Cyclists feast at Pig Farm race

The grilled hot dogs may have been sidelined at the Granja del Cerdo mountain bike race on Saturday, but local cyclists kept things cooking on the single track anyway.

Jason Schmidt, of Whitefish, pedaled away from the field on the second lap of the 12-mile course to take the race in 1:38:00 — nearly six minutes ahead of second-place finisher Frank Gonzalez.

Linh Barinowski, also of Whitefish, took the women's Cat. 2 top spot in a time of 1:19:37.

The second rendition of the bike race at the Pig Farms trail area on Farm to Market Road was originally supposed to feature time bonuses for the number of hot dogs consumed by bikers during the race. Officials canned the idea just before the event when they learned time bonuses of any kind aren't allowed at USA Cycling-sanctioned mountain bike races.

Race director Craig Prather said the Granja del Cerdo is meant to offer a more relaxed race atmosphere than traditional races — which was partially the reason behind the idea of hot dog time bonuses.

"We want to have a lot of fun and not take things too seriously," he said.

Prather said he will consider primes (pronounced preems' — prizes given to cyclists for accomplishment during a race — to award bikers eating hot dogs at next year's event.

About 50 participants came out for the race sponsored by Great Northern Cycles of Whitefish.