college sweetheart Shelly for 28 years and has five children ages 13 to 25.

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