Swank 65. Serious fun, seriously?

Ty Stevens

In the words of Todd Branham, Swank 65 race director ”it’s the most laid back, serious MTB race in the Southeast”. Well, I guess so, if you consider 40 miles of gnarly downhills, fast twisty single track, long steep climbs and sheer rock drops, all within the backdrop of epically scenic Pisgah National Forest, a fun way to spend a day. I sure did.

Todd founded Blue Ridge Adventures in 1998 as a bicycle guide and race promotion company. His company now comprises of 3 premiere and highly respected mountain bike races in Western North Carolina. As well, his company represents the Carolina Youth Mountain Bike League, or CYMBL, a series of low cost races for kids held throughout the Summer. Each event is coupled with an educational clinic to teach kids about nutrition, trail etiquette, bike maintenance, and stretching.

Swank 65, considered by its participants to be a truly authentic mountain bike race experience, has been bringing riders to tears and to Western North Carolina for 13 years. This race dishes up some of the best and most iconic riding Pisgah has to offer. Riders can expect mixed terrain single track sections, multiple creek crossings, lengthy fire road climbs and unpredictable downhills – some technical, some sudden with rock gardens and ledges, some flowy and FAST. It’s not uncommon to expect a good deal of hike and bike at certain times through the race. And you will get dirty.

“The key to being successful at Swank is the ability to flow” says Todd, “the course is designed to flow, if you’re not flowing, you’re not having a good day out there”.

Whether you are flowing or not, it’s you against the elements in effort to pedal your way through and earn a spot amidst the Pisgah mountain biking gods and godesses, so to speak. In the end, the reward; cold brew, fresh off the grill burgers, some of the most beautiful scenery in all of Western North Carolina.. and of course, serious bragging rights. I’d consider Swank, or any of Blue Ridge Adventure’s hair raising mountain bike races, a right of passage of sorts.
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Review of the 2011 Mongol Derby- how it was won, and lost

This article first appeared on the leading equestrian website Horsehero.com, but its appeal may well spread to the broader sports lover and pundit

In August 2011, the third edition of the Mongol Derby, the world’s longest and toughest horse race, thundered through 1000km of pristine Mongolia, catapulting (at times literally) another 23 riders into the Adventurists Hall of Fame, and with any luck, the Guinness World Record books. Organiser Katy Willings gives the inside track on this thrillng race….

Immediately after the race, I spent several weeks analysing the reams of data which came back from the Steppe, leaden with horse sweat and the faint whiff of goats, in order to bring you a less whimsical, and more informative blow-by-blow account of what happened this year, where the race was won and lost, and where it hung in the balance.

The beauty about the event is that no one individual has the full story. So much of the good and bad is privately enjoyed and endured, but nevertheless a coherent story emerges form the paperwork! I’ll mix key statistics with brief explanations, points of note and any lessons learned, and invite questions from the floor (in the Comments area below).

Race overview: The Mongol Derby was won by South African dairy farmer and endurance rider Craig Egberink by 2 minutes (a nose over 1000kms, surely?) from Inner Mongolian contender Sanbayier, first of a cluster of three Chinese riders who were a formidable team throughout. The field spread out over the first two days but though injuries and subsequent drop-outs, the survivors were more clustered than they might have been. All bar two riders fell off, most at least once.
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Proposing an adventurous life ’til death do they part

Couple gets engaged while racing in world’s biggest adventure race Sixty kilometres is a long way to mull over a question that will change your life forever, especially when you’ve had to swim and kayak before hopping on a mountain bike nursing an engagement ring that’s at the heart of that burning question. So how

Explore Your Trail (British Columbia)

By John Reed From International Adventure racers to some of the province’s top senior athletes, the City of Trail is the ultimate host. Located on the banks of the mighty Columbia River with a history rich in exploration, mining and sport, Trail, British Columbia, in the heart of BC’s West Kootenay region is commanding attention.