The Woolastook 5, 2008

ECMTB Presents: The Woolastook 5, 2008

Ride the event that helped ECMTB Velo NB's New Organizer of the Year Award!

Last year East Coast Mountain Biking blasted onto the New Brunswick scene with The Woolastook 5 2007. Racers from all over New Brunswick and Nova Scotia enjoyed perfect weather and some of New Brunswick's best singletrack for five hours of pleasure and / or pain. In 2008 East Coast Mountain Biking is delivering The Woolastook 5 2008... the same five hours of pleasure and / or pain- plus another full day of events!

The regular five hour, as many laps as you can do race will happen on Sunday May 25th. The day before (Saturday May 24th) participants will be treated to a Hill Climb, a Mud Sprint and a Slow Race. Should folks throw down at a party that Saturday night in Woolastook Park Campground... who is ECMTB to stop it!

The Details:

Saturday May 24th

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.- Registration
- Location TBA

12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
- Hill Climb
- Location TBA

The two hours allowed for the Hill Climb will be divided into 24 five minute time slots. At registration each racer will chose a time slot, at which time they will begin their attack on 'Mountain Road.' Mountain Road is appropriately named after it's topography. The course is approximately 2.75 km long, and the elevation gain over that length is approximately 200 m.

There will be four categories: Women 17 and over, Men 17 and over, Women U17 and Men U17. (Should enough younger riders register, new categories may be added.)

3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
- Mud Sprint
- Woolastook Park

On the driest day in August these trails are muddy. In May they are the definition of mud. Time to get down and dirty! The Mud Sprint will be a mass start short sprint race, less than 5 km, and exhibiting some muddy trails. Spectators will be directed to the best photo spots! Leave the white socks at home.

There will be four categories: Women 17 and over, Men 17 and over, Women U17 and Men U17. (Should enough younger riders register, new categories may be added.)

5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
- Slow Race
- Woolastook Park

Slow? Race? Yup. The last person to cross the finish line of this very short course wins. No track stands, you always have to be moving forward. No contact with other riders. Smiles and laughs required.

There will be one category: Humans.

Saturday Night
At the conclusion of the Slow Race, the official events of the day are finished. However, for those camping at Woolastook Park, and those who want to hang around for a while ECMTB expects there to be some unofficial festivities! All are welcome and encouraged to stick around and enjoy a fire and a beverage or two. Bring your own food, beverages and camping supplies.

We're currently waiting to hear what kind of turnout we'll have for camping, if there is a positive response then ECMTB will take care of the arrangements. Otherwise people can make their own arrangements through Woolastook Park. If you plan on camping please contact Andrew "O9Man" Lowery at o9man@ecmtb.com.

Sunday May 25th

8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
- Registration (For those who did not participate Saturday)
- Woolastook Park

9:30 a.m. - 9:40 a.m.
- O9Man's Address to the Participants

10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
- The Woolastook 5
- Woolastook Park

As soon as possible after 3:00 p.m.
- Awards Ceremony

Racers will have five hours to complete as many laps as they can. Their last lap can be started any time before 3:00 p.m.

There will be six categories: Women 17 and over, Men 17 and over, Women U17, Men U17, Team 17 and over, Team U17. Teams can be made 2 - 5 members. (Should registration produce sufficient groups to add other categories, such categories will be added. Similarly, categories may be removed if sufficient numbers do not exist.)

Mission Statement
If you participated in The Woolastook 5 2007 you may have noticed there was no podium at the end of the race. The winners worked very hard and they were respectfully honored with medals and due applause, but the purpose of the Woolastook 5 isn't necessarily to determine who the fastest riders are. The purpose of the Woolastook 5 is to enjoy a weekend of riding with good company.

If your idea of enjoyment is taking a few laps, having a lot of laughs, and relaxing in the sun then that is how you should approach the race. If your idea of enjoyment is laying down the hammer and squeezing out as many laps as super-humanly possible, then that is how you should approach it.

In 2007 is was great to see some of the top racers in the Maritimes push each other at the same time as groups of friends carried on the whole time. It was remarkable how much the different groups respected one another. Perhaps more notable was the normally casual riders who pushed their limits as far as they had ever been pushed, while other normally hardcore riders took the race lightly and had enjoyed a few more laughs than they normally would.

How to Register
Andrew "O9Man" Lowery at o9man@ecmtb.com for a registration sheet.

Cost: $50 for the entire weekend of racing, $35 if only participating in one day's events.

On site registration will be accepted, but please contact Andrew if you plan on attending the race.

Camping will be available at Woolastook Park, the method in which you can purchase a camp site for the weekend is yet to be determined. Again, contact Andrew with your intentions.

This is the flagship event for ECMTB in 2008, be sure you don't miss it!

Posted by O9man at May 6, 2008 12:15 AM

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