ANNISTON, Ala. — Coldwater Mountain in Anniston hosted the first Leadville Trail 100 MTB qualifier to be held east of the Mississippi River last weekend, drawing approximately 600 mountain bike athletes from 34 states to Calhoun County. Local response was described by several observers as polite.
The Leadville Trail 100, held annually in Leadville, Colorado, is widely considered among the most prestigious mountain bike races in the world. Competitors must qualify. Coldwater Mountain, with 56 miles of singletrack trail built and maintained by the Northeast Alabama Bicycle Association, was selected as a qualifying venue after Life Time, the event's organizer, spent four years evaluating facilities across the country.
Wendell Moss, director of the Calhoun County Economic Development Council, called the event "the single most significant athletic event in the county's history."
"Six hundred athletes from 34 states," Moss said. "That is Calhoun County on the national map. That is what investment-ready looks like in practice."
He was asked if Calhoun County had been investment-ready when Coldwater Mountain was being built by volunteers over the previous fifteen years.
"Absolutely," Moss said. "Every year."
Athletes who competed in the event described Coldwater Mountain's trails as "technical," "legitimately world-class," and, in the words of one competitor from Denver, "not what I expected from Alabama, frankly." She qualified for Leadville and declined to elaborate on what she had expected.
Local residents, for their part, expressed measured awareness of the event. A woman reached at the Saks Walmart, who identified herself as Brenda Cofield, said she had heard there were "some bikers out there."
"Mountain bikers," this reporter clarified.
"Right," she said. "I heard that."
The Northeast Alabama Bicycle Association, whose volunteers maintain all 56 miles of Coldwater Mountain trail, received a thank-you from Life Time event organizers in the form of a certificate. NEABA did not hold a press conference. It was asked if it wished to.
"We're good," a NEABA representative said.
The next Coldwater Mountain qualifier is expected to be announced in early 2027. Wendell Moss said he would be ready.
