Early snowfall in northern Utah and Colorado was probably to blame for a drop in participation in the fourth annual Canyonlands Fat Tire Festival, business sponsor Bill Groff said.
Good weather prompted early arrivals, but the final registration figure of 550 by the end of the six-day mountain-biking event fell short of last year's tally, Groff said.Among registrants were mountain-bikers from Italy, Switzerland, Australia, France and Canada. More than half of the states were represented.
"The overall amount who came was down a bit, but I think (it was) mostly because of the weather in Salt Lake and Colorado - it was snowing all over, so I think they thought it was snowing here too."
While total participation was down, the numbers who joined in the Saturday morning "Hell's Pedals" bicycle parade down Main Street to the baseball field was noticeably higher, and at least 500 costumed revelers joined in the finale that night, the traditional Halloween costume party.
Groff said costumes this year were outrageous, reflecting such themes as "road kill" and "mutant mountain messenger." Four partygoers won mountain bikes for wearing the best costume.
Frigid temperatures under partly cloudy skies may have discouraged spectators but didn't seem to dampen enthusiasm Saturday morning during the second annual Official Bicycle Polo World Championships.
Two teams from Boulder, Colo., survived playoffs Friday among 12 co-ed teams of four players. The champion team "Field of Scream" won a gold cup and numerous prizes. "A Team Called Wanda" took second place.
New to the festival this year was the Bicycle Rodeo, which drew about 35 participants and 120 spectators, by director Todd Campbell's estimates.
Contests included the log-pull, a timed race where riders dragged an 85-pound petrified log strapped to skis attached to their bikes by a heavy chain. Winning time was under five seconds.
Campbell said the hardest test was the Sand Bog, a short course he devised to simulate the types of sand traps riders encounter along slickrock trails.
riders to pass under a pole that is progressively lowered until they knock it down.
"Their bodies would actually be off to the side of their bikes when they went under," Campbell said. "The most successful method was the woman who kept the bike upright and she got lower than the level of the handlebars."
Campbell also introduced the calf-roping contest, an "exhibition sport" that consisted of tossing a bike tire attached to a rope over the upside-down bottom half of "a mannequin with the shapely calves."
Some egos may have been bruised but no serious injuries were reported during the festival, organizers said.
"The riding was excellent, the weather was cooperative. The last day was cold, but no rain or drizzle. People enjoyed themselves and that's all that we want them to do," Groff said.