The first annual Wayne Ultra Mountain Bike Race will be held in the Wayne National Forest near Marietta in October of this year. Organizers have been gunning for a mountain bike event in the forest for years and have put in more than 800 volunteer hours getting the trails ready.
The long course at the Wayne Ultra is 42 miles which begs the question: How long is an “ultra” mountain bike race? Ultra-marathons are generally running races longer than 26.2 miles (the internationally recognized marathon distance) but there isn’t really an official mountain bike race length since the Greeks didn’t have knobby tires as far as I know. The National Ultra MTB Endurance Series (NUE) consists of only 100-mile mountain bike races – a pretty intimidating distance for most to complete, let alone race. Definitely ultra, but I’d argue that 90 miles is pretty ultra as well.
Of course a 42 mile trail race is pretty epic, though I’m still not sure if it’s “ultra.” Where do you draw the line? What’s the longest you’ve ridden your mountain bike off road?
