They nearly didn't happen. With hundreds of the world's best mountain bike racers gathered in the quiet and idyllic mountain town of Vail, Colorado, last week, the world awoke on Tuesday the 11th to the horror of terrorism - just one day before the scheduled opening ceremonies of the 2001 UCI World Championships of Mountain Biking. It made the sport of mountain bike racing pale in comparison to the events going on in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania and made everyone question the appropriateness of moving forward with the week's events.

"Frankly, I don't really feel like riding my bike right now," said U.S. dual slalom champion Eric Carter (USA, Mongoose) the next day. His feelings were echoed by several other riders who, along with everyone else, didn't know if the race would even take place.

Nearly all the racers were already in Vail acclimating to its 8,000-foot altitude when the world came to a standstill on Tuesday, September 11. Defending XC champion Miguel Martinez (FRA, Full Dynamix) scrambled to get a flight out of Italy and others began their own cross country roadtrips. Then everyone waited to see what the decision would be regarding the season's biggest race.

After deliberations between organizers and the UCI, it was decided to go ahead with the week's racing, albeit with some changes. All festival activities, including parties, were cancelled. The first day of elite competition, the team relay, was delayed one day to Thursday - along with a toned-down opening ceremony and downhill & dual qualifying as scheduled. Then, when Friday was designated a national day of remembrance, that day's competition (the men's U-23 cross country race) was moved to Sunday.

A prayer service was then held, attended by many athletes and local Vail residents, on Friday at noon. It seemed to allow people to grieve and be able to move on with the competition, which finally got underway in full on Saturday with downhill racing.

What wound up taking place was a celebration of life and sport, attended by tens of thousands of spectators and capped by an unlikely cross country gold medal for the USA. It proved that, even in the face of sorrow and terror, you can't keep a country (or the people who love it) down.

— Ari Cheren, back in the saddle for MountainZone.com, part deux.