When I started thinking about mountain bike racing again I started to debate what type of races I wanted to do and how often I wanted to race. My OCD wanted me to come up with a rigid schedule that took into consideration rest between races building up to an “A” race, then tapering off into the off-season. I also considered just winging it and doing races that sounds fun whenever I heard about them. What I decided was a hybrid plan. I’ll have a race schedule that will have some rest built in, but I won’t rule out adding some races that sound fun. If anything the season almost ramps up AFTER my “A” race…which is probably not the best idea. However, many of the best stories often come from bad decisions. Before I get into the schedule itself I want to lay out some of the reasoning behind picking some of certain types of races.

6 Hour Races

I’ve mentioned before about enjoying these types of races and there are several reasons for this. The atmosphere of 6 hours races is pretty cool. Most people come as groups, bring EZ-Up tents, coolers, chairs, and often people bring their families. So they lead to a fun, friendly kind of feel that I enjoy. They’re often not terribly intimidating. Not sure if you can ride solo for 6 hours? Grab a buddy and tackle it together or sign up and do what you can for as many laps as you can. The race courses, while not always beginner friendly, aren’t usually too difficult. This often leads to a good turn out, which in turn makes the races more fun. One of the main reasons I like them is because I see them as a race yes, but also as an opportunity for training. How many of us really want to run laps of our local system for 6 hours? I know I don’t, but 6 hour races often provide to motivation to get in a big ride when I would otherwise quite after 3 laps.

Gravel Races

When people first started talking about gravel grinding and gravel races I wasn’t that enthused. It seemed boring. Sure it was dirt like mountain biking, but the routes were so tame that it seemed uninteresting. It was also slower then road riding, so there was not much excitement there either. It wasn’t until I got my cross bike that I started to understand the appeal. Its way more challenging(and fun) then I’d assumed and I don’t have to deal with traffic like road riding. The real reason for gravel races though is the scenery. Since I’ve started riding gravel I’ve seen some absolutely jaw dropping scenery and I’m all about seeing more.

Endurance Races

The appeal of endurance racing really boils down to one thing; challenge. Often times these races don’t take place on finely manicured singletrack or machine built trails. Old school mountain bike trail, hiking trail, gravel, road; these races typically have everything. They’re not just physically difficult, they’re often mentally difficult as well. When you’re 7 hours in and everything hurts, it takes another type of toughness to settle in and finish the race when all you want to do is quit. Its in those moments that you often find out more about yourself and just how far you can push your body and mind.

Those are the three types of races I’m looking at doing in 2020. I’ve done the XC racing thing and it was fun, but I don’t have much interest in it anymore. Stage racing is on my radar, but I need to build up to that and am looking into doing one in 2021. Endurance racing is probably my favorite because you often get a chance to ride old school, hand cut singletrack. I started mountain biking in Huntsville, AL and that’s pretty much all there is. Its knarly and difficult and I always enjoy the fight of riding that type of trail.

Below are the races that are set in stone:

Jan 4th - Snake Creek Gap Time Trial

Jan 18th - The Gobbler 6/3 Hour MTB Race

Feb 8th - Snake Creek Gap Time Trail

Feb 29th - The Flow 6/3 Hour MTB Race

April 25th - Big Frog 65

May 30th - The Bartram PM 6/3 Hour MTB Race

July 18th - Reclaimed

Aug 2nd - Hardford 50

Sep 6th - Shenandoah 100

Sep 13th - Black Bear Rampage

Sep 29th - The Big Ring Challenge

Oct 10th - 5-Points 50

Shenandoah 100 is my “A” race. Everything I train for in 2020 will lead to finishing that race. Any positive results elsewhere will just be a side effect of the work put in for Shenandoah 100. There are several other races that I may do depending on several factors. Dirty Spokes 6/3 Hour on May 9th is a possibility. Chainbuster Racing puts on a Gravel Series that I may participate in if the schedule allows. The interesting decision will be between Fonta Flora Barnburner 50k vs The Payne Cave. It looks like they’ll be on the same day, October 17th. The decision may come down to how I’m doing in the Chainbuster 6/3 Hours standings. If I do Dirty Spokes listed above I can skip one of the Chainbuster races and not lose series points. Once Pisgah Productions announces the date for Barnburner I’ll have a better idea of what I’ll do. Think I missed a race? Let me know. If I can’t do it this year I may add it for 2021.