photo courtesy larutadelosconquistadores.com.

The 2010 La Ruta de Conquistadores mountain bike race across Costa Rica kicked off this week and the stage 1 results are already in with Benjamin Sonntag in first place but only by minutes. For those who are interested in following the action, race updates are being posted via Twitter and are also streaming video at livestream.com (though we couldn’t get the video to load earlier today).

La Ruta is a notable race for a couple of reasons. It’s one of the longest running mountain bike stage races at 18 years (the race website is adventurerace.com so you know they must have been one of the first). La Ruta is also considered by many elite athletes to be one of the toughest mountain bike races on the planet due to extreme climbs, sketchy terrain, stifling heat and humidity, and its remote location. The four stage race takes riders from the west coast of Costa Rica along the Pacific to the east coast and Caribbean Sea.

This year, race organizers have modified the rules a bit to discourage outside support. Traditionally Costa Rican competitors have had an advantage because they’ve had supporters follow them along the course on motorcycles. Without the support from outsiders this year, it’s anyone’s race.

In the women’s race, Leadville 100 winner Rebecca Rusch is looking for her first victory at La Ruta. Rusch last raced La Ruta in 2005 and is looking to improve on her fourth place finish that year. After stage 1 Rusch is about 30 minutes behind women’s leader Angela Parra Sierra but it’s a long race and anything can (and usually does) happen.

The race concludes Saturday so check out the La Ruta website for the latest updates and results.

Much of the Colorado Trail is open to mountain bikes.

Ever since I can remember I’ve always been fascinated with trails (go figure). I got into backpacking as a teenager and I quickly became obsessed with the 2,175 mile long Appalachian Trail. For a kid that’s too young to drive, the idea of a hiking trail stretching from Georgia to Maine is practically mind-blowing. Unfortunately bikes aren’t allowed on the AT (or the Pacific Crest Trail on the west coast) which makes it the slow lane for cross country expeditions.

Fortunately the idea of cross-state and cross-country (as in nation) mountain bike trails is gaining momentum. Just last month the annual Great Divide mountain bike race wrapped up and the winner rode his bike all 2,745 from Canada to the Mexican border in a scorching 17 days, 16 hours. Of course not all of us have the stamina (or the time off work) to ride across the US on our mountain bikes so more accessible cross-state routes are being established.

This year the 750-mile Arizona Trail Race covered the entire state of Arizona from Utah to Mexico for the first time. And here in Georgia, Dave Muse and his crew successfully completed the Trans North Georgia from South Carolina to Alabama in May and will be hosting an unofficial race along the route later this summer. For those who think this might be an easy ride, the mountain bike route is 350 miles long with 56,000 feet of climbing so bring an extra set of legs! There’s also the Colorado Trail that stretches from Denver to Durango and although some sections are closed to bikes, it’s possible to find alternate bike-friendly routes around closed areas.

Outside the US the concept of long distance mountain bike trails is taking off as well. Israel plans to spend $30 million to build 3,100 miles of bike trails in the Negev and around the Sea of Galilee. The first section of the Sea of Galilee trail opened this summer and will eventually circle the entire sea, giving tourists an interesting way to experience the history of the region.

This summer I’ll be taking my first overnight mountain biking trip via the San Juan hut system from Durango, CO to Moab, UT and I’m super stoked. In fact I’m already eying other long distance mountain bike rides like the Tahoe Rim Trail around Lake Tahoe and the BC Bike Race from Vancouver to Whistler.

Epic mountain bike routes seem to be good for regional tourism and for that reason we’ll probably continue to see more cross-state routes being designated. Even technology like the SPOT Satellite Messenger is playing a role in making long distance mountain bike trails safer and more accessible. Does your state have an official (or unofficial) cross-state mountain bike route yet? If not, get out there with a GPS and start exploring!

photo via tourdafrique.com

If you’ve ever seen the t-shirt website, Threadless, you know how it works: members upload their designs and the community votes on their favorites. The winning design gets produced and sold on the website. Now that concept is making its debut in the bike touring industry.

Tour d’Afrique Ltd. organizes and supports epic bike tours – some as long as 7,500 miles – across entire continents which sorta brings new meaning to the word “epic.” They even organize a race from Cairo to Cape Town which has to be the longest bike race on the planet.

Anyway, the Dream Tour concept is pretty simple: users propose new tour routes and the trip(s) with the most votes get organized. Right now the highest rated routes include “New Delhi to Singapore” and the “Pan-American” from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. Sound impossible? An unaffiliated group of guys recently completed this very route in only about 3 years.

If you’re interested at all in bikepacking or multi-day mountain bike trips, definitely poke around the Tour d’Afrique website to get some inspiration. What’s your dream mountain bike trip?

via Springwise.

photo courtesy BlueRidgeAdventures.net.

Over on the Facebook fan page we asked for 2010 mountain bike goals and many of the responses had to do with long format racing (anything over 6 hours) and endurance racing. Along those same lines I’m hoping to try a multi-day stage race in 2010 or 2011 so I started doing a little research. Mountain bike stage racing seems to be growing with new races popping up each year and in 2010 you can find races pretty much everywhere.

Here is a list of the 2010 MTB stage races I was able to find online. Feel free to fill in any I may have missed via the comment form at the bottom of the page.

Arizona Trail 300 (starts April 23): The AZT 300 isn’t technically a stage race (there are no checkpoints) and it’s probably the most low key event on this list with zero official support. Still, the 300 mile race covers the scenic and rugged Arizona Trail starting at Parker Canyon Lake. Last year’s winner took just over 2 and a half days to complete the race.

Trans-Sylvania Epic (May 30 – June 5): This is the first annual Trans-Sylvania Epic and the race will take place in Central Pennsylvania in the area around State College, PA. Over 7 days riders will complete stages from 10-60 miles in length.

Tour Divide (starts June 11): Tour Divide is the world’s longest mountain bike race and covers 2,745 miles in a single stage. Racers start in the Canadian Rockies and ends in badlands of the Mexican plateau. All riders must be completely self-supported.

BC Bike Race (June 27 – July 3): This is the mack daddy of mountain bike stage races and covers some of the best mountain bike trails British Columbia has to offer from Vancouver to Whistler.

Trans Rockies (August 8-14): Trans Rockies is easily one of the most well-supported mountain bike stage races and like the BC Bike Race, this one takes place in British Columbia (Canada). Solo riders may compete in the 3-day race while teams of 2 are welcome to compete in the 7-day event.

Trans Wales (August 14-21): Sponsored by Gore Bike Wear, this is the fourth annual event and is limited to 300 riders. If you’ve never been to the UK this could be a great opportunity to explore.

Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race (September 14-18): This is just the second annual event but if the 2009 race is any indication, this will be a quality race. Pro riders Jeremiah Bishop and Sue Haywood competed last year so get your entry in early to secure your spot!

The first ever Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race is happening next month and from what we’ve read this could be a very cool race. Riders will compete over 4 days, riding 145 miles of technical, gnarly singletrack inside the Pisgah National Forest near Asheville, NC. Averaging 36 miles a day doesn’t sound like much until you realize the total includes 38,000 feet of climbing (that’s nearly 10,000 feet per day)!

There are already some big names signed up to compete this year including Jeremiah Bishop and teammate Ben Sonntag. BikeRumor reports some other well known riders are planning to race as well, though we can’t confirm. Registration is still open but there are only 150 spots available.

Race organizers claim the cash prize purse ($15,000) is the largest for any American (mountain bike) stage race which appears to be true. Of course more well known MTB stage races like La Ruta take pride in the fact that they don’t offer big cash prizes for the winners. I guess sometimes glory alone isn’t enough to lure top riders

We wrote about the Khanchendzonga Mountain Bike Challenge back in January because it sounded like an interesting multi-day race through the Indian Himilayas. Apparently the race wrapped up a few days ago but the winners are miffed because they found out the promised prize money was cut in half, in some cases barely covering the race entry fees.

American Harlan Pryce, the winner of the 2 week race, said “We will never come back to Sikkim, we have been very badly cheated as the prize money promised to us were not given.” Ouch. Racers also complained that some of the race stops didn’t even have water or toilets – not all that surprising given the third world location but disappointing for those who paid $500 just to enter the race.

Things don’t look good for the Khanchendzonga Mountain Bike Challenge coming back next year – if it does, be prepared to rough it and don’t expect to receive all your prize money Mountain biking racing is all about the glory anyway.

If you’re seeking a little adventure on the cheap in 2009 consider the Khanchendzonga Mountain Bike Challenge March 18-30 in the Indian Himalayas. The race course will cover 267 miles and nearly 46,000 feet of climbing over nine days of racing. The best part (other than getting to spend nearly 2 weeks in India): the race costs just $500 which includes 3 nights in hotel, 9 nights in tents during the race, and breakfast & dinner. It’s all part of an effort by the Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation to increase travel and tourism in the region. Airfare to India is probably the biggest expense for most riders but once you’re there you’re all set except for the bike!

The race stages themselves are relatively short (between 23 and 44 miles per day) which gives riders the chance to experience the cultural richness at each stop. Tread ranges from singletrack to jeep tracks to village roads so there’s definitely plenty of opportunity to get some Indian dirt on your knobbies!

I had the opportunity to go to India a few years back and although I didn’t make it to the Himalaya it was definitely a trip of a lifetime. I just hope the air quality is better in the Himalaya than it is in some of the larger cities – might want to bring a dust mask just in case!