Back in 2012 a guy called Mark Rodgers contacted us about an idea he had for a revolutionary new race series. His idea sounded amazing, if a little ambitious, but then things went a bit quiet. We’d just presumed that like so many good ideas this one was never going to become a reality, but then last week Mark got back in touch with us, and this time it was to tell us that the Pinnacle Bike Championship was finally going to become a reality after a couple of years in the making.
So what on earth is the Pinnacle Bike Championship, and what makes it so special? Well to try and sum it up in a sentence, it’s an invite only event for 100 of the world’s top riders and they’ll battle it out in 10 rider heats to be the fastest down a crazy three minute long track. Yes, you read that right, 10 riders racing head to head down a hillside at once. As if that wasn’t mental enough the track will be entirely natural apart from a few massive jumps and drops. There will be no berms whatsoever, just rough natural terrain that will truly test a riders skill, and their DH bikes. The entire race will also take place out in the open on ski pistes, so speeds will be incredibly high, and the whole thing will be easy to view for both spectators and film crew (the plan is for this race to be televised and made available to watch via a live feed) .
Where and when is it going to happen? At the Waterville Valley Resort, New Hampshire, USA on September 19-20, 2014. The track is yet to be built, but the photo below is of where it’s going to be built.
The custom built track will be 1.25 miles long with a drop of 1500 vertical feet. There will be ample passing room all the way down, with the narrowest section of the track still being 25 foot wide. On the way down the natural, rough and steep terrain there will be gap jumps of up to 70 feet, 40 foot drops, and speeds are expected to easily hit 60mph. It sounds like it would be great even if just one rider was racing it, but with ten at a time it should be absolutely mental!
The gallery below gives you a better idea of the hillside upon which this track is going to be built…
For 2014 the Pinnacle Bike Championship will consist of just this one race, but if it turns out to be as successful as both the organisers and us believe it is going to be then the plan is for it to become a worldwide series of races for 2015, with numerous venues already expressing a keen interest in holding a round.
The format for the race this year is as follows…
And this is the provisional schedule for the event…
So what do you guys reckon? Are you as excited about this as us? We thought the Red Bull Wide Open race (which never happened sadly) was going to be incredible, but we think this event is on a whole other level. We especially like the fact that the track is so long, and that it’s so natural. It should make for some amazing racing.
Hopefully we are going to get a chance to bring you a sneak preview of the track before the event, so stay tuned for more Pinnacle Bike Championship news…
