Two-time Olympian and professional mountain bike racer Carl Swenson is a part-time Winter Park resident.
Endurance events such as the 18-hour race at the Fruita Fat Tire Festival seem to be the way mountain biking is going in terms of participation numbers and sponsors.
When the sport first came on the scene, promoters all thought it would be the “next big thing.” It made it into the Olympics and established a World Cup tour, and a lot of money got pumped into it early on. But it didn’t take long to realize it never would be a big TV sport.
Now it seems to be settling into more of a marathon-type sport, where thousands of people participate and a lot compete. But unless it’s the Olympics, people usually don’t watch running, cross country skiing or bike races on television.
Adventure racing seems to be a similar phenomenon, and I’m curious to see how long it stays around. The sport has been successfully used for marketing products and has a lot of interest and sponsors, but I think TV is what it really needs to stay around.
I haven’t actually done any adventure races yet; I’m not sure it’s for me. It’s designed to be a spectacle, and enough people have told me it’s absolutely brutal at that level. I have all the respect in the world for those athletes who do it.
I see the appeal of adventure racing, but I’ve been competing so long in mountain biking that when I quit, I think I’m going to retire for a little bit and enjoy the sports.
But I do like the idea of 24-hour mountain bike racing. I did the 24 Hours of Moab and thought it was fun. It was tough, but I like the team aspect and you can go for 24 hours without sleep deprivation becoming a big factor. Laps were short and fast enough that it wasn’t a death march, which opens it to include all who want to test themselves alongside the pros.
I like the direction mountain biking is going. It’s still a very young sport, and I think it’s settling into its role as a participation sport. If you want to be a professional bike racer, if you have the talent, you are probably going to want to go to Europe anyway. Plus, there will always be the Olympics, and I think that’s a big enough circus to hold that side of the sport down.
