Since 2006, the Moab Ho Down Mountain Bike Festival has drawn locals and visitors alike for multiple days of unique cycling events. After a four-year hiatus, the Ho Down will return, running from October 24 to 27 with a jam-packed slate of activities for riders of all skill levels.
Tracy Bentley started the Ho Down in 2006 after seeing other local mountain biking events quit. As the owner of the Chile Pepper Bike Shop at the time, she wanted to create an event to showcase Moab’s bike scene and serve as a capstone to the beautiful fall riding season.
“Keeping mountain biking and mountain bike racing alive in Moab was what we were focused on,” Bentley said.
The pandemic shut the festival down in 2020 and Bentley sold Chile Pepper in March of 2023, but after a four-year break, she’s working with members of the local bike scene to bring it back.
The Moab Mountain Bike Association, the local chapter of the International Mountain Bicycling Association, is hosting the Ho Down’s return, and several other people and businesses are helping to plan the much-anticipated event.
“We have gotten the whole Moab bike community involved, which I think is really exciting and gives it a whole new feel,” Bentley said. “When you’ve got the shuttle companies, the bike shops, the tour companies, all having buy-in on this event, it just makes it feel more like a community event, even more than it was before.”
Events during the four-day festival include a maintenance clinic, “Spooky Cross Race,” skills clinic, townie ride, jump jam, and a dual-stage enduro race. Evenings will feature community parties after each day’s events, including a costume party at Moab Brewery complete with DJs and a photo booth.
The organizers teamed up with local riders Alex Mudler and Evan Smiley to put on the Spooky Cross, a Cyclocross race scheduled for Thursday evening — a signature event that the two have organized for the past several years.
Cyclocross is a form of bike racing that consists of laps around a trail filled with obstacles, forcing the riders to navigate obstructions. This race is a relay with teams of 2 to 4 and will be held at the Center Street Ball Fields – costumes are highly encouraged.
The Enduro race is a dual-stage race that will take riders down two of Moab’s classic and most challenging trails, Amasa Back and Captain Ahab. The trails feature steep drops, tough climbs, technical riding, and beautiful views.
Both events are capped at 100 riders and are expected to sell out. Registration for all events is available on Moab Ho Down’s website, in addition to raffle tickets to win bike gear from local sponsors.
Money raised by the festival will go toward maintenance and improvements on Anonymous Bike Park on 500 West. The park has been affected in recent years by flooding, and funds will go to “Friends of Anonymous Bike Park,” a nonprofit that plans to do pivotal work that will make the park more resilient in the future. In the leadup to the festival, Ho Down organizers are planning volunteer days to prepare the park for the jump jam, while in the long run Friends of Anonymous Bike Park hopes to bring materials in to build and reinforce new structures and work with city engineers to ensure safety.
Bentley recommends that anyone interested in the festival register for one of the many rides or races – Spooky Cross is a fun, not-too-competitive event that draws many different experience levels, while the Enduro Race will bring more technical competition. Anyone interested in spectating fun riding will have lots to cheer for at Spooky Cross, along the Enduro course, and at the Jump Jam on Sunday morning.
The festival typically draws a large number of locals in addition to participants from the greater region, with riders coming from Idaho, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. Bentley hopes the event brings together and showcases Moab’s unique bike culture.
“I just think that Moab has got an amazing group of people that live here — an amazing community,” she said. “And this kind of event showcases that — everyone coming together and having fun.”A full event schedule and registration information can be found at www.moabhodown.com, and frequent updates are posted to @moabhodown on Instagram as well as the Moab Ho Down Facebook page.
