Intermontane Challenge

Exciting press conference on March 24, 2009 to announce Title Sponsor for the Intermontane Challenge. Watch here for details.

Our event is showing increased value for the racers all the time due to our cost effective “clover-leaf” design! Point to point events simply cost more and that is directly passed on to the competitors. Our event is able to offer better accommodations and food for less money, not to mention a variety of options.

Value

Our base entry is $950.00 CDN plus 5% GST and is all racers need to purchase to be a part of our event. Locals and people with family, friends or discounts at major hotel chains or hostels in Kamloops can cut costs by getting creative. Food can be purchased at any of the local grocery chains or at local cafes and restaurants. So costs can be kept in check and racers on a budget can still participate in the Intermontane and have a great experience. Other events require an “all or nothing” entry fee structure that isn’t flexible and doesn’t take value into consideration.

Options and Flexibility

Our event has many options in terms of ways to not only participate but also many things to do off the bike after each stage. With all the comforts of home, tons of local food and entertainment options and a central race location in Kamloops our racers have everything at their fingertips during their time at our event. Point to point events only allow a limited amount of time in one spot not allowing for proper rest, recovery and personal time. 

Our website is updated every week and we will continue to work to tell our story….after our first year the word will be common knowledge…but for now our website is our best mode of communication.

Stay tuned!

Thanks to the awesome guys at Oso Negro Coffee we are going to be able to offer our racers the best coffee each morning with the creation of our very own blend! We are working on coming up with the right java that gives the desired kick while still being mellow and not harsh to drink….but with some unique flavour too. Being java hounds we like nothing better than pulling some espresso shots and getting fired up….just thought we’d share some pics from the process…hard work but we have to get it just right……Oso Negro powers the Intermontane Challenge….pure horsepower for the riders this summer!

We at the Intermontane Challenge are stoked to see other stage races follow our lead and offer a solo category this year! We see the solo challenge as the purest form of racing there is and feel that this is the future of mtb stage racing. In our brief history we have tapped into the core of the sport and offered what we feel are some substantial improvements…..solo racing being only one of them.

We also are pioneering the clover-leaf stage format that has many benefits and is at the heart of our event. This unique concept allows us to offer un-beatable value, superior accomodations and food options, fantastic exposure for our sport and a true “green” environmental legacy. As we progress and more sponsors come on board we will continue to add value wherever possible…..not by just throwing in a free pair of socks or a bag…..but by looking out for the racers and trying to allow them to come out and have some fun and a great challenge at our race for less money. Other point to point races will raise their entry fees as the cost of fuel rises and we will do the opposite thanks to our clover-leaf course design! Kamloops is unique in the world with its vast singletrack network and duplicating this will be difficult.

Another step that we have taken is that of paying female racers equal prize money for their efforts. We are the only stage race out there to say that we’ll treat everybody equally and finally do the right thing and bring female prize $ out of the dark ages and into the light of equality……we hope that other events follow our lead here as well after 2009 and step up to the plate.

We will continue to listen to racers and work to create our own version of an epic mtb stage race one piece at a time…..all the while keeping it fun!

This is our story and it’s only begun……..

We have posted stages 1,2,3 and 5 on our Race Info area for people to check out. We will be releasing the details of our epic stage 4 at a later date….creating a bit of suspense….it will be a super tough day on the bike no doubt. All the stages are full of lots of single-track as promised and will test racers in all aspects of their riding……what people won’t see are any of those long, boring gravel road sections that other races pass off as “off-road” riding…..that’s not mountain biking to us and we are happy to keep people on singletrack and fun double track whenever possible. The only pavement sections in the stages are what is necessary to access the trail network from Kamloops and bring racers safely back to the start/finish line at TRU. In the morning this bit of road will allow racers to warm up before getting on the gas as the field leaves Kamloops and heads out on that days loop.

We will post some in-depth reports on our News area about our trail scouting this spring along with some photos to show racers what the stages are like on the bike. Watch our site for regular updates.

Check out the stage profiles and spread the word……

The lucky winner of the our Thule give away is Nicholas Broskovich from Whitefish, Montana!

Nick is super stoked on the event and now has some new Thule rack gear to get his bike to that next ride or race….Nick is part of a big group of racers following the Intermontane around Whitefish that all hang out at Great Northern Cycles…..a great bike shop with a cafe built into it……sounds great….got to get down there for a java and a ride sometime…..

The doors open in February for one more lucky winner of our Thule giveaway….sign up and roll the dice……lady luck might be calling your name friend…..

Kelly

Halfway through the month and we have some more entries to the event - giving those racers a chance at some sweet Thule products…..we’ll announce the winner in a couple of weeks….

Stay tuned!

Our buddies at Thule have stepped up early in ‘09 to offer any new entrant into the Intermontane Challenge in the month of January a chance to win some sweet Thule products! Pretty simple - register for our event and be eligible to win either a 4 bike Thule Ridgeline hitch rack system or a roof system with 2 Peloton fork mount trays. We will e-mail the lucky winner a gift certificate that they will fill out, mail  it back to Thule and receive their choice of either of these two systems to get their riding and racing season rolling. We will announce the lucky winner at the end of January! Good luck!

Check out the Thule website -  www.thuleracks.com for the details on these and other awesome products to solve all of your bike transportation challenges!

Our Boxing Day Sale was a hit with all the racers out there…..we’re happy to be able to offer a great value on our entry fee to help all the racers make their plans of attending the race next July a reality! All of our categories received more entries with the majority being in the solo mens category….a great number of solo women as well signed up for the event which is a strong statement that us offering the females equal prize money was something that they have been waiting a long time for. Our team categories also were seeing some action…..all of our categories are filling up nicely as ‘08 comes to a close and we jump into the new year….all the comments revolve around everybody looking to race on some singletrack and have a great time….

Entries were strong from across Canada - BC,AB,SK,QC and even a whack from the Yukon!

The US riders came out in force from New Jersey,Wisconsin,Oklahoma,Montana,Oregon and so on……all of these riders are stoked to get out on our trails and rip it up.

We also saw a couple of really fast professionals take up the challenge as well. On the mens side a rider by the name of Evan Plews from Oregon has set his goal to give Tinker Juarez a run for the top prize in the solo mens category. Evan has some big time results behind him and is going to be a real threat….great to have him coming up and pinning it solo style and making our field that much more competitive.

On the female side, we are stoked to have another former Olympian competing in our solo womens category….none other than Lyne Bessette has entered as is going to be bringing her lengthy road race experience to Kamloops and try her hand at off road stage racing! Lyne has done it all on the pavement and now seems to be getting hooked on the dirt…Lyne chose our event due to the equality of the prize money and the desire for a challenge….Kamloops has another former Olympian to watch compete next July…..welcome Lyne!

As we roll into ‘09 we will be updating our website with race info and some very important newsletters to get the meat and potatoes out to the racers so to speak…..plus announce some new sponsors and such. Stay tuned to our site and contact us with any questions……

Almost 200 days till the gun goes off on stage 1…..

Happy Holidays

A new java inspired Intermontane t-shirt…..a great logo showing what fuels us - our event and caffeine! Watch out for these around your local bike shop worn by some java hound…..get them to buy you a coffee and let them tell you how to get your first shot of the Intermontane…….