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BY BOB WILLIAMS
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
SKIING AND SNOWBOARDING
WILMINGTON, N.Y. – How can anyone think of mountain biking smack dab in the middle of the ski season? Well, if you ski or snowboard, now’s the time to train for the Leadville Trail 100, one of the most well-known -- and the holy grail, so to speak -- of mountain bike races.
But getting into the Leadville Trail 100 has always been difficult. One way to get in is by racing in one of the six 2012 LT100 Qualifiers across the country, each of which offers 100 total qualifying starting positions. Thus, once again, this tiny picturesque village of Wilmington, here in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains will host the Wilmington/Whiteface 100 (WW 100), a qualifying event, on Sunday, June 17.
The Leadville Trail 100 is held in Leadville, Colo. No date has been set for this year’s event.
“Skiing is the perfect way to train for a mountain bike event,” says Jon Lundin of the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA), which operates Olympic venues here in the Lake Placid area. “And it’s a way for visitors to enjoy Whiteface Mountain not only in the winter but in the summer as well.”
Lundin points out that recreational skiing and snowboarding relate to mountain biking because skiing develops leg strength, which is so important for the grueling mountain competition.
As the only LT 100 qualifier here in the Northeast, the WW100 will coincide with the annual Wilmington/Whiteface Bike Fest. The race will start and finish here at Whiteface Mountain, home of the 1980 Olympic alpine competitions. The course will weave its way through jeep roads, back country trails, Jay and Saddleback mountains, and through the towns of Wilmington, Jay, Lewis, Elizabethtown and Keene. A grueling 2,501-ft. climb of Whiteface Mt. concludes the event.
“The town of Wilmington is extremely excited to host the Wilmington/Whiteface 100 once again,” said Randy Preston, town supervisor. “I think that our race course is the most diverse in the Leadville Qualifier series. We have added more mileage this year going into a fifth town. This will make it unique and a true Adirondack event.”
According to David Weins, the race’s technical director, and a six-time LT 100 champion, the Wilmington/Whiteface event offers a variety of challenges.
