Do I need a special kind of bike for the bike portion? No! A standard mountain bike should suffice, although many of our racers choose to use 'fat bikes' if they have them. The snow riding is on groomed snow mobile trails and depending on conditions can feel a little bit squirrelly or feel just like riding on dirt road. In the event we get a dump of snow the night before the bike course will be modified to make sure that it is at least mostly rideable by a rider of average ability on a normal mountain bike. Don't think that this means it will be easy though - riding on snow tends to be more exhausting then riding on pavement or packed dirt - it takes a bit more effort to keep the bike pointed in the right direction and there is more rolling resistance due to the snow.
I've never winter biked before! Can i do this? Yes. Well, probably. The best way to figure it out is to go and winter bike. It takes a couple outings to figure out what to wear and how to keep your toes and fingers warm and how to find the right gearing and riding style. Here are a few pointers - if it's cold, use mittens rather than gloves, windproof ones preferrably. If your hands get cold easily, consider buying a pair of handlebar mitts - just google it on Amazon.com and you'll find a bunch of offerings for as low as 10-12 bucks. These will have your hands toasty on event the coldest days. For your feet, try some sort of winter boot or if money isn't an object you can find purpose built winter cycling shoes. Try out any goggles ahead of time to make sure they don't fog up and freeze. And invest in a good facemask - we like ColdAvenger and will hopefully be offering registered racers a deep discount on their line of masks - which are the best we've ever used for high output aerobic activities. Check the FB page to find out more about this deal.
Is there really sledding in the race? You bet! Sledding is the last leg of the race and makes sure racers finish with a big smile on their face. It also makes for some awesome pictures!
What is the running portion like? The running portion is almost entirely on trail. It varies slightly depending on the conditions each year but features lots of super fun and twisty snow-mobile trails, a couple of river crossings, and might include scrambling up and down a bluff or a massive snow pile for fun. Oh, and there might be a smidgen of post-holing for good measure - you know, to get your heart rate up.
How long is each section? The Ski and run are roughly 3 miles and the bike is just over 7 miles. About 1/2 a mile of the ski will be on an ungroomed section of trail roughly 1-3 miles of the bike will be on snow-mobile trail (the rest is on paved bike path), and most of the run will be on trail. Snowshoes will not be needed for the run although they are allowed.
How cold does it have to be for the event to be cancelled? The event will not be cancelled for because of extreme cold. Please see the 'refund policy' on the main event page.
How long does the race take? Check the results from last year to get an idea of the range of times we expect to see for the event. This years course will be very similar to last years course in terms of how long it should take.
