Considered one of the top endurance mountain bike races in the country, race director Steve Aderholt said Point 2 Point is not for the faint of heart.
“Over 10,000 feet of climbing, and then 10,000 feet of descending as well, so there's a lot of climbing, a lot of hard trails on there,” Aderhold said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour,” Sept. 1. “We start in Round Valley, climb up to the top of Deer Valley, drop down pretty much to the base of Park City, all the way up to the top of the crest at Shadow Lake, back down to the base of PCMR, and then over to the UOP [Utah Olympic Park], so we cross over Deer Valley and over to finish in the UOP.”
This year’s field includes course record holders Zach Carlton and Chelsea Bolton. Matt Wilson, who finished second at Colorado's Leadville 100 race, just a tire length behind Heber City’s Keegan Swenson who won the race, is also competing.
The course will remain open to the public, so locals can ride the trails Saturday. But Aderholt recommended avoiding Round Valley in the morning while the racers make their way toward Deer Valley.
“In the morning hours, you stay on the kind of the Deer Valley Park City side, and then in the afternoon hours, if you want to avoid the racers, you'll stay more on the Deer Valley and Round Valley side. You basically flip-flop where the course is going.”
Rain isn’t expected until Sunday, so the weather should cooperate with Saturday’s race. Aderholt said organizers also work to minimize the event’s impact on the trails.
"We never had trail damage, and if there ever was, we would put it back the way we found it,” he said. “We’re busy marking course this week, and then it'll all be demarked by Thursday next week. And usually, we're doing a little bit of course maintenance and cutting some trees that have fallen across the trail. Our goal and commitment is that the trails won't be damaged.”
Registration for the race opens in February each year, and 400-plus spots typically sell out within minutes. This year’s racers are coming from 26 states and four countries.
Saturday’s [Sept. 5] race begins in waves starting at 6:50 a.m. at Quinn’s Junction for the open/pro men’s category. The fastest competitors finish in under six hours. Other races must reach the base of Park City Mountain by 3:30 p.m. to remain in the race.
Most finishers cross the line between 3 and 5 p.m., while about a third of the field doesn’t finish due to crashes, mechanical problems or exhaustion.
