Mountain biking race event off at Killington Ski Resort

Well the weather is looking good for an event this weekend at Killington. It's hosting this year's Fox US Open. It's really a premier mountain biking competition and festival. NBC5's Lindsay Jones spoke with organizers about what's in store for athletes and attendees all weekend. Hundreds of athletes are here at Killington. Pro riders spent the afternoon getting practice on the course. Athletes from around the world say they're here to win. Riders are getting ready for the biggest downhill mountain biking competition in the United States. This will be my fourth year in a row. Last year I didn't race but the two other years I got third and second in the pro category so hopefully we can get the first this year. We'll see. Thursday kicked off the Fox US Open which is the final round of the Monster Energy Pro Downhill Series. There's five rounds in this series. The races started in North Carolina and wrap up here at Killington in Vermont. The biggest event is the Pro Open class on Saturday where athletes will compete for a $15,000 prize. But there are races for all levels this weekend. We have an adaptive race, we have a youth downhill race, we have slalom, and we have our best whip on Saturday night which is just a huge party with a big jump and athletes you know kind of getting a show off a little. Clay Harper, general manager of Pro Downhill Series, says there are more than 600 athletes racing this weekend. A hundred of them are pros. They travel from all over the world to race at Killington with athletes from Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. He says something unique about this event is that you don't have to be an adult to race in the pro class. You just have to qualify which makes for an exciting competition. We actually have a 14 year old from Canada racing in the pro open class and he's fast like he's gonna do well. He won't, he will be, he will surprise a lot of people. Courses were muddy for pro practice on Thursday but Harper says the plan is to race through the rain. He says thousands of people come to Killington to watch these races and that the energy from the crowd as winners cross the finish line is electric. Everybody will be like holding their breath as that athlete comes out of the woods and will they break the time or will they not break the time and then the board will turn green or red and the crowd will go nuts. That's my favorite part. Organizers say if you can only make it out once this weekend, Saturday is the day to be here. It's free for spectators and certain areas of the bike park will be open to the public. In Killington, Lindsay Jones, NBC 5 News.