ST. GEORGE — Saturday morning dawned with ominous bright red skies giving way to cloudy skies. But that didn’t stop participants in the 2017 Red Rock Rampage from jumping on their mountain bikes and heading for the hills in a race that’s been held in St. George every year since 1996.
“We have from 5-year-olds to 60-plus-year-olds racing,” Ride Southern Utah event director Margaret Gibson said. “It’s the beginning of the I-Cup series, they do cross country races and endurance races throughout Utah.”
Red Rock Rampage is part of the Intermountain Cup Mountain Bike Racing Series and runs the Green Valley Raceway Trail located at the end of Canyon View Drive in St. George.
See the video in media player top of this report.
Several heats were run as part of the Rampage. The course is about 7 miles long and beginners run one lap, “sports expert” class riders do two laps, and “Elites” do four laps.
“It opened up St. George to mountain biking,” Red Rock Rampage founder Glenn Ames said. “Up until that point, everyone was going to Moab and nobody had heard about St. George.”
Ames, who opened Red Rock Bicycle Company in 1995, said the sport is growing every year.
“It’s awesome to see the growth in both the shop and the race,” Ames said. “(St. George) has become a destination for mountain biking. Pretty awesome.”
Results of the races were not available at press time. St. George News reporter Ric Wayman contributed to this report.
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Participants in the 2017 Red Rock Rampage ride the trails. Saturday. St. George, Utah, March 25, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News
Cyclists wait for the start of a heat at Saturday's Red Rock Rampage. St. George, Utah, March 25, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News
Cyclists wait for the start of a heat at Saturday's Red Rock Rampage. St. George, Utah, March 25, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News
Cyclists wait for the start of a heat at Saturday's Red Rock Rampage. St. George, Utah, March 25, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News
Cyclists wait for the start of a heat at Saturday's Red Rock Rampage. St. George, Utah, March 25, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News
Cyclists wait for the start of a heat at Saturday's Red Rock Rampage. St. George, Utah, March 25, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News
Cyclists wait for the start of a heat at Saturday's Red Rock Rampage. St. George, Utah, March 25, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News
Cyclists wait for the start of a heat at Saturday's Red Rock Rampage. St. George, Utah, March 25, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News
Cyclists wait for the start of a heat at Saturday's Red Rock Rampage. St. George, Utah, March 25, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News
Cyclists wait for the start of a heat at Saturday's Red Rock Rampage. St. George, Utah, March 25, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sheldon Demke is a film maker and self proclaimed Local Celebrity. He resides in St. George where he joined the video production team of St. George News. Among his other interests are acting, movies and family.