I know its a little bit early to post this. Any of you guys have joined this? i know doug he legendary mechanic of vsc has done 3 buckles. Any thoughts on how to prep for the race?!
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Interesting. I would love to try this just for the experience.
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A friend in Fredericton has done this race many times, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard her say anything negative about it. From 2016: “Registered for the 40. I can never resist those fun trails, great autumn colours, delicious community supper, auction preserves & baked stuff.” Have also seen reference to “NB’s most popular MTB event.” We might need to do some pre-riding of the course. 
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If you’re into endurance races, I’ve heard good things about the one in Minto, NB too.
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and it never gets easier, you just go faster. - Greg Lemond … ahh my cycling gods!
anyways can we do mini weekly ecmtb races just for fun whilst preping for any upcoming races?!
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When I raced it in 2014 I did a few long rail-trail rides (4+hrs) early in the season and tried to ride as often as I could. Forget days off, just ride longer and easier. I would recommend a road bike as well. My endurance improved drastically with the road bike. I would try to get in a couple of century rides a couple of months before the race. Also think about your nutrition. I carried an extra water bottle in my jersey, 2 bananas and multiple gel packs and chews for each 40k loop. I think I’d ditch the gels and chews and make some kind of rice/date/nut (or seed) mix like Clara Hughes uses. I might carry a small camelbak instead of or in addition to bottles. I’d recommend opting for the cheap breakfast beforehand. I slept in a hotel in Moncton the night before since my wife was visiting friends in the area but some friends stayed on the floor of the Fire Hall in Elgin and they didn’t enjoy it. I’ll try to think of more but don’t hesitate to sign up. It will force you to do the training. Good luck!
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Personally I’m interested in it just for the fact of doing a huge ride and having fun. I’m not really interested in racing to actually race.
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Same approach I had to the fat bike race in Mahone Bay last weekend: show up, have fun. I’m sure we’d (eventually) look back on it and laugh.
For me the goal was a belt buckle but when I arrived the morning of the race to rain for hours, my goal became to just finish. Several of my friends didn’t make the cut-off time for the last 40km loop.
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Belt buckle? Is that a winners thing, or a finishers thing?
http://nordictrailfestival.com/festival/
The trails in Presque Isle were awesome and the event had a really fun vibe.
The top 25 in the 120 get a belt buckle.
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It’s an awesome race. I did it a couple times many years ago. Prep is just riding like crazy.
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Its on my bucket list, I’d like to do it this year, but depends on if I end up doing a big car race in the fall.
The Minto trails are really good, so racing, or just riding there is recommended.
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Hi buds. I am hoping to do it. Slowly inching towards an upgrade in the mtb department. Thinking full squish semi fat to cheat a bit on any rooty or tech single track or low traction climbs (i.e. where I am weak). I have pretty good endurance and I’m reasonably quick on long road climbs so I hope to get a buckle. But I will have to be happy even finishing 
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I’d be up for organizing a couple century rides. I try to do one or two a year.
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Will be doing it this year. I did the 40km a couple of years ago on my Roam. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend a hybrid for this, but it was do-able.
I’ll be picking up my new Scale 945 soon and will be looking to start re-building my endurance base. AHC will be the first form check in mid-summer and should give me an indication of where I need to get to for Elgin,
I need to get out of the basement first, though!
Edit: By the way, this is a super well organized event and the whole town comes out to support it. If you go and don’t make the podium and win the homemade preserves, pickles and baked goods (seriously!), be sure to drop some cash with the local merchants.
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There is generally a few really long rides in the valley that uses mostly singletrack and doubletrack to combine the different trail systems. Trailflow organizes a big ride in the summer. I think it was 70km?
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That sounds awesome!