Mazie Hayden takes second in first career pro downhill mountain bike race

Killington Mountain School SkiCross/Downhill mountain biking athlete Mazie Hayden wowed in her professional debut this weekend, where she competed in her first pro downhill race at the Mountain Creek Pro Grt Spring National. The women’s pro field was highly competitive with the top women pros from California, Canada, Colorado and the east coast. Training on Friday was day two on the downhill rig for Mazie this spring. She worked out the kinks and got three clean runs on the technical, steep course. On Saturday morning, Mazie's first training run was cut short by a slashed rear brake line after having to bail out when the rider in front of her crashed in one of the rock gardens. After replacing the line she got back out on course for a few more clean training runs. It was high 80’s and humid, which are not Mazie’s ideal conditions. She rested, cooled down, and refueled before the 3 pm seeding runs Saturday afternoon. Seeding went well; Mazie had a clean run ending up third behind Liv Giant pro Caroline Washam and fellow USA Teammate Samantha Soriano. Mazie was hoping for rain and Saturday night and Sunday morning she got her wish. Sunday morning training was fantastic and then the waiting until her race run at 2:40 pm began. Mazie was pumped up for the cooler wet conditions. She went hard out of the start, pedaling sections that she hadn’t on Saturday. The hard work and aggressive riding paid off with a second place finish. Mazie was also invited to participate in two World Cup races this summer in Europe, one in Andora and one in Italy.

Congratulations, Mazie on an incredible first pro race!