The Boise Mountain Bike Festival has been a summer tradition since 2019 and it's built around celebrating, educating advocating while bring the mountain bike community together.
A few years ago the event moved to a two-day festival with the event kicking off at the Eagle Bike Park on Friday before moving to the main event at Bogus Basin on Saturday.
WATCH|Check out the video to see what the Boise Mountain Bike Festival is all about
However, when the event started at 2 p.m. riders weren't on the trails at the Eagle Bike Park because of the rain. The groundskeeper wasn't keeping people off the park, but organizers didn't set up the air bag because when it gets wet if feels like sand and not that many people showed up. However, the plan is to continue with the festival rain or shine.
"The only thing that will put a temporary pause on it during the day is if there are lightning strikes," said August Huckabee. "We will pull everybody in for just a few minutes until that has cleared up, but if it is medium to light rain for the day all it is is more adventure."
The Boise Mountain Bike Festival features something for everyone with the experienced riders sending it on the big air whip, the festival features groups rides depending on experience and this is a great opportunity for someone interested in getting into mountain biking with the wealth of knowledge that will be up at Bogus Basin.
"We have is skills clinics, we have vendors, we have professionals you can ask questions to and we even have sessions during the day you can listen in on," said Huckabee. "You can learn more about the process and we have group rides where you can choose which level of difficulty you want to engage with."
One of those vendors that came out to the Eagle Bike Park includes Taken Cycles. This is a new bike company that started in Boise as they just got their first shipment on their fleet of new bikes in May.
"It is amazing to get so much opportunity to get so much exposure in two venues so it is amazing to get a lot of people to see our product," Jeremy McGlathery, of Taken Cycles. "The festival just helps grow the sport for the Treasure Valley.
Friday night finishes up with a film festival at Payette Brewing and as the event moves into Saturday the advocacy comes more into focus with helping SWIMBA and CIMBA fundraise for the work they do for trails in the Treasure Valley and Valley County.
"The Boise Mountain Bike Festival really centers around raise awareness and money for local trail systems," said Huckabee. "We have a huge raffle that takes place with about $10,000 worth of product that will happen at the end of Saturday so it is a great chance to engage with the community and make the trails better."
The rain is a weird one because we like to see it because it prevents the trails from drying out and they become grippier and funner to ride. However, too much rain creates mud and then we can't ride. It will be interesting to see the conditions at Bogus Basin with all the rain.
If you are interested in getting tickets to the Boise Mountain Bike Festival click here. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday at Bogus Basin. Click here for the schedule.
