Courtesy Mt. BachelorA competitor cruises around a corner during a Gravity Race Series event earlier this summer at the Mt. Bachelor Bike Park.

In its second full summer of operations, the Mt. Bachelor Bike Park has experienced a significant increase in downhill mountain bikers riding the chairlift-served trails in the park.

With several trails added this summer, more and more riders are seeking out the thrills of descending the excavated and hand-built trails that carve through the mountain’s lava rock and hemlock trees.

“We’ve seen a huge uptick this year compared to last year, which is great,” says Drew Jackson, marketing and communications manager for Mt. Bachelor ski area. “There’s just so many more trails this year than there were at this time last year. We’re still adding more and more. Last Saturday, we had a huge day and it happened to coincide with the opening of two new trails. I think that’s really helped spur some additional interest.”

The addition of the Cone Run and Last Chance trails has downhill riders excited — as does what is on tap for this weekend.

Today through Sunday, Bachelor will host the inaugural Volcanic Bike and Brew Festival, which will include races, clinics, demos, live music and beer sampling from 18 different breweries.

Downhill races include the third and final race of the Gravity Race Series, set for tonight at 6 o’clock, as well as the third stop of the Oregon Enduro Series on Sunday, a four-stop series that includes top professional mountain bikers from across the Northwest.

“We’ve been in conversations with Oregon Enduro for a couple years now,” says Stirling Cobb, events manager at Mt. Bachelor. “We made plans to finally move forward with hosting the race back in January. Once we secured that partnership, we used that as a jumping point to create a bigger event that could entice more competitors to that race, but also more visitors to the bike park and the mountain.”

Hence, the Volcanic Bike and Brew Festival.

Races are open to anybody, but tonight’s Gravity Race will be staged on the black-diamond Rattlesnake Trail, so experience is a must. The Enduro Series is open to anybody as well, but it includes many technically challenging downhill trails.

According to www.oregonenduro.com, Enduro is a form of mountain bike racing that includes a greater proportion of downhill sections, which are timed, to uphill and cross-country sections. This aims to test riders’ technical bike-handling skills while also incorporating endurance and climbing. This “all-mountain” discipline favors riders with a wide range of skills.

Riders in the Enduro Series race will use the chairlifts to access the Mt. Bachelor Bike Park trails, but some uphill riding will also be required. The race starts at 9 a.m. Sunday.

But before that, less-serious races, clinics and music will coincide with beer sampling. A cross-country race at Bachelor is set for 9 a.m. Saturday, and a timed race through three segments of the bike park, dubbed “King and Queen of the Bike Park,” will start at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Races and clinics are $20 per person, and registration is available on-site.

“Pairing breweries and beer with any Bend event seems to be a good formula for fun more than anything,” Cobb says.

For more information and a complete schedule of the Volcanic Bike and Brew Festival, visit www.mtbachelor.com. For more information on the Oregon Enduro Series, visit www.oregonenduro.com.

— Reporter: 541-383-0318,

mmorical@bendbulletin.com