CARPe diem showcased 167 racers from every corner of “The Natural State”. We even had 15 children ripping up the trails in the Kid’s Race. Overall there were well over 300 people in attendence throughout the day making the CARPe diem MTB Festival one of the biggest events of the season! Special thanks to all of our amazing sponsors and everyone who came out to make this much more than just a race; with your help CARPe diem transformed from a vision into an unforgettable experience.

A big shoutout also goes to Camp Robinson for hosting this amazing event, we were proud to have 5 active military gurus come join the ranks of their fellow MTN Bikers. Special thanks to Captain Bryan Shipman and Lt. Col. Shannon Saucy for making this monumental occasion possible. We look forward to further developing the relationship between Camp Robinson and the CARPe diem MTB Festival for years to come.

Well I think we can say without a doubt that the CARPe diem MTB Festival was a smashing success!

Thanks to everyone for your extremely generous donations, we have about 200 lbs of clothes in my garage right now that are headed up to the AR State Hospital to find new homes. I can’t express to you how much your old clothes will be appreciated by people who often wear the same outfit for days on end. Also we collected a lot of food and $500 in donations for the AR Foodbank. Got a call today saying how grateful they were for your kind contributions, many people will be fed because of your generosity.

As far as the venue and trails go everyone did a great job keeping it clean & green. A big thanks to everyone for recycling too. Went out and ran the course after the festival and only found a few goos on the trail, so muchos gracious for being so conscious of the trails and their purity. One day after the festival everything is cleaner and in better shape than it was before we came. Leave no trace ethics at their best.

This is great!

For those of you that would like to see them, we’ve just uploaded a PDF of the race results for you to enjoy.  Looks like some of you really killed it and turned in some super quick lap times; good job all!

I also just found some pictures that were shared (mostly CAT 3s I think); thanks to joshnf for sharing these @ flickr!

We also got some great coverage @ Todays THV, and you should let them know that you want to see more stuff like this. Email is news (at) todaysthv.com to let them know. Thanks to Lindsey Clark for the coverage.

Also everyone’s favorite recumbent mountain biker (take a bow Mike) shared a great video on youtube.

I’ll be sharing links for new stuff (pictures etc) as it comes in so be sure you check back often.

If registering on the tubes scares you, you can also pre-register @ Chainwheel on Saturday from 2-6pm.

Looks like Todd should have the course marked today or early tomorrow for all your pre-riding goodness, so what are you waiting for?

Also don’t forget your non-perishable food items for the Arkansas Food bank, and if the closet can spare it clothing/shoe donations for the Arkansas State Hospital.

CARPe Diem!

trophy preview

Hey Racers! I just wanted to put up a quick post for you with a little bit of info. Looks like we are going to have BEAUTIFUL weather for Sunday; right now, weather.com is showing lots of sunshine and temperatures that are a bit warmer. Sunshine on Friday and Saturday too so it should be a great race!

For all you out of towners, the trails out at Camp Robinson drain and hold up really well, so don’t be worried about coming and racing; it will be a good time. Add in the food, music, and fun and it will be a great time!

Also, don’t forget that online registration is running @ BikeReg until Friday the 16th. Registering online will save you a fair bit of time on race day, so I heartily recommend that you consider it. It makes it easier all around and saves you from waiting in line as long too!

If registering on the internet just isn’t your cup of tea, the good folks over at Chainwheel are hooking it up on preregistration on Saturday the 17th from 2-6pm. Not quite the great option that online registration is, but still better than waiting till the day of the race.

I hope you’re all pumped about this weekend, this should be an awesome return to racing at Camp; be sure you tell all your friends to come out and support this event.

Also don’t forget that we will be collecting non-perishable food items for the Arkansas Food Bank, and accepting clothing and shoe donations for the Arkansas State Hospital. These are both great charities, so if you get a chance grab something from the pantry or closet to help them out.

Oh, and in case you are wondering. The pic above is a teaser of the fly trophys that Frank @ Chainwheel made for the event. Race hard enough, and you just might to get to take one home!

• Online registration has been extended until Fri, Oct 16. This is a great option for you intarweb addicts; quick, easy, and painless
• Pre-registration @ Chainwheel will happen on Saturday October 17th from 2-6pm. This is another nice option. You could even thank people for helping put on such a fantastic event.
• Race day race day registration will run from 7:30-11:30am on Sunday, Oct 18. Not the best option as it could severly cut down on the time you have to cut up and psyche out your competition before the race.

So that should be the most up to date registration info there is. Sorry for any mixups.

1. Online registration has been extended till Fri, Oct 16. Don’t use this to put it off though. There are *AWESOME* schwag bags, but they are only guaranteed for the first 200 racers. Don’t miss out, because I doubt anyone will share their loot.
2. The great folks down at Chainwheel are hooking it up for pre-registration from 2-6pm on Sat, Oct 17.  This will also give you a shot at scoring that last minute stuff you always borrow @ the races.  You know, a GU, tubes, etc.
3. If that’s not enough registration time for you, race day registration will run from 7:30-11:30 on Sun, Oct 18.  Yeah, that’s right.  The day of.  That’s for all you indecisive folks. =)
4. We will be collecting non-perishable food items for the AR Foodbank at the race.  Please bring a can of veggies or box of mac & cheese or anything else you can spare.  While this is a very small thing for most of us (just think about what you spend on GU in a month), it can be a huge boost for someone in a less fortunate position.  The lives of countless people will be touched by your acts of generosity and kindness. I bet we can all spare 15 seconds for a quick raid of the pantry before heading out to the race site.
5. We will also be collecting clothing and shoes for the AR State Hospital.  In addition to suffering from chronic and tragic mental and emotional disabilities, these patients often have no one to show them any love or compassion.  Your old clothes might not be important to you but they will be cherished by kind misunderstood souls who often wear the same pair of clothes day after day after day. I know that just about all of you have said something about cleaning out your closet or dresser in the last couple months; now would be a great time to do it so you can help some other folks at the same time.

So, that’s about it. Also, keep in mind that the Wyndham is running a sweet 1/2 off special for racers through tomorrow. We’re working hard to get it extended, but don’t put it off. Call them up at (501) 371-9000 and tell them your part of the CARPe Diem MTB Festival. This is a really nice hotel only ~10 min from the race. Your not gonna find a deal this good anywhere else in Little Rock. $75/night special should begin tomorrow. You’re non-racing spouse will love you for it. CARPe Diem!!

Hey all you Out of Towners,

Just got some excellent news from the Wyndham Riverfront in NLR, apparently they want to help out with the festival and they’ve set aside 50 rooms for 1/2 price. The deal is only running through Fri, but I’m trying to get them to extend it for us. So if your gonna make a reservation do it now! Just call (501) 371-9000 and tell them your part of the CARPe diem MTB Festival. This is a really nice hotel only ~10 min from the race. Your not gonna find a deal this good anywhere else in Little Rock. $75/night special should begin tomorrow.

The trails are primed, the buzz is in the air, don’t miss out on this amazing event. Oh yeah, since we’re going to be racing/partying down on an army base, I’ve been asked to remind everyone to please act responsibly. So obvious stuff like no getting hammered and driving your car, NO LITTERING, no streaking before noon, little things like that. Just kidding on the streaking, but seriously we want to have this event year after year so please respect the land and the base.

I know that you guys are all cool about not trashing the place, but I left it in as that’s what he sent. But, no one reading would ever do any of that stuff right?

PS: GO REGISTER

I also just got the schedule of events, so I thought Id share them with you.

MTN Bike Schedule of Events

Registration: 7:30-9:30am
Kid’s Race: (0.3 miles) 9:35am
Cat 3 AKA Beginners: (2 laps=11.6 miles) 10am
Novice AKA “real” Beginners: (1 lap=5.8 miles) 10:15am
Cat 3 & Novice Award Ceremony: 12pm
Cat 1 AKA Xperts & Pros: 12pm

• Cat 1/Pro Men <50 (4 laps=23.2 miles)
• Cat 1/Pro Men 50+ and all Cat 1/Pro Women (3 laps=17.4 miles)

Cat 2 AKA Sport:(3 laps=17.4 miles) 12:15pm
Pixie Race: (2.0 miles) 3pm
Cat 1 & Cat 2 Award Ceremony: 3:15pm

Festival Schedule of Events

Star Spangled Banner: 9:30am
Drum Circle/Belly-dancing/Yoga/Dance: 9:30-11:00am
5^th & River: 11:00am-12:00pm
Damn Bullets: 12:30-1:45pm
Starroy: 2:00-3:15pm

So for real, how much fun does this look like? I mean what else could you possibly need for a good time?

• bike racing: CHECK
• live music: CHECK
• costume contest: CHECK
• free food: CHECK
• cool bike vendors: CHECK
• great contests & games: CHECK
• and even MORE!

So get your Mom, your sister, and Tom, and get thee down to the CARP trails on Sunday October the 18th for a rocking good time.  Oh yeah, GO REGISTER!

Oh yeah, and we’re on Facebook too. Hit the link to the left to fan us up and pass the link to all your Mafia Wars and Farmville friends!

• start on the dirt road (West Boundry Rd.) to prevent bottle necking at the start
• turn right on Pipeline
• take immediate left on Zig Zag
• follow Zig Zag to 5 Mile Loop
• turn left on 5 Mile loop and follow back to finish

Sounds sweet, right?! I’ve got a feeling that there is going to be lots of stealth pre-riding and course recon in the next few weeks so get out and get to it!

Oh, and for you stats freaks, here are the racecourse stats from the GPS track:

• 5.8 miles
• 433 feet of climbing

Looks like one thing to me; FAST!  You better bring your big ring, and you dirty singlespeeders had better drop a tooth. This baby is gonna RAWK!

There were also a few of you that wondered if spectators would need to have CARP cards.  The answer is NO, so bring ‘em out; the more the better. You’ll just need the usual ID/registration stuff to get on the base if you’re driving.

“CARPe diem” means seize the day in Latin and that is exactly what we are doing with the racecourse layout. After hearing feedback from everyone we got the messages loud and clear:

#1: The Cat 1/2 course was just too damn hard to do 2-3 laps. With the fastest Expert times hovering around 1hr per lap this could have easily turned into a 3-4 hr death march and devoured the whole afternoon for many unwitting participants. We want the Sport & Expert racers to really dig the race not just survive it, they got to save their energy for dancing and telling newbies all about the magical wonders of ripping through the forest on two wheels.

#2: The Beginners (Cat 3) want more distance, 5.6 miles was just not enough.

#3: What about all those riders brand new to the mountain biking scene who really can’t handle much more than 5 miles?

#4: And what about the Children?

To resolve these worthy queries, we have some very important announcements:

We are getting rid of Advanced Trig and all that other jazz, in its place we will be utilizing Dan’s most excellent 5.6 mile Beginner course layout for multiple laps. Plus we’re adding a Novice option for the “True Beginners”

So how many laps will I do???

Kid’s Race ~1/3 mile, kicks off the festivities @ 9:30
Novice x1 lap (5.6 miles)
Beginners x2 laps (11.2 miles)
Sport x3 laps (16.8 miles)
Expert x4 laps (22.4 miles)

This will make the course much faster, flowier, & more fun. Plus the new course will be very spectator friendly. Racers can go “balls to the wall” and get back faster to enjoy their family & friends along with all the free food, the 3 rockin’ live bands, drum circles, dancing and all the other festivities. Make no mistake this is much more than just a race, this will be a festival the likes of which none of us has ever seen. It’s all about bringing new people into the sport, and this event is destined to do just that. Yeah, it will be a blast for all us experienced vets, but in the end it’s all about the children and the newbies.

Like Ron Burgundy, this race is “kind of a big deal,” so tell everyone you know (not that you’ll need to), call up all your biking buddies, drag your spouse out of the house, and go kidnap some random kids for the day. On October 18th @ Camp Robinson it’s goin’ down!!!

Let’s get all the emails goin around in a round table style, so reply to the group and let’s all work together to create the “Mother of all MTB Races”!

Clayton

PS: go register!