Evelyn Dong

We were back to America The Beautiful Park for the final day - Stage 4: Cheyenne Canyon. Same start line, but this time riders headed towards Cheyenne Canyon and Capt'n Jacks before returning to receive their finishers glass and a non-alcoholic beer from Athletic Brewing Company. After cooling down, everyone met up at Goat Patch Brewing for the APEX Awards & After Party co-hosted by Springs Wealth Group.

After a beautiful day in Palmer Park and an impressive field of riders, Stage 1 ended with Sofia Gomez Villafane in the lead for the women and Keegan Swenson in the lead for the men. Congratulations to both and best of luck to everyone tomorrow for Stage 2.

Sofia Gomez Villafane

What do you dream about when your imagination drifts to mountain biking on a sunny afternoon when you are supposed to be working? Do you picture yourself rubbing elbows with Evelyn Dong? Can you feel the schralp of your tires carving a caramel-colored berm?  Do you lose yourself in the lush green valley below as you top a mega climb?

These days Ryan Standish resides in Heber City, Utah, but we caught up with him on the road last week between races in Arkansas.

I spent some time last month video chatting with Evelyn Dong from her home in Park City, Utah. We covered all the basics - What bike will she ride? What fuel will be in her pocket? How fat will her tires be? Where's she racing this season? How can we bring more women to the sport? But, we came out of this interview with way more.