Moab is about to become the third home of the Furious3, a mountain bike stage race that has previously been held in Fernie and Whistler, British Columbia. The Moab version of the Furious3 will be a three-day stage race from September 29, through October 1st. Registration is open right now.
According to UtahMountainBiking.com, the race will begin at the Bar M parking lot. Their estimation is that the first leg will have mountain bikers pedaling in the areas of Gemini Bridges, Gold Bar, Little Canyon Singletrack and Rim, and Bull Run for a total of 40 miles and 3,380 feet of climbing.
Details about stage two are sketchy, but it’s likely that the race will move to the foothills of the La Sal Mountains for a 30 mile day with over 4088 feet of climbing.
Day three will also be 30 miles, but with less climbing at only 2990 feet. The course will return to the start at Bar M, but will take riders through terrain like Sovereign Singletrack, to Cedar Mountain, then finishing back at Bar M via Salt Wash.
There will be six different categories to choose from that you can compete in: Solo Male, Solo Female, 2 Man Team, 2 Women Team, Coed 2 Person Team, and Relay Team. There is a limit of 500 entries for the Moab Furious 3, plus 20 relay team entries.
Here’s the breakdown from the Furious3 website:
Solo
Solo is pretty straight forward. Nobody to count on but yourself and the goal is just to get from the start to the finish as fast as you can. Solo will be broken down into 6 categories for prize purposes. They are:
Womens Open
Women 40+
Women 50+
Mens Open
Men 40+
Men 50+
2 Person Teams
This includes 2 Man, 2 Women, and Coed. Both members of the team will ride the full day each day. The 2 team members may never be more than 2 minutes apart. There will be random checkpoints on the course. If they are found to be more than 2 minutes apart, a 30 minute penalty will be added to their time for that stage. If one or both of the members of the team cannot continue for any reason, the team is a DNF (did not finish). The member that can continue may continue the race and finish, but will not be given an official time or a finisher’s award. Two person teams will be broken down into 7 categories for prize purposes. They are:
Women Open Team (combined ages add up to less than 80)
Women 80+ (combined ages add up to 80 or more)
Women 100+ (combined ages add up to 100 or more)
Men Open Team (combined ages add up to less than 80)
Men 80+ (combined ages add up to 80 or more)
Men 100+ (combined ages add up to 100 or more)
Coed Open Team
Relay Team
The relay team can be a team of either 2 or 3 members. One member of the team will ride at a time and that one member will complete the whole stage for that particular day. Any member can do any stage, but each member must do at least one stage.
The cost of the Moab Furious 3 is as follows:
Solo and 2 person team entry – $ 449 per person plus applicable taxes
Relay team entry – $749 per team plus applicable taxes
Participants who compete in the Moab Furious3 get lots of goodies, like a custom made Furious3 bike jersey by Code Sports Cycling Apparel, a finisher’s custom hoodie, a killer dinner at the awards ceremony, and the knowledge that part of your entry fee will be donated to a local trails group that will help continue maintenance and development of new trails in Moab.
As far as I can tell, the Moab Furious3 may be the biggest mountain bike race in the state. So if you think you’ve got it in you, sign up now because spots will probably fill up fast. For much more information, or to register, visit the Furious3 website at www.furious3.com/html/moab.html