Races bring bicycling action to indoor arena

By Jared Harmon

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008 | midnight

As bike riders flew through the air and kicked up dirt, a crowd of roughly 1,000 spectators cheered the inaugural Arena Mountain X races Sept. 24 at the South Point Equestrian Center.

Green Valley resident Manolo Chavez, 50, brought his grandson, Jaime Herrera, 11, to the event and said they were impressed by the action.

"It was pretty spectacular," Chavez said. "I had never seen anything like it before but Jaime is really into skateboards, bikes and motorcycles. He likes all that X-Games stuff so I thought I'd bring him."

Jaime said he was glad his grandfather brought him because there aren't many events like this in Southern Nevada and similar events are rarely televised.

"Every time I read about anything like this online it's usually held in California or somewhere far away," Jaime said. "Seeing in person is way better than watching it on TV, too. They kept kicking up dirt and going off this big jumps. It was really cool to be so close."

The event featured several mountain bike racers, including former world champions Eric Carter and Brian Lopes, as well as U.S. national champion Rich Houseman, in head-to-head competition on a downhill track.

This was the first time the sport of mountain cross was featured at an indoor arena, promoter Don Jackson said.

"It's an excellent opportunity to bring the exciting world of (mountain cross) racing to the masses," Jackson said. "By bringing the mountain to the people, we can give the public a chance to watch this breathtaking sport without the need to drive hours away from the city."

Equestrian Center General Manager Steve Stallworth hopes to have similar events in the future to increase the diversity of the venue.

"It was a very cool set-up and just a very cool scene," Stallworth said. "We were very encouraged by the response we got from fans. It was cool to see the building used in a different manner with the scaffolding and the big ramps and stuff. I'm optimistic that it will continue to grow and I'm excited about next year."

Henderson resident Steven Oren, 23, said he is also looking forward to next year's event as he'd like to be a participant next year and represent the home crowd.

"I've been getting into mountain cross for awhile now, and having an event come to Las Vegas is huge," Oren said. "It's one of those sports where once you see it, you're hooked. I'd like to work my way into it by next year. I think it'd be great to have it back here again."

Jared Harmon can be reached at 990-8922 or [email protected].