X-Men Cycling Club

The Olden Days
The X-Men Cycling Club was founded circa 1995 in Park City, Utah. A bunch of us were sitting around thinking the local landscape of teams and clubs in Utah was homogenous, stale, and favored negative racing. So our band of mercenaries and overlords of chaos was born. The name came from a few sources of inspiration. At the time, we liked the idea of starting a new team made up of eX-Members of the existing team landscape. We were also initially supported by a local carbon fiber manufacturing company getting into the bike parts market, whose patented technology was called “X-Wound” technology. Founding fathers included Thomas Cooke, Craig Thomas, Doug Gilbert, Bob Radke, Heber Natter, and Lincoln DeWitt (who later went on to be an Olympian in the sport of Skeleton). Local legend and coach Bill Harris joined a few years after that, starting a legacy of winning ways for the X-Men including a Masters National Criterium title, and the overall number 1 and 2 plates at our local year-long Utah Crit Series. Other historical notes included a guest rider appearance by professional cyclist Paul Willerton, winning two stages in the Tour of the Gila.

Where We Are Now
Definitely not the dominant local team of the late 90’s and early 2000’s, the X-Men still exists as a Park City-based club. Many of us have built careers and families and don’t have the time or passion to chase the races around anymore, but still like to turn a pedal every now and again. Some of us have moved on to race for other clubs and teams, looking for more support in entry fees and equipment in what has become an expensive sport and habit to fund. For those riders, the X-Men exists as a fading memory, but once you ride for the X-Men and are in the club, it’s hard to get out.