My fifth time to officiate the SOHO Bike Fest in Utah

At the end of the year, USA Cycling sends out a list of national caliber races for the upcoming season, and as officials we can note our preferences as to where we would like to get assigned. The Soldier Hollow mountain bike race has been at the top of my "druthers" list for several years, for various reasons.

The mountain bike trails are part of the venue that in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics hosted the nordic skiing events. Currently, Soldier Hollow is undergoing a major facility upgrade, but the trails are not affected by that. Over the years the race has successfully morphed from a family-run operation to a large international competition, yet some things have stayed the same: a beautiful venue at the foot of the Wasatch mountains, friendly staff, and enthusiastic racers who present a mix of international UCI pros and laid-back local athletes.

Unfortunately, my initial flight out of Lubbock had a mechanical issue that made it impossible to make it to Utah that very same day, and I lost a day of pay and a day in the mountains. Once I arrived 24 hours later I knew what I had missed: crisp spring weather (imagine a low of 39° F with daytime highs approaching 80° F while Lubbock was sweltering under the first "heat dome" of the season, with triple digit temperatures), beautifully green mountains that had just emerged from a record-breaking snowpack, and friendly local staff and fellow officials whom I hadn't seen in a while.

Since the SOHO Bike Fest is inscribed as a UCI event I cannot be the chief referee for the entire event; however, I have always been entrusted to lead the amateur portion (and once I had to take over as PCP when the UCI-appointed chief had tested positive for COVID when he arrived in Utah). Of course, my officiating credentials are second to none, and it was just the decision that I had to make between refereeing or testing riders in our anti-doping efforts that keeps me from being at the helm of such international races.

Just like in years past, we were housed in the Zermatt resort about five miles from the race site and a bit outside of the town of Midway. It's a fairly dated resort with overpriced rooms and no service, but at least the organizers had set us up with single rooms. Food options in Midway have improved over the years, but the choices are still few, especially on a Sunday evening when restaurants close early. Heber City, about ten miles away, had one Mexican restaurant open for our crew.

With Justin, Tobin, Cindy, and Kris at dinner

Saturday night, my good friend Justin, who was the UCI representative for the race, and I were invited to join Luke, Josh, and Bill from the organizing committee for a "work dinner." Thank goodness, I had brought a pair of long pants as we went to the extremely posh Tree Room restaurant at Robert Redford's Sundance resort. I have to say, this was the fanciest dinner I have ever attended! The SOHO brass wanted to pick our brains in regard to plans to bring the Pan-American Mountain Bike Championships next year to Soldier Hollow, and we were glad to provide input. What a cool evening!

The three days of racing came off without any issues, and our crew klicked well. Justin and I have worked often enough together to know how we run things; Tobin, in his third year at SOHO, was rock-solid as secretary; and local commissaires Kris, Cindy, and George (the only one whom I had never met before) were competent and fun to be around. We didn't hear a single negative comment from any of the racers as everyone seemed to have just as good of a time as we did.

Monday morning, Justin and I drove back to the airport for our respective flights. This time it was Justin's United flight back to Asheville, NC, that had issues, and so we ended up on the same AA flight to Dallas. Thankfully I had been upgraded and didn't have to share precious shoulder space with my seat neighbor the way Justin did!

Swissy accompanies Justin on all of his assignments

It is quite likely that there won't be a 2024 SOHO Bike Fest as such, but I sure hope that I will be part of the Pan-American Championships in the beautiful Heber Valley. I certainly enjoyed my time out in Utah last week, and now it's time to get ready for two consecutive national championships on the East coast, starting in just a few days.

Jürgen