Vital MTB's Shorts Bounty - 2023 Snowshoe World Cup 20

For those who have tuned into Vital's B Practice Podcast, you'll know that we primarily focus on dissecting World Cup downhill and #USDH races. However, it's the extra banter about peripheral bike topics that often supplies the most entertainment in our discussions. From daydreaming about a future Vital merch line to gaslighting Dakotah about his 100mm of stem spacers, the podcast is simply a product of good friends bench racing over a sport they love and coincidentally, one of those friends is now landing on podiums at the World Cup. 

One such topic that has organically grown over the past year is the realization that no one rides in shorts at World Cups anymore. Watch finals from any race in 2023, and you'll be hard-pressed to see any exposed shins or knee pads. When Tanner, Dakotah, and I began racing World Cups in 2015/2016, shorts were the cool ticket for hot summer racing, while pants were reserved for mud races. So what happened? Why did shorts fade out? Are pants actually faster? Was this a planned attack by gear brands realizing they could sell pants for more than shorts? We don't know the answers, and that's not the point.

A debatably dumb topic that no one was begging to be discussed, it was brought up multiple times before someone joked that we should offer cash to anyone who raced a World Cup in shorts. And thus, the Vital MTB Shorts Bounty was born and was entirely not real. That was until Vital Member @EBlackwell informed us that Canadian junior Henry Sherry would race Les Gets in shorts if the bounty was legit. A few texts and minimal convincing later, and sspomer signed off on making the #VitalMTBShortsBounty legit. This might not be the initiative that elevates the state of downhill to mainstream success (sorry, Chris), but I think it's the exact level of humor and fun that Elite Downhill racing needs right now.

Vital MTB's Shorts Bounty will stand ONLY for the 2023 Snowshoe World Cup this weekend. Here are the rules:

• $250 for any Junior who finishes on the podium in finals (*must wear shorts on the podium)
• $250 for any Elite who races finals in shorts
• If multiple riders wear shorts, the fastest time wins 
• Bounty is up for grabs in each category (Junior & Elite Women, Junior & Elite Men)

I'm not even sure how many racers are rolling up to Snowshoe with shorts in their gear bag. In a perfect world, we'll see a few cut-off shorts on track this weekend. Tune in to the Snowshoe post-race podcast next week to find out if anyone lined up in the gate with exposed legs and laid down a race run like it was 2015.

#VitalMTBShortsBounty - spread the word!