http://www.epicrides.com/soul/soul.htm
Looks like a lot of fun. Get to it AZ monkeys. I'm making my plans for next year right now.
From cyclingnews:
But if you're looking for something that's both epic yet fits within one riding day, consider the Soul Ride.
Created by Tucson mountain biker Todd Sadow five years ago, the Soul Ride offers 100, 50, 30 and 10-mile rides. Held on the mountain trails, river beds, fire roads and open desert around Oracle, Arizona (about thirty miles outside of Tucson ), the full-length Soul Ride is a leg-breaking 100 mile test of a rider's will to finish. There is no shade from temperatures that can still run over the 100-degree mark on the course's extended climbs. Speaking of the climbs; after the pre-dawn start, the race runs straight up part of nearby Galiuro Mountains before descending through a valley and winding back up, at one point, a twenty-mile extended grind of a climb.
Sadow says inspiration for the event came after a super long ride with a good friend in some mountains south of Tucson . Twenty-eight year old Sadow says his group rode from early in the morning until well after dark and he had an epiphany while standing in a convenience store (trying to choose between a thousand shiny ways to refuel his absolutely spent body). I remember feeling, well, high, he said. High from the endorphins. High from the whole experience.
With course lengths to test any kind of rider, the Soul Ride is Sadow's way of giving others access to the same post-ride feelings he was experiencing. The average person does ten to fifteen miles on a mountain bike when they ride. Some guys do forty on a weekend. Whatever you do, we wanted to offer a way for everyone to have a big ride. The point? You learn a lot about yourself on a big ride.
For the most hardy, the 100-mile ride starts before dawn. We require lights and start at 4a.m., Sadow says. We want people to experience the joy of riding the Arizona desert at night; but to do it on fresh legs. And we think there's nothing more ridiculous than experiencing a sunrise over the Galiuro Mountains . The course is timed so riders experience that sunrise while climbing the route's first major climb, some fourteen miles long.
he Soul Ride, which is dedicated to ultra-mountain biker Mike Curiak (who holds the MTB Great Divide Race record at 16 days, 57 minutes and will be attending this year's race/ride) is a long day for any rider. To be safe, anyone who signs up for the 100-mile event must make a checkpoint at fifty-nine miles by noon or they will be redirected to the finish by course marshals.
Looks like a lot of fun. Get to it AZ monkeys. I'm making my plans for next year right now.
From cyclingnews:
But if you're looking for something that's both epic yet fits within one riding day, consider the Soul Ride.
Created by Tucson mountain biker Todd Sadow five years ago, the Soul Ride offers 100, 50, 30 and 10-mile rides. Held on the mountain trails, river beds, fire roads and open desert around Oracle, Arizona (about thirty miles outside of Tucson ), the full-length Soul Ride is a leg-breaking 100 mile test of a rider's will to finish. There is no shade from temperatures that can still run over the 100-degree mark on the course's extended climbs. Speaking of the climbs; after the pre-dawn start, the race runs straight up part of nearby Galiuro Mountains before descending through a valley and winding back up, at one point, a twenty-mile extended grind of a climb.
Sadow says inspiration for the event came after a super long ride with a good friend in some mountains south of Tucson . Twenty-eight year old Sadow says his group rode from early in the morning until well after dark and he had an epiphany while standing in a convenience store (trying to choose between a thousand shiny ways to refuel his absolutely spent body). I remember feeling, well, high, he said. High from the endorphins. High from the whole experience.
With course lengths to test any kind of rider, the Soul Ride is Sadow's way of giving others access to the same post-ride feelings he was experiencing. The average person does ten to fifteen miles on a mountain bike when they ride. Some guys do forty on a weekend. Whatever you do, we wanted to offer a way for everyone to have a big ride. The point? You learn a lot about yourself on a big ride.
For the most hardy, the 100-mile ride starts before dawn. We require lights and start at 4a.m., Sadow says. We want people to experience the joy of riding the Arizona desert at night; but to do it on fresh legs. And we think there's nothing more ridiculous than experiencing a sunrise over the Galiuro Mountains . The course is timed so riders experience that sunrise while climbing the route's first major climb, some fourteen miles long.
he Soul Ride, which is dedicated to ultra-mountain biker Mike Curiak (who holds the MTB Great Divide Race record at 16 days, 57 minutes and will be attending this year's race/ride) is a long day for any rider. To be safe, anyone who signs up for the 100-mile event must make a checkpoint at fifty-nine miles by noon or they will be redirected to the finish by course marshals.
