Brothers flying high in mountain bike circuit

Zach Sedivy sits on his bicycle, looks to the sky and watches his brother Damon fly over top of him. Woo-hooo.

Just another day of training for the Sedivy brothers. Zach, 16, and Damon, 13, have been carving up mountain bike courses and flying down hills for two years now as they travel the racing circuit across the West and Canada.

They brought home a good amount of hardware, too, racing in the All-Gravity Series and the Northwest Cup, to name a few. It’s not unusual to see one brother or the other atop the leader board in an event.

The race circuit starts in March and wraps up in late fall. The two are on the road with their parents Missy and Mark about 10 weeks a year. The practice track at their rural Columbia Falls home has jumps more than six feet high. Make a mistake and a biker ends up wrecked in a deep pit.

“We haven’t broken many bones. Just fingers and toes,” Damon shrugged during an interview last week.

For more intense workouts, they hit local trails at Spencer Mountain, Big Mountain and Columbia Mountain. They also race with local clubs on Tuesdays and Thursday nights.

The boys most enjoy downhill racing, which involves hammering down a treacherous 3-4 mile long course at breakneck speeds. Damon won an All Gravity Series Race at Beacon Hill in Spokane, Wash., with a time of 2:17.28. Zach won with a 2:06.41.

Downhill racing is far from a leisurely coast.

“It’s more of a workout than you think,” Zach said.

Serious racing calls for a serious bike, and they’re not inexpensive. Fitted with top-of-the-line components and carbon-fiber frames, the boys’ racing bikes cost $6,000 apiece.

Who’s the better racer?

“I am,” they reply in unison.

The brotherly competition is constant.

“My dad says it starts at breakfast,” Zach said.

In the winter months, they lift weights and fit their bikes with studded tires so they can ride in the ice and snow.

Their goal is to qualify for the World Championships, the boys said. If they continue to race well, they could also get some sponsorships. Colleges back east with competitive mountain biking have already shown an interest in Zach, who is a sophomore at Columbia Falls High School.