One Month To The Short's Glacial Hills Challenge
Sunday, August 18 is our day to show off!
We take an incredible amount of pride in the our trails. We earn it, too; our trail crew puts in countless hours throughout the year to make sure we offer mountain bikers, runners, hikers, and families an unrivaled outdoor experience.
For yet another year, the Short's Glacial Hills Challenge is our opportunity to host mountain bike racers of all ages and abilities from across the state for on incredible day in the woods. Glacial Hills offers one of the few flowing, singletrack courses around. The rolling elevation, fast turns, and the flying two-mile descent back into downtown Bellaire are really like nothing else on the calendar! Our trail crew understands that having these riders in our neck of the woods is about more than a race, though. It's our chance to show of our community and our commitment to Glacial Hills; a great event means more people coming back to enjoy our singletrack again and again, and those folks will be supporting the businesses that support Glacial. It's the start of something important and lasting...plus, it's just a ton of fun!
One of the biggest priorities of the race is to offer a category and distance that suits all abilities, without overlapping the fastest riders with the newest ones. That's why race day is organized into two different start times, separating Elite, Expert and the quickest Sport racers from newer or potentially younger Sport and Beginner riders. This two-start set-up also allows morning racers to cheer on those racing later, and vice versa!
A portion of race proceeds will go to the Friends of Glacial Hills, the committee that keep Glacial Hills going and growing!
The Short's Glacial Hills Challenge is the meat in the middle of three-race NMMBA Trail Series sandwich. The first event, the Traverse City Trails Festival presented by Short's Brewing, gets things started in Traverse City on Saturday, July 20. After Glacial, you've got a nice and neat month to prepare for the Cadillac Pathway's biggest fundraiser, the Bear Claw Epic on Saturday, September 18.
