The fat tire crit races that kicked off the Epic Rides series at the beginning of the decade were among my favorite mountain bike events. It was an opportunity for the amateur racers and locals to gather in places like downtown Prescott, Arizona1, or Grand Junction, Colorado, and have a party with a bike race running through the middle of it.
What Roanoke and Virginia’s Blue Ridge created in downtown Roanoke for the USA Cycling XCC National Championships was right up there with the best of the fat tire crit races. Winding through Elmwood Park, which houses the Roanoke Public Library and the downtown amphitheater, the 1.1-kilometer short track course included varied riding surfaces, technical turns, fast descents, a tricky climb and a bona fide rock garden.
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But it’s not a party, no matter how great the location, if the people don’t show up. Thankfully, for Roanoke, they did. By the time the elite races started in the early evening, the rock garden was packed with spectators, and the amphitheater climbs were lined with fans. If this was a proof-of-concept exercise for XCC Championships, I hope it can be repeated in venues other than Roanoke, which will also host next year’s event.
After a full day of racing, the festivities ended with the pro races. In the elite fields, Kelsey Urban (KMC Ridley) and Bjorn Riley (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing) were back to defend their 2024 championship wins. Last year, Olympics scheduling kept top riders such as Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing), Riley Amos (Trek Factory Racing), Haley Batten (Specialized Factory Racing), and Savilia Blunk (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) from racing Nationals in Bear Creek, Pennsylvania. For 2025, Batten and Blevins did not make the trip—Batten is recovering from injury, and Blevins is focused on winning the overall World Cup—but Blunk and Amos were back to add a little spice to the XCC proceedings.
In the women’s elite race, a group of four quickly established a gap over the rest of the nine-rider field. It wasn’t too much of a surprise that the group included Blunk, Urban, and the Trek Factory Racing duo of Gwendalyn Gibson and Madigan Munro. Gibson set the pace early and led the field through the opening lap.
Urban spent the most time on the front for the first part of the 20-minute race, with Blunk and Gibson taking turns in the lead spot as the laps ticked down. Munro was in fourth, working hard not to lose contact.
On the last lap, Gibson went all in and looked like she would take the win, but Blunk took advantage of the final remaining opportunity on the circuit to pass and held off Gibson and Urban to take the win.
[Savilia Blunk:] It was pretty spicy from the first couple laps. Gwen and Kelsey were throwing some attacks, and then I threw a couple of punches just to see how it would spread out. I knew there were some key points you had to be first for positioning.
Gwen made an attack, and I was second wheel. I tried to get around in a couple of places, and I couldn't. So I thought, ‘that was it.’ And then, in the last place on course I think you could pass, I was able to get around and make a little gap on some of the corners, taking it to the finish. It was really exciting and came down to the last lap.
Savilia Blunk is your 2025 U.S. Short Track National Champ
For Blunk, she skipped the last round of the World Cup in Andorra to focus on Nationals. After missing last year because of the Olympics, this weekend was a big objective for the season.
I had to miss it last year because it was the week before the Olympics. So I was really wanting to target this year and try to get the jersey back.
And now we actually have quite a big break before the next World Cups and World Champs. So this is kind of like the final push and then we'll take a little break and then build for World Champs.
Elite Men
In the elite men’s race, the 26-rider field took a few laps to shake out, with the whole group wasting no time to get to top speed. Amos took the hole shot with Riley2 on his wheel and a cadre of Dirt Camp Racing in tow. After a few laps, Riley, Amos and Robbie Day (Bear National Team) separated from the field.
That trio battled it out for the middle innings before Amos and Riley gained a slight separation going into the final laps. A front wheel washout by Amos in the penultimate circuit allowed Riley to launch an attack, depriving the crowd of a sprint finish but securing back-to-back wins for the Scott-SRAM rider.
[Bjorn Riley]: I got a little scared because I looked around and there were still a decent number of people, and I was like, 'Uh-oh, are we cooked?’ But after that, it kind of broke apart and we had a smaller group. Then it was just focusing on the corners and stuff because as it happened in the race, going at such a high speed, there are a lot of crashes that can happen and I was really sketched that I was going to slip out. I guess I'm fortunate enough that it didn't happen to me, but it happened to my competitors.
It's dirt to pavement to dirt [where Amos crashed] , but the pavement section is super dicey. You go fast into it, so you have to brake really hard right at the last minute to get good speed. And when you're following someone's wheel, you don't know the way they're taking the corners. So everyone's kind of braking out at different sections. So just, yeah, scary.
I'm also bummed, though, because they're competitors but also good friends, and it's nice to have a real battle instead of someone crashing out, and then you have a gap. But once I saw I had a gap I just felt I got to be conservative on the first lap after the crash and then the next two laps just bury myself on the climb and I should be good. And I just stuck to that plan and it worked and yeah I’m really excited.
Reflecting on his first season in the elite field at the World Cup level, Riley knew it was going to be a challenge.
Everyone says it and it's cliche to say, but it's really about just learning. I think, I'll get some confidence off this and go into a good training block after Nationals and work towards the last block of the World Cup season. But I think for me, I'm just, really happy that I was able to perform and just hold onto the title because the Natty Champs title, I mean, it looks real good.
The Whiskey Off Road is the only surviving fat tire crit on the Epic Rides calendar and an event worth attending if you’re looking for an excuse to go to Prescott and ride some fantastic trails.
Having Riley Amos and Bjorn Riley racing each other is never not going to be confusing. It’d be fine if Riley was both of their first names, but with the bookends, it can be tough to keep straight. I try to keep to some sort of AP Style discipline when it comes to names (and only to names) in these posts. Full name on first reference and last name on everything else.
I was also at the event and had the exact same reaction - awesome venue and crowd vibe. I could literally see the racecourse out my hotel window and having all the downtown restaurants just steps from the course was perfect. . Also spoke to several people who were not racers or relatives but locals checking out the scene and curious. And of course some super racing especially the women’s battle. You are totally correct that this should be a model for how to run a Nats while engaging the public.
Great write up as always Bill. Was wondering if you were there, then saw the livstream replay. Spotted you in the rock garden.
I was also at the event and had the exact same reaction - awesome venue and crowd vibe. I could literally see the racecourse out my hotel window and having all the downtown restaurants just steps from the course was perfect. . Also spoke to several people who were not racers or relatives but locals checking out the scene and curious. And of course some super racing especially the women’s battle. You are totally correct that this should be a model for how to run a Nats while engaging the public.