A little bartering has given Steve Taylor an opportunity to compete in the inaugural Mountain Cross competition Sunday.
The 30-year-old former professional snowcross professional rider is revved up to challenge many of the 75 riders signed up for the Tabor Mountain event, starting at 9 a.m. Taylor retired from snowcross in 2010 and ventured into the business world. His partial ownership of Summit Power Tools in Prince George gave him the opportunity to enter this weekend's race.
"I didn't even have a snowcross sled but somebody came down here wheeling and dealing on a dirt bike and they wanted to trade in their snowcross sled," said Taylor. "I thought, ''Wow, this is perfect - there's the Tabor Mountain race coming up and I need a snowmobile,' so I made a deal with the guy."
Taylor said he's signed up for all the classes Sunday - stock, improved and open. The stock and improved classes are divided into two categories, 600-749 cc sleds and 750 cc and up. Anyone can enter the open class for "bragging rights," said Jess Hudson, one of the Mountain Cross organizers.
Riders will each do two time trials with their times combined to determine the winners of the 15 cash purses.
"It's a great thing to do with the snow still on the ground," said Hudson.
The course is almost all uphill for the snowcross riders, said Hudson, adding there's a lot of good obstacles for the riders to navigate like table tops, jumps, rollers, berms and steep inclines.
Taylor said he took a couple years off after retiring from the professional ranks of snowcross and just recently started riding again.
"I hope that [Mountain Cross] does really well and Tabor Mountain can benefit from it a little bit and continue to do this annually," said Taylor. "That'll be wicked."
The former Winter X-Games competitor rode snowcross professionally from 2003-10, leaving the sport after a fourth-place finish in a 2010 race in Chicago.
"I was kind of at the point where I was like, maybe I should get on with something that I could do for a career for the rest of my life," said Taylor. "I ended up getting surgery on my wrist and at the same time I was looking for something to do. I didn't have any education beyond high school so trying to find a job was pretty tough. I ended up buying a graphics company that was for sale."
After two years of learning the business, which was time-consuming and didn't leave Taylor time to ride, he sold the company in January and went into a 50-50 partnership with his dad.
"It's a lot more chill here," said Taylor about having time to ride again.
Taylor said he knew he would find a way to compete in the Mountain Cross when he first heard about it.
"It's what I did for a living so I will put some pressure on myself to show that I've still got what it takes," he said.
Registration for the Mountain Cross is Sunday morning at Tabor Mountain with the races beginning at 9 a.m. and lasting most of the day.
