Biathlon - MTB Style

Back in late June, Corey convinced Jay Stevens and me to join him in West Yellowstone for a sponsored biathlon. For anyone not familiar with the strange event - which admittedly I was not until very recently - a biathlon involves the combination of an endurance event, usually cross country skiing or running, with target shooting. It requires a tremendous amount of concentration and skill to shoot a target..especially when your heart is pounding through your chest and your vision is comparable to that of having drunk a six-pack.

Eager for an adventure, the three of us awoke very early on a Saturday morning to venture to W. Yellowstone. Actually I should say the Jay and I awoke early while Corey missed his alarm and our initial phone calls. I drove over to his house to find him scrambling around in boxer briefs to pack all of his stuff. Before long, Corey had managed to put some clothes on and we were out the door.

We were pleased at the modest turnout when we arrived at the Rendezvous trails considering it was the first year they held this particular event. For us newbies, an instructional video on biathlons was provided, as well as practice shooting. The folks organizing the event, including the owner of Altius Firearms, helped those of us who had never shot a rifle before to at least avoid bodily harm. Even so, I told Corey to stay far away when I had the rifle in my hands, and I think he wisely heeded my warning.

The race was rather short from a biking perspective; three 2.5 km loops were separated by two rounds of shooting, one prone and one standing. We tried to warm up properly knowing that the short race would put us in oxygen debt right off the bat. The instructional video told us to work at a steady tempo to avoid a racing heart rate when shooting, but we all resigned to the fact that we are racers and not shooters, and that we were going ride like hell since we were probably going to miss the targets anyway. The penalty loop for a missed shot was only about 8-10 seconds for a quick biker, or about the time that it takes me to steady a rifle.

As expected, it was a painful race with a lot of penalty laps. I don't think any of us hit more than 3 out of 10 targets. Because riders are sent off individually like in a time trial, the results were not known until the final rider came through the finish line. It turned out that the three of us took second through fourth place, behind G.A.S. rider Alex Lussier who only hit one target but still managed the best time of the day for any division.

We had decided to make a weekend out of the deal and brought our camping stuff. The staff at Free Wheel and Heel directed us to one of their favorite spots, Red Canyon trail. Unfortunately Corey was experiencing some mechanical difficulties on his roommate's bike and the trail was a bit too muddy so we didn't make it too far on our bikes. However, we hiked the trail for several miles and were treated to magnificent views as we ascended the single track. We were pretty bummed that we weren't taking full advantage of the superb trail, but couldn't complain about the towering peaks and lush meadows that we were witnessing.

Probably my favorite part of the weekend was when we ran into a crew of UM students who had been backpacking in the wilderness for nearly a week (apparently it's actually a class??). Their first question was whether or not Michael Jackson actually died. I think it had been about a week since his passing at that point, so we found their shock somewhat humorous (RIP MJ).

Anyway it ended up being a great weekend. If anyone is in Bozeman next summer, watch for the 2nd edition of the event if you're looking to try something new.