DEER VALLEY — Put your money on Ryder Hesjedal, came the unsolicited report from a bystander, figuratively speaking, as he pointed to a tall, 6-foot-2 yellow-haired youngster from Canada standing next to a bike that looked too small.
"He is," came a solicited report from a race official, "the hardest working rider out there. He'll train, using the latest scientific methods, up to five hours a day. He's in the best condition of any athlete out there."
A big part of short-track cross country racing is endurance. It also takes patience — which he showed he has — and wisdom, which he seems to have well beyond his young age of 20.
He proved he had it all on Friday in the NORBA Mountain Biking Championships by winning the grueling 26-mile cross country without so much as a challenger in sight. And, he proved it again Saturday by winning the pro short-track cross country, again without a challenger pressing him.
In the women's short track, it was a different story. Jimena Florit of California by way of Argentina, was tired of being a runner-up — twice already this year and three times last year. She wanted to win at least once — and did.
Short-track is the chess game of mountain biking. Move too soon and a rider can burn him- or herself out; move too late and someone else will be standing on the winner's podium.
The strategy is to stay in a pack, bide time and at the precise moment, lift up off the seat and sprint to the finish.
Hesjedal, from Victoria, British Columbia, won his first NORBA race Friday, then capped it off with a double on Saturday. Coincidentally, in the last NORBA race two weeks ago, his training partner, Roland Green, also from Victoria, B.C., had won back-to-back races. Green did not race in this event.
Hesjedal admitted that after Friday's 2-hour physically draining race he was tired.
"Then everyone kept launching attacks (trying to pass and pull ahead). I countered each of them, but they were starting to get to me. I managed to stay in there and have a little kick at the end," he said as he slumped down in a folding chair near the finish.
Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski of Boulder, Colo., could do little more than watch as Hesjedal passed him on the last climb of the last lap.
"It came down to the last couple of laps," he said as he reflected back on the finish. "I made my move with two laps to go, but it was too soon. He came by me and I didn't have anything left to catch him."
The race started with 100 riders packed handlebar to handlebar.
Hesjedal and Horgan-Kobelski were among six riders to move into the lead.
The six jockeyed back and forth until the last few laps when Geoff Kabush and his teammate Todd Wells, both of Canada, crashed. One tried an attack on Hesjedal but instead ran into a teammate and both fell.
Hesjedal said he avoided a crash at the start, but in this crash one of the bikes slammed into his rear shifting fork.
"It started freaking out," he recounted. "When I'd try to sprint it would skip gears. I had to be very careful."
Under short-track rules, racers go for 20 minutes and then finish with three final laps at the bell.
Hesjedal's time was 22 minutes, 53.3 seconds. Horgan-Kobelski's time was 22:43. Third was Chris Sheppard of Canada, in 22:44.7.
Earlier in the day, Park City fans got into the riding fever when two of their own, John Derby and Chad Wassmer, sponsored by a local sporting store, Cole Sport, rolled off a one-two finish in the sports class. The two, in the 26 to 29 division, took two laps on the 6.2-mile cross country course for the medals. This was Wassmer's first national mountain biking race. Derby's time was 1:14.08 and Wassmer's a 1:14.17.
The women's race was nearly identical to the men's — mass start of 71 riders, after which a small group took the lead and stayed there until the finish. In the end, Florit's need to win was too much.
"This time I didn't spend as much time in front, but rode with the pack and conserved energy. My plan was to make my move with one lap to go and it worked. I had the energy to pull it off," said the petite young rider.
Susan Haywood of West Virginia was there at the end but couldn't catch the winner.
Third was Chrissy Redden of Oregon.
Based on consistent performances, Florit, Redden and Haywood are currently 1-2-3, respectively, in the rankings. Florit's time was 22:53.5, followed by Haywood in 22:54.3 and Redden in 23:07.6. Sally Warner of Utah finished 20th.
In dual slalom competition held later, Eric Carter of California beat Chris Kovarik of Australia, in the men's event, and Leigh Donovan beat Tara Llanes, both from California, for the women's title.
Races continue today, with events starting at 8 a.m. The main event, the men's and women's pro downhill, will start at 1:30 p.m.
E-mail: grass@desnews.com