Epic Rides has announced new 2021 OZ Trails Off-Road courses. With help from Visit Bentonville, Explore Bella Vista and Red Bull – on October 15-17 riders and racers will be able to head out from Downtown Bentonville, Arkansas, to take in 15, 30 and 50-mile routes.
These routes navigate to the backwoods of Bella Vista and return to the start/finish located off of Bentonville’s town centre.
The biggest difference from the 2019 course, is that the 30 and 50-mile routes have been reversed. According to Trailforks, ‘the mapping software and app of choice for Epic Rides’, the 15-mile route is green while the 30 and 50-mile routes are considered blue and black level routings accordingly.
The 50-mile route includes 3,615 feet of elevation gain.
Epic Rides adds that… ‘upwards of 90% of attendees will travel from outside the region to experience the mountain bike capital of the world’s unique trail offerings.’
“We recruit the top trail builders from across the country to push the envelope of trail design and construction,” said Walton Family Foundation Program Officer, Gary Vernon.
“Trail builders in the Oz region are encouraged to experiment with their craft, which results in true innovation. Racers will have the opportunity to ride features that are one of a kind works of art that give the experience of what we call memorable moments as they traverse the route.”
With more than US$75 million invested in soft and hard surface trails in the region to date, there is an extensive list of destination-worthy trails included in the course. The OZ Trails Off-Road routes include Ledges, All American Trail, Blowing Springs Loop, SBAT, Rago, Taylor Holmstead and A-Street Jump Line.
Safety and participant success are top-of-mind, and the cities of Bentonville, Bella Vista and Benton County Sheriff’s Department offer police escorts for each neutral rollout start plus traffic control at high profile road crossings.
A Red Bull Energy Station located in the final 10k of the 30 mile and 50 mile routes will be the starting point for a Strava segment to crown the fastest amateur male and female to complete the final 10k of the course.
