Prologue and Stage 1

Jul 17

Starting from the Gould Academy’s idyllic property at Pine Hill in Bethel, Maine, 24 hour teams first had to find a series of checkpoints placed closely together in the surrounding woods. The route would only take the fastest teams around 35 minutes to complete, after which they would pick up their bikes to begin the first of two mountain bike stages in the race. At approximately 32 miles of mountain biking along roads and trails. the first real stage of the race was a hard introduction to the challenges that were to come later.

A team heads into the forest from the clearing at the Pine Hill Property. Photo: Legendary Randy Ericksen

Team Strong Machine in the first transition well ahead of the field. *Photo: R. Perry Flowers*

Notably though, the route took racers through the Bethel Community Forest’s mountain bike trail network. These trails have recently been constructed as part of a larger effort to increase options for outdoor activities in the region.