The Winter Challenge, Newport Vermont 

REGISTRATION CLOSES ON FEBRUARY 1st 2008

New in 2008( ice criterium on the Friday Night)

If you wish to compete for the overall Ultimate XC Winter Challenge title, you must ride a Mountain Bike for both stages(Ice Criterium and 30 miler). In other words, the overall title for the two-day stage race will be awarded to the person with the fastest cumulative time on a Mountain Bike.

February 9th 2008

2008 will be a stage race. We will have a ice criterium on the friday night and the XC snow race on the Saturday

Welcome to the Winter challenge.The winter’s harsh environment will make this 30 miler hard enough if mother nature does not cooperate with us that day. The course will be on rolling hills as much as possible and the course should be 100% ridable

Yes, you  read that right,  MTB on trail perfectly groomed by the snowmobile club. This race would not be possible without the full support of the Country Rider snowmobile club. A short course will be offered for those keen to do it, but not interested to be exposed to the cold for hours. The long course will be for the hardcore. The race will be fully supported with heated  aid stations in order to make your experience as enjoyable as possible.

 We have permission to use the snowmobile trail system only for the duration of the race. Registering for the race is NOT a license to come back and ride on those trails in the future. In fact it is dangerous to do so on open trail. Please respect this rule since the future of the race will depends on your respect of this condition.

WHEN: February 8th and 9th 2008

WHERE: Newport American Legion( Just beside the school)

COST:  25.00 dollars for Ice Criterium Only ( Friday Night the 8th)

           50.00 dollars per race for the 10 miler

          100.00 dollars per racer for the 30 miler                                                  

PRIZES: misfitpsycle frame www.misfitpsycles.com   Value 450.00 dollars

              Hottronic foot warmer www.hotronic.com    Value 199.00 dollars

              Hottronic boot dryer      www.hotronic.com  Value 69.00 dollars

              Diablo insulated down parka( men) www.golite.com   Value 350.00

              Inferno Insulated down parka( women) www.golite.com Value 200.00

REGISTRATION: open November 1st 2007

RACE DIRECTOR WARNING

Winter mountain biking is not for the faint of heart. If you get a flat tire or mechanical problem, your life can turn into a nightmare. The wind might bring the temperature down to a point where most people on snowmobile would rather stay home. Your Camel Back tube will freeze. A snow storm might result in the need to walk most of the course. Rain could make your life miserable. 

RULE OF THUMB

If you are not considered normal by your peer, this is probably a race for you.

AID STATION

Because of the potential danger of the winter, we will have 2 warming huts along the course every 10 miles or so. Each Aid station will have hot liquid such a soup, and solid food

LOCATION

 The race course will take place in the Newport Area where the terrain will be more rolling hills than massive climb. Don’t fool yourself, it will be hilly simply because nothing in Vermont is flat

COURSE

We will have 2 different courses to choose from; a 10 and a 30 miler  The winner of the 30 should be arriving in 3.30 and we will have a cut off time of 6 hours 

New in 2008, each class (10,30) will be staged. Friday night Ice Criterium on the lake and the actual race on Saturday. The cumulative time will be taken and the winner will be the fastest time

Want to have a peek at the course... CLICK HERE

The Winter Challenge Blog CLICK HERE

  START TIME

Stage one: 6.00 PM  for meeting point at The American Legion in Newport. We will then drive to the start  at 7.00 pm which is minutes away or you will be able to bike to the ice criterium start from the American Legion

Stage two: Saturday MorningThe start time will be 8.00 am at American Legion in Newport 

CUT OFF TIME 

Anyone still on the course at 3.00 Pm will be taken by snowmobile to the finish line 

CLOTHING

Cotton is forbidden. Winter MTB is not different than any other winter sport. Dress accordingly in layers and you should be fine. HOWEVER the# 1 priority has to be your feet. I am personally riding all winter long with Hottronic foot warmers, they are simple, reliable and keep me warm. I actually contacted the company to become a sponsor. 

Neoprene socks are also good. Over the years I found out that the best insulation overboot are home made. I used to duck tape blue ground mattress used for camping directly over my bike shoes. www.icebike.org  is also a very good resources web site for winter riding. Simon at www.allweathersports.com  has also a lot of information on clothing for winter riding.  I got my rims as well as my bike poggies from him. I use cleats but they transfer the cold via the actual metal. You might want to consider a Sorel brand boot with standard pedals 

Hands are another area of concern. Good winter mittens would be good in MILD weather  but I have been using Bike Poggies all winter long due to the sometimes harsh winter temperatures. They allow me to ride with bear hands and it is awesome. I have a feeling that I have total control of my bike 

MANDATORY EQUIPEMENT 

Duck Tape

Strobe light Back and Front

Storm Lighter

Fire starter

Pump

Spare tube

Duck tape

Chain link  

EQUIPMENT: 

Winter riding means that you will have to adjust your air pressure in your tire depending the snow condition. The softer the surface the less air you want, the harder the surface the harder you want your tire. It would not be unusual in a race of this distance to change your air pressure several times. When you ride with very little pressure in deep powder snow( 15 PSI) your tire will want to spin on our rim and you risk to pinch the inner tube and that would result in a flat. Consequently one side of your rim should be glued in order to prevent the tire from spinning. Your second mechanical risk is your chain. Make sure you know how to fix it, fast. Practice doing this several times before the race in winter condition. Special wide rims like the cat rim are the best choice for snow riding. www.allweathersports.com/winter/snowcats.html   You can also find some large downhill rim that would probably do the job  

 If you do not want to damage your bike’s front suspension, you should change it with a rigid fork. Your full suspension bike could also be damaged by the cold, so you might want to start looking for a hardtail. The deraillleur and cable may freeze. Single Speed bikes would solve that problem but using de-icer would do the job. Bring a knife or a hoof pick (used for cleaning horse's hooves) to de-ice your cleats since they will get all clogged up as soon as you will walk in the snow.

V brake would do, but be prepare for clogging. Disk brakes are much better. 

TRAIL MARKING: 

The entire course will be marked with Bright Red sign with Black directional arrow .DO NOT FOLLOW the YELLOW sign

AWARD CEREMONY 

1.0  Pm on Saturday afternoon 

FROSBITE AND HYPOTHERMIA

Hypothermia in the winter is generally related to the fact that you do not drink enough and therefore is directly related to dehydration. Make sure that you intake plenty of liquid. 

Beside your feet and hands, your nose is at the hieghest risk for frostbite. Consider a Polar-fleece neck warmer to protect against the cold and a neoprene mask against the wind. If everything else fails do not hesitate to duck tape your nose for additional protection. You can also tape your cheek bones to have additional protection from the wind otherwise as they are otherwise difficult to cover.  

LODGING 

Newport City Motel is your Best choice; it is minute away from the start

www.vermonter.com/ncm/