Nation’s top downhillers ready to get down in Angel Fire at 2013 Gravity MTB Nationals 1

Angel Fire, N.M. (July 31, 2013) – America’s best downhillers and dual slalom racers will be crowned this weekend at the 2013 USA Cycling Gravity Mountain Bike National Championships.  Angel Fire Resort, located in northern New Mexico, will play host to hundreds of riders looking to claim a Stars-and-Stripes jersey.

Racing begins on Friday with the category 2 and 3 downhill competitions. Dual slalom qualifying will conclude that day’s schedule. Saturday morning is marked by downhill qualification runs followed by dual slalom championship races beginning at 1 p.m. The final day of competition kicks off with downhill finals for juniors 14 and under at 10 a.m. Sunday morning. The afternoon session concludes the event with the pro and men’s 17-18 downhill finals. Click here for a schedule of events.

The Venue
The Angel Fire Bike Park, an increasingly popular destination among Rocky Mountain riders, has earned its chance to test the mettle of the top gravity mountain bikers in the nation after successfully hosting the USA Cycling Collegiate MTB Nationals the past few years.

The downhill races will start at 10,500 feet above sea level, and competitors will descend nearly 2,000 feet as they cover about 2.5 miles to the finish line. For a preview of the downhill course, watch this YouTube video by pro mountain biker Graeme Pitts. The dual slalom course is a quarter-mile long and includes about 100 feet of elevation loss. It is located near the mountain’s base area adjacent to the Chile Express Chairlift.

Vendors and teams can find more information about reserving space at the tech expo on the Angel Fire Bike Park website.

Riders to Watch
Two riders who notched top-ten finishes at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Vallnord, Andorra, this past weekend are expected to put a wheel to the line in Angel Fire: Luca Shaw (Hendersonville, N.C./Specialized Gravity DH), who placed fifth in the juniors men’s downhill, and Jill Kintner (Seattle, Wash./Team Norco International), who finished eighth in the elite women’s race.

The men’s pro downhill will include defending national champion Aaron Gwin (Wildomar, Calif./Factory Specialized), 2011 pro downhill national champion Logan Binggeli (Saint George, Utah/KHS Bicycles) and Mitch Ropelato (Ogden, Utah/Factory Specialized), who won the pro dual slalom and finished third in the pro downhill in 2011.

Additionally, there will be several riders competing who rank in the top five in the USA Cycling Pro GRT standings, including women’s leader Anne Galyean (Frederick, Md./Trek-Integrity Racing-Deity), third-ranked Amber Price (Westminster, Colo./BikeSource Gravity Racing) and fourth-ranked Mary Elges (Frederick, Md./Integrity Racing - Deity).

To find an updated list of competitors and a race predictor for each event, click here.