Here are the Dates for the Ouachita Challenge, April 5th & 6th 2008

Check out there web site @ http://www.ouachitachallenge.com/ and @ http://bikearkansasmessageboard.com

The Tour for Sat and the Race on Sunday are full - but someone will always bail close to go time. So watch the Bike Arkansas forums.

Just found this fourm today and have not seen much talk on MTBR about the event.
Anyone here doing it?

Im doing the tour on Saturday, it will be my first time doing the OC but not my first time on the womble. From what I have heard Im lucky to be doing it in the reverse direction, with blowout mtn at the beginning of our ride.

Do you expect the race times to increase much now that they are doing it the tour direction?

I just picked up an entry to the 60 mile race. This will be my 1st Challenge My goal is to do it in under 5 hours....

I just picked up an entry to the 60 mile race. This will be my 1st Challenge My goal is to do it in under 5 hours....
That's a pretty lofty goal for the first time doing the Challenge, that would have made you top 5 from looking at last years results (http://www.ouachitachallenge.com/results/past/race07.html)
I ended up around 6 hours last year, hopefully I'l get down around 5:30 this year. :eek:

Yeah that is a typo I meant 6 hours. I will have a more realistic grasp next weds, as I am riding from Lake Sylvia to Hwy 7 and back as a training loop. I used to race the Chequamegon 40 in 3 hours so I used that as a guide line. and I am training to keep that pace.

Race direction, I think anyway you cut it, the tour/race will be a tough one.The tour is just starting out a bit on the gentle side as compared too jumping into blowout mountain right off the bat.

Five hours...Six hours, I just want to make it half way before they kick me off the trail. Hats off to you guy's.

Five hours...Six hours, I just want to make it half way before they kick me off the trail. Hats off to you guy's.
you can do it bro, just keep pedaling.

about 5 months after my gf picked up mtb'ing at 21 (she hadnt ridden a bike since she was a kid) she went with me to do the o.c. 3 years ago on an otherwise stock trek 3900 with a sid fork. she made it all the way to the last cutoff and missed the deadline by 30 minutes. the only reason she missed it is because she is real friendly and kind of "talky" and spent a great deal of time (20+ minutes easy) at the feeding stops meeting and talking to people and making new friends.

minimize your rest stops to no more than 5 minutes for a couple of reasons. the first is obviously that it burns time on the clock. the other is that when you stop longer lactic acid will start to build up. its better to be pedaling slowly than to stop completely.

also, when youre on the fire roads and paved roads haul balls. use those areas to make good time.

lastly, take the mileage to the last cutoff and divide it by 7 hours. that should be your average speed. set your cyclometer on avg speed and try to keep that pace or above and youll make the last cutoff no problem.

and even if you dont, have a blast! :thumbsup:

the last time i did it i think the people that had the most fun were on a tandem. they didnt finish, and they wrecked... a LOT! but you could see the grins under their full face helmets with no problem! :lol:

Thanks for the encouraging words. I'm gonna give it my best. It should be a Blast, how come your not in this year?

Thanks for the encouraging words. I'm gonna give it my best. It should be a Blast, how come your not in this year?
i spaced and didnt try to register until about 5 hours after registration opened. :madman: filled up FAST this year.

I did the tour last year and found that my average speed droped off drastically during the last few hours of the ride. I found out the hard way that i only move at about 2mph pushing my bike up blowout mtn.

Mimimizing the rest stops is a good idea.