Who needs snow to take on a downhill ski run? Certainly not Righetti High School junior Logan Kemp.
The 17-year-old competed in the U.S. Open of Mountain Biking downhill championships on Memorial Day weekend in New Jersey, taking third place honors out of 71 competitors in his age division—the amateur junior men.
After taking a chair lift to the top of the course, the racers wound their way down over berms, around trees, and through rock gardens.
“There’s some really big sections with roots, and some really big jumps,” Kemp described. “Then as you come to the bottom, it’s just super high-speed. There’s a big 40-foot jump, and you come to the finish line doing 35 to 40 miles per hour.”
Out of hundreds of racers, Kemp finished 40th overall, sporting a time of 2:38.85.
“He lives on his bike,” said his mother, Cindy Fee. “Some people live for video games. Logan just loves this. It was a neat opportunity for us to go that far—to even qualify is just incredible, and to compete is such a thrill.”
Kemp has participated in downhill racing for the past three years, racing in 15 to 20 events each season on his specialized Trek mountain bike.
“It’s exciting,” Kemp said of competing as a gravity rider. “It’s fun, and all the pressure’s on you. If you don’t perform well, then it’s your fault. You don’t have anyone to blame, really.”
The sport isn’t for the weak of heart, either. After fracturing his tibia in a crash several months ago, Kemp took six weeks to recover.
“Getting back on the bike is kind of hard,” he said. “You lose your balance, and you just have to work at it.”
Kemp is currently working with a trainer from Santa Barbara in his quest to turn professional, which is likely to happen next year. He’ll next head to Lake Tahoe for a World Championships qualifying race on June 27.
“I‘ll be spending a lot of time riding cross country and stuff to get in really good shape and get my pedaling game going,” he said. “The elevation hurts you, too, so you’ve got to be in the best shape as you can cardio-wise.”
This article appears in Jun 10-17, 2010.