Psychosis is coming back for its 25th anniversary

If you thought you’d forever missed your chance to race the legendary Mount 7 Psychosis race, that’s all about to change. To mark the race’s 25th anniversary, Golden Cycling Club is bringing Psychosis back for one last year.

Psychosis last officially ran way back in 2008. That ended a 10-year run that started in 1998. In that decade, the infamously long downhill attracted some of the sports biggest names to compete. The long list includes stars like Stevie Smith, Sam Hill, Claire Buchar, Nathan Rennie and Kyle Strait. Racing returned to Mount 7 in 2020 and 2021 as an invite-only race under the Crankworx Summer Series banner. But 2024 will be the first official Psychosis in the 15 years since the first streak ended.

“Closing the doors on Psychosis in 2008 allowed the Golden Cycling Club to move in a different direction and better develop the trail network around Golden. Every year since then, people have wanted to know when Psychosis would return. Riders would come to Golden just to ride Dead Dog and say “I wish Psychosis would come back”! Once the dust settled people resigned themselves to the fact that it would not happen again. Then boom! Covid happened and Crankworx held an A- list, invite only event and the response from all the riders was how amazing the Psychosis race line is and how much fun they had. Fast forward 15 years since the last race in its original format, we’re honouring the 25th anniversary, remembering the pioneers of the event and the good times had at the previous races held. We’re giving another chance for all those who were too young to race it 15 years ago, and another kick at the can for some of us who are probably too old to be racing it again.”

– Andy Bostock, Golden Cycling Club

Dates and registration

The 25th anniversary Psychosis will take place June 22nd, 2024. Since this is a celebration of the original race, GCC is holding the first 100 entries for anyone who raced Psychosis between 1998 and 2008. The remaining entries will be open to any rider. In the spirit of the original event, there will be just two main race categories, men’s and women’s, with pros and amateurs racing together. GCC is bringing back the hardtail category and adding a 26″ category for any riders brave enough to take on the mountain just as the OG racers did in the early aughts.

Registration will go live on January 15, 2024 for previous participants. Remaining spots will open to the public on February 1, 2024. Registratoin is limited to 200 riders total. The first 100 entries are reserved, as mentioned, for any rider that raced the original series between 1998 and 2008.

Psychosis at 25: stats, records and history

What makes Psychosis so special? Well, straight out of the start gates, racers plummet down the 70+ degree slopes of Dead Dog. After that wildly intense start racers have to hold on for an epic 7.3km run. The course drops 1,200m (4,000ft) of vertical elevation along the way. That’s broken up by one, brutal mid-run hike-a-bike, just to make sure racers are red-lined for the lower half of the course.

The official Psychosis course record stands at 12:35.14. That was set by Chris Kovarik in 2008. When Crankworx revived the series for a two-year stint, Henry Fitzgerald beat out the likes of Finn Iles and Mark Wallace to lower that time to 11:19.19 in 2020. Andréane Lanthier Nadeau and Casey Brown were the women’s winners in 2020 and 2021. Joe Breeden took the 2021 men’s win, though he couldn’t match Fitzgerald’s time from the year beofre.

While we’re talking stats, math wizzes will have noticed that 2023 should have been the 25th anniversary of an event that started in 1998. “While technically 2023 was the 25th anniversary, we needed a little extra time to put it all together, and get the details confirmed,” says GCC. “But we can assure you, the wait was worth it! Psychosis is back for a one time only appearance, and this 25th anniversary celebration event celebration will be one for the history books.”

Head to the Golden Cycling Club page for details and registration information.