Race Day Handbook: 2024 TCTF presented by Stone Hound Brewing

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The stoke, as they say, is rising. We can’t wait to get back on the start line with more than 200 of our mountain bike pals. The 2024 Traverse City Trails Festival presented by Stone Hound Brewing is almost here and we’ve got everything you need to know!

The TCTF is a critical part of Northern Michigan Mountain Bike Association’s work. This is our biggest fundraising event of the year, but it’s also how we build our active community. We take a lot of pride in offering an affordable, accessible, family-friendly event - thank you for being a part of it!

The Basics

  • Date: Saturday, September 28, 2024

  • Location: Timber Ridge RV and Recreation Resort, 4050 E. Hammond Road, Traverse City, Michigan, 49686 (Google Maps Link) 

  • Early Plate Pick-up: Timber Ridge Banquet Hall 3-7 pm

  • Plate Pick-up: 7 am - 8:40 am There is no late or day-of registration! Online registration closes on Friday, 9/27, at noon. Pick up your plate behind the Lodge (building on the left) near the outdoor firepit/porch.

  • 28-mile race start time: 9 am

  • 15-mile race and all tours start: 9:10 am

  • Norte Balance Bike Race: High Noon! (Please register your child for the free Norte Balance Bike Race)

Online Registration

Online registration is open!

Volunteer Information

Ready to lend a hand? We’re still looking for volunteers! Sign-up today.

Parking

Please obey all parking signage and the parking volunteers directing traffic. When parking at Timber fills up, please park only on the west side of Six Mile Road. Do not obstruct driveways or intersections. When in doubt, park on dirt and do not block any RVs.

Consider parking at the New and Improved (and Expanded!) parking lot at the Vasa Supply Road Trailhead. It’s a lovely 1.1 mile-ish ride over to Timber Ridge and will save us some parking spots!

The Course

The long course will be just shy of 30 miles and includes sections of marked and unmarked singletrack. Follow the color-coordinated signage which will match your number plate! Expect 90% singletrack trails and 1 aid station just past the halfway point.

The short course is just shy of 15 miles and primarily includes sections of the Vasa Singletrack. Expect a fast and fun course!

Route files for your Garmin/Wahoo.

Etiquette

Please be cool. This is going to be a whole lot more fun if riders seed themselves appropriately at the start. Be a good sport; if a rider asks to pass, please allow them to get by as soon as it’s safe.

Safety

You’ll find emergency information located on the back of your number plate. If you’re having a medical emergency, contact 911. Be safe, be smart and look out for each other.

What About the Food and Beer?

We have not one but TWO food trucks on hand this year! Check out Mac’s Shack and Guiseppi’s Pizza post-race. We’ll also have Stone Hound Brewing on hand - and hey, the SHB crew is located just a few miles away!

Sponsors

Bezos doesn’t sponsor TCTF - local sponsors do. We can’t thank our community partners enough for their continued support of this event and all of the events that make Northern Michigan such a wonderful place to be active.

Take a moment to check out our sponsors!

Results

Results are available here.

More Ways to Support NMMBA

Can’t make the race? Consider becoming a member or making a donation!

Traverse City Trails Festivals Get A New Date, Venue!

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The Traverse City Trails Festival presented by Stone Hound Brewing has new digs and a new date! After a lot of discussion with race participants, sponsors and the board, we’re stoked to confirm that the 2023 Traverse City Trails Festival will start and finish at Timber Ridge Resort on September 30!

Why Timber?

We’ve loved the atmosphere and unique setting provided by Rand Rudolf since the first edition of TCTF. The venue truly became a part of the TCTF experience; who hasn’t hopped in the creek after crossing the line?

However, the ranch did limit our access to some of the best trails in the area. It also forced us to cross a busy Supply Road twice, adding to the risk of the event, our volunteer needs and impacting the experience.

Enter Timber Ridge. Gordon and crew have been crucial to the development of trails and, just as important, the growth of our community for decades. Timber has facilitated our winter grooming program by allowing us storage and a cabin, plus donated generously to NMMBA and other bike-focused non-profits, including TART and Norte.

In addition to being a nice place to camp, it’s also in the perfect location to allow for easy access to nearly 100 miles of trails. The prospect has our course design team salivating.

About That TCTF Route…

We’re working on nailing down courses for three distances. While the mileage isn’t set, expect each of these categories to be roughly these lengths:

  • Expert/Elite – 25-30 miles, 2 hours

  • Sport – 20-25 miles, 1.5 hours

  • Beginner – 15-20 miles, 1 hour

So Why September?

Summers are busy. Based on feedback from race participants, the July race date was a challenge based on other events and off-the-bike priorities. We also faced several editions of TCTF with temperatures well into the 90s! We’re confident that moving September will make TCTF the unofficial kickoff of the fall mountain biking season that queues up a slew of great races across the state.

How can I get involved?

We like your attitude! Register to race or ride with us or by becoming a sponsor. Can’t make it September 9? You can still support our mission by registering to race and considering it a donation!

2021 Traverse City Trails Festival p/b Short's Brewing: Thank You, Racers!

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On behalf of the NMMBA Board and everyone at the Traverse City Trails Festival presented by Short’s Brewing, thank you for such a wonderful Sunday in the woods!

We had a perfect day for a race, and we hope that you enjoyed every second of your time at Ranch Rudolf and on the course this year. If you’ve raised with us before, you know how much time Tom White and the whole trail crew put into creating something fun and unique for the Traverse City Trails Festival, and certainly think we achieved that with the routes for 2021. 

What’s Next

Looking ahead, we hope you’ll join us for the Bear Claw Epic on September 25! This is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Cadillac Pathway and has played a big part in the many improvements that have come to that trail over the past several years. We know that this fall is absolutely packed with racing options, but we hope you’ll include this very special race and trail in your campaign. 

Save $5 with the coupon code TCTF21 and get committed! 

Results

You can check out the full results from Sunday’s events right here.

Sponsors

We have been so lucky to get have the support of sponsors like Short’s Brewing, Max’s Service, Suttons Bay Bikes, and so many more. We hope you’ll take a second to check out our Sponsors Page and Like or Review even just one that you love, or consider making an effort to support one that is new to you! 

Photos

Cris Pena will have a TON of great race photos available Cris Pina Photography soon! 

Until then, check out this album of pre-race and the assault up the opening climb! 

Thank you all so much for racing and we will see you in the woods soon!

2021 Race Day Information

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It’s here! The 2021 Traverse City Trails Festival p/b Short’s Brewing is this Sunday, July 25. 

We’ve put together everything you need to know in one spot to make race day less stressful and run smoothly. 

First, we want to thank everyone for signing up and being a part of this event. Especially after the past year and a half, we have been anxious about the event’s reception and about our ability to put this race on safely. We ask that you stay home if you are feeling in sick in any way this weekend and to contact us if you believe you may have had a COVID-19 exposure before or after the event so we can communicate accordingly. 

Race Venue

We’re so happy to be back at the Ranch! Ranch Rudolf is located at: 

6841 Brown Bridge Road, Traverse City, Michigan 4969

Parking will be in the fields to the south of the ranch. Please follow the directions of our parking volunteers and signage.  Do NOT park on the shoulder of any road or enter the Ranch on race day.  There is no parking in the downtown ranch area. 

Registration

Online registration closes Wednesday, July 21. 

We WILL be offering in-person registration! You’ll have two opportunities. 

Early packet pick-up will be available Saturday, July 24 at Wild Card Cycle Works from 1-4 pm. You’ll also be able to register, and make sure you fill out a waiver! 

You can also sign up on race day from 7am - 8:30 am. 

Start Times

All 28-mile races start at 9 am. 

All 15-mile races start at 9:15 am. 

All Tour riders will start AFTER the 15-mile racers. 

We ask that our two race waves seed themselves accordingly. Faster riders up front, slower riders in the back. It’s more fun for everyone, and faster, to be in the right spot. That opening hill should help to sort things out! 

The Course

The course will be marked with color-coordinated arrows. All 28-mile events will follow blue arrows and 15-mile events will follow yellow arrows. If you forget, look down at your number plate; hey, it matches your distance. 

You can see the 2021 28 mile route here. It’s worth having on your GPS unit for additional peace of mind. 

  1. This is a single-track race.  If a rider catches you or asks please help him or her pass you. 

  2. There are more gravel road sections in the 2021 TCTF than past years, please remember to respect the imaginary center line and do NOT cross it.  Also, LOOK BOTH WAYS when entering a gravel road.  There will be no traffic support on the gravel sections and YOU are responsible to stay safe.

  3. There is only ONE exception to the imaginary center line rule and that is at the start of the race.  The entire road is closed for your passing and sprinting pleasure.  This is the ONE TIME you are allowed to use the whole road.  There is no excuse for not getting the position you prefer in the peloton.

  4. During the race you will cross some paved roads.  There will be crossing guards at each of them.  However, the last 2 miles of the race has several places where racers will use the SHOULDER of Ranch Rudolf Road.  You are NOT allowed to use ANY of the paved surface.  There will be stakes and ribbon to remind you but in case the ribbon gets pulled down, you must know you may NOT use the paved road.  The course goes in and out of the woods during the last 2 miles and racers could easily miss a piece of single track and become disqualified.  If you stay on the gravel shoulder you can’t mess up your race. 

  5. If you are waiting to “make your move” on the final descent into Ranch Rudolf, remember the imaginary center line rule is in effect because cars could be travelling up the hill while you are racing down.  There will be a corner marshal directing you out of the single track and down the hill.  He will also be watching for racers crossing the centerline.  Don’t do it!

Awards + Food

Awards will be given to the top three in each category! 

Ranch Rudolf will have a limited pub food menu and staff due to covid weirdness so please be flexible.  Our normal post-race cookout will return next year if covid continues to be stamped out.  Beer will also be available and provided by the ranch in the main lodge.  Bring cash credit cards are SLOW due to poor web service! We’ll also have NMMBA merchandise for sale, as well as some neat stuff from Thule, up.bike, and other sponsors to check out.

Deals and Discounts!

Below you’ll find information about all of our sponsors this year. As you make purchases for bikes and for life, check this list first. These are the businesses that support our trails; let’s do our part to support them. 

Not making any purchases soon? Hey, that’s cool. Then we ask that you take five minutes to:

  1. Follow one of these companies on social media that you don’t already follow. 

  2. Leave one 5-star review on Google of a business here that you LOVE!

  3. Send the website link below of a business you dig to a friend who needs some of THAT in their life! 

 

Anne Schwartz

https://www.anneschwartztc.com/

Free coffee!

Bayfront Beach and Bike

https://www.bayfrontbeachandbike.com/e-bikes

Bearclaw Bicycle Co.

https://bearclawbicycleco.com/

Brick Wheels

https://www.brickwheels.com/

Cherry Captial Cycling Club

https://www.cherrycapitalcyclingclub.org/

City Bike Shop

citybikeshop.com

Kinetic Fitness

https://www.kineticfitnesscoaching.com/

One free training/consultation!

Max's Service

https://www.maxsservice.com

Mimssion Cycles

https://missioncycles.net/

20% off everything!

MMBA

mmba.org

Pure Pilates

https://www.purepilatestc.com/

1 free class with purchase of Getting Started Private Package!

Q+M

https://qandm.agency/

FREE *DON'T* Service!

Ranch Rudolf

https://ranchrudolf.com/

Short's Brewing Company

https://www.shortsbrewing.com/




Suttons Bay Bikes

https://www.suttonsbaybikes.com/

20% off everything!

Terry Porter - Life Coach

https://terry-porter.com/

10% Life Coaching or Marriage Coaching Package

Thule

https://www.thule.com/en-us

up.bike

https://up.bike/

20% off!

TCTF2021

Wild Card Cycle Works

https://www.wildcardcw.com/

10% off apparel and accessories for two weeks post-race!