PRESS RELEASE: The inaugural Trans-Sylvania Mountain Bike Epic, a seven day mountain bike stage race through the beautiful mountains of central Pennsylvania, will be held from May 30 through June 5, 2010 in and around State College, PA. The seven stages will be comprised of stellar east coast singletrack interspersed with rolling mountain roads showcasing the incredible off-road riding in central Pennsylvania. The experience will include four stages starting and finishing within riding distance of the race campground and three stages within a one hour drive of the camp. The first stage is a 10 mile time trial, with remaining stages consisting of single-lap cross country courses 25-60 miles in length. Trans-Sylvania will include categories for solo competitors, two-person, open and corporate teams.
Director at large Ray Adams sees the event appealing to far more than just serious racers: “The Trans-Sylvania Epic is within a day’s drive of the majority of the US and Canadian populations and makes for an affordable summer vacation. We hope to draw not just competitors, but the families and friends of race participants as well. It is very easy to get to State College and participants will find trails that are as good as anything anywhere in the world.” Executive director Mike Kuhn agrees, “Our home-base campground offers numerous amenities including lodges, a swimming pool, and a full dining facility and is a convenient drive to State College, home of Penn State University, where you’ll find all the variety the largest city in central PA can offer including a whole host of food and lodging options.”
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Kuhn and Adams are no strangers to mountain biking and event promotion. The two have led the visitPA.com Mountain Bike Team through five years of successful racing, promoting tourism in their home state. Having promoted some of the largest mountain bike events in the Mid-Atlantic, Kuhn brings considerable experience to organizing such happenings. “We are excited for the opportunity to bring the week-long off-road stage racing format to Pennsylvania. This is an event we’ve been working on for close to two years and we are looking forward to showcasing the incredible trails here in the Keystone State through this challenging, memorable and fun experience,” said Kuhn. “Trans-Sylvania will be the great value in well-earned racing experiences and a great vacation for participants and spectators alike.”
Unique to Trans-Pennsylvania and designed to appeal to a broad variety of participants and generate interest within professional circles is the Corporate Category. Within this category the fastest three team member’s times on each stage will count toward the overall while permitting teams to start as many riders as they like on any given day. This allows riders of all abilities to participate as often as they like through the week without penalizing team members who want to ride every day. Designed with incredible riding and a fun experience in mind and with the ease of travel to get to the event, the Trans-Sylvania Epic will appeal to serious racers as well as those looking for a week-long adventure vacation in the beautiful Pennsylvania wilderness.
The Trans-Sylvania Epic is a production of The Outdoor Experience Organization, a non-profit Pennsylvania organization whose mission is to build and create, improve upon, and document forest trails in the state of Pennsylvania for the use of foot traffic, bicycles, cross-country skiers, equestrians and other user groups in order to increase interest in sustainable, healthy, and enjoyable outdoor oriented activities; build outdoor recreation tourism in Pennsylvania; and contribute to improved community health and wellness by increasing availability of fitness-related outdoor recreational activities and enhancing outdoor recreational opportunities.
More details at www.TransSylvaniaEpic.com; by emailing TransSylvaniaEpic@gmail.com or by calling 717-350-1029.
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