Wildwood Games Sports Festival

[dgaddis1]

Woot! Got this in my e-mail today:

Columbia County CVB Announces Dates for Inaugural Wildwood Games Sports Festival

Evans, GA (March 28, 2014) – The Columbia County Convention and Visitors Bureau announced today the inaugural “Wildwood Games” sports festival will take place August 23 and 24, 2014, at Wildwood Park in Appling, Georgia. The multi-sport event will feature marathon mountain bike races, trail running races, and outdoors expo.

The mountain bike race will offer two distance options. The shorter race will take place mainly on the Bartram Trail and cover approximately 32 miles, beginning at Wildwood Park, heading toward the West Dam area, then returning to finish at Wildwood Park.

The long option will cover approximately 62 miles. The course will utilize the Bartram Trail, Keg Creek Trail, Mistletoe State Park trails, and some connector roads. This race will serve as a test run for the proposed course for the USA Cycling Marathon Mountain Bike National Championships which will take place here in 2015 and 2016.

The trail running races will utilize the Bartram Trail and offer four distance options: 50 Kilometers, 26.2 miles, 13.1 miles, and 10 kilometers. The courses will feature a mix of singletrack trails and jeep service roads.

Next year, in addition to featuring the USA Cycling Marathon Mountain Bike Nationals, the Wildwood Games will introduce distance open water swimming in Clarks Hill Lake, a disc golf tournament at the International Disc Golf Center, and an expanded festival footprint featuring live music and outdoors expo.

The Wildwood Games will be managed and marketed by SixSpeed, a Minneapolis-based agency with extensive experience in producing and marketing action sports events. Their clients include Red Bull, Cannondale Bicycles, the X Games, Trek Bicycles, and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

Event registration information and a detailed schedule for this year’s Wildwood Games will be released in late-April.

About the Columbia County CVB: The mission of the Columbia County Convention and Visitors Bureau is to promote Columbia County as a distinctive recreational, professional, and cultural destination in order to support and stimulate our local economy. To learn more, visit www.choosecolumbiacounty.com

[brianW]

This, IMO, is a festival that can really grow in the CSRA. Many riders, trail runners, and open water swimmers in the area. It also screams an off-road triathlon.

[Catalyst]

I just noticed that links to the registration page are on their Facebook page.
www.facebook.com/wildwoodgames

www.bikereg.com/wildwood-games
Early-bird entry fee is $60. The fee goes up on Friday, August 15 to $65. Online Registration closes on Friday, April 22 and 10am. No day-of or onsite registration will be allowed.

I'm guessing they mean August 22, not April 22.

[tzeaser]

Hoping for a change in the forecast...

[dsquaredmsquared]

Aug 14, 2014 15:05:22 GMT -5 tzeaser said:

Hoping for a change in the forecast...

At least it will be sunny

[dgaddis1]

Aug 14, 2014 16:31:19 GMT -5 dsquaredmsquared said:

At least it will be sunny

Weather Underground is predicting a high of 99*F and a 40% chance of rain.

EDIT: Heat index of 107*F. Ahhh!

It changes every day though.

[tzeaser]

My favorite movie clip of all time:

[Angela]

FYI: A recent post from the WW Games Race Director below. Take home message: Please stay on The Bartram Trail.

Hey Folks, a word of note: the private landowners who allowed us to access their property for the Wildwood Games did us a huge favor in letting us develop temporary trails for the Wildwood Games mountain bike races. Please know that this access was FOR THE EVENT ONLY. There is a new lease holder for the Pollard land immediately off the Bartram Trail who is not as amenable to mountain bikers cutting through their hunting area. For the sake of keeping the peace and showing respect, please do not deviate from the mountain bike trail onto the private property. We would appreciate it greatly!

[brianW]

Could I get verification that the course route west of Lake Springs (towards the dam) and bellow the dam are on Corp. of Eng. land. I personally have ridden that section because of my understanding of who owns that land.

[dsquaredmsquared]

Oct 17, 2014 16:02:18 GMT -5 brianW said:

Could I get verification that the course route west of Lake Springs (towards the dam) and bellow the dam are on Corp. of Eng. land. I personally have ridden that section because of my understanding of who owns that land.

All of Bartram Trail proper is on USACE land.  Stay on the trail and you are good to go.

For the east loop, sections of the race route not on Bartram Trail proper, but north of Hwy 221, east of Wildwood and west of Lake Springs Road, are less likely to be on USACE land and shouldn't be ridden without the express permission of the land owner or lessee. 

Nearly all of the race route around the quarry (below dam, south side of Hwy 221), including food plots, is on USACE land.  The one exception is a short stretch of land somewhere near the southeast side of quarry route that I believe is private land.  IIRC, the owner of this private land, or another nearby owner, has been known to say hello by (unlawfully) sending a few rounds down range.  YMMV.

If you must ride portions of the race route out of season and are unsure about ownership or permissions, please contact the WW Games Race Director for more information. Thank you for your support.

[waynelstone]

is there a course map for this? how long will the race be in may 2015? thanks wayne

[dsquaredmsquared]

Jan 17, 2015 16:06:59 GMT -5 waynelstone said:

is there a course map for this? how long will the race be in may 2015? thanks wayne

SORBAcsra is not involved with designing the race route for 2015/16 and, in fact, we don't know the race route yet. 

You should contact USA Cycling or the Columbia County CVB (Randy DuTeau is the Director) for updated information on the race route.

Thanks and good luck.

[dgaddis1]

I've been helping figure out the course for '15. The bridge on Washington Rd is being removed by GaDOT and is throwing a broom into the front spokes of the race so to speak. But, we've got a route laid out, now it's up to Randy to get it approved by the Corp. of Engineers. Like last year there is some stuff on private land being used to avoid two way traffic on singletrack. The eastern side of the course (Bartram side) is not being changed from last year. But the western side is being modified thanks to the bridge being out. Current GPS route shows 58.2 miles. Actual real life mileage is probably about 60, maybe 62. Mistletoe will be included this year. Keg will be ridden 'backwards' in the CCW direction.

If you wanna train - ride the Thurmond Epic.

[waynelstone]

Is there a place to get water in mistletoe st pk? Will i pass an spigot iut there in the thurmond epic?

[brianW]

At Mistletoe you pass the main office which has some drinks and snacks for sale. Not sure the hours of it though. Also a bathroom at the office which is on the outside. Close to Thurmond Dam there is a picnic area. Does have running water but not sure 100% if they are locked this time of year. Run close to Petersburg campground (year round) that you might be able to get water at.

[dgaddis1]

Feb 7, 2015 19:38:46 GMT -5 waynelstone said:

Is there a place to get water in mistletoe st pk? Will i pass an spigot iut there in the thurmond epic?

There's a water fountain outside the main office that is always available, even if the office is closed. Only potential issue is if they shut it off for freeze protection, but I've never ran across it turned off.