2011 Huntsman World Senior Games

Kevin Moffitt and Stephen Washburn represented the Mad Dog team at the 25th Huntsman World Senior Games in St. George. The mountain biking events were held on Monday October 10 for Hill Climb and Downhill, and Tuesday October 11th for the Cross Country event. Race director was Kendall Sullivan and Glen Ames the Race official (he runs the Intermountain Cup's Desert Rampage at this same race site).

There were about 75 total pariticipants in the Mountain bike events. There are Beginner, Sport, and Expert divisions and within each division the category is broken up by age in 5 year increments. There were riders from all over the country as well as from the UK and Canada. The oldest rider was 87 years old. It was amazing to watch him. There was also a former world champion participating as well.

Kevin rode in the Expert 50-54 category and Stephen in Sport 50-54 category. The other seniors referred to those in these categories as "Baby Seniors".

The Hill Climb was two miles and had an altitude change of 700 feet. A rider was started every 60 seconds. Kevin finished with a blistering time of 13:07. This time was over a minute faster than any other rider as a result Kevin finished first in his catagory and first overall. Stephen finished with a time of 15:53, good enough for first in his category and 7th overall.

Racers waited at the top of the hill until all climbers had finished, then began the Downhill. The Downhill was 1.9 miles. Again, riders were sent off 60 seconds apart. Kevin finished with a blistering time of 5:38, good enough for first in his category and first overall. 30 feet from the finish Stephen crashed. He got up and ran across the finish line with his bike with a time of 6:08, good enough for first in his category and 8th overall.

In the cross-country race the next day, Kevin rode three laps(18.5 miles with 2300 vertical feet of climbing) and Stephen rode two laps(12.3 miles with 1700 vertical feet of climbing) of the Green Valley course. It's the same loop as the Intermountain Cup race. The competition proved tough, with each of our racers battling other stong riders in their categories. Kevin led the entire race and finished first with a time of 1:26:44. Stephen led the race until the final climb when Phil Benson (former Mad Dog rider) passed him and opened up a gap of about 20 seconds on the climb. Stephen was hoping to catch him on the final downhill but didn't expect to see Phil riding down on a flat so with that bit of luck Stephen finished first with a time of 1:09:41.

The awards were handed out after a free dinner at Tonaquint Park catered by Texas Roadhouse. Both Mad Dog riders got on top of the podium for every event. Our guys each took home 4 medals: 3 Gold for the events and 1 Gold for the Category Championship. A total of 8 Medals for the Mad Dog riders.