About the Wild 100 Mountain Bike Adventure Race
The Wild 100 in Slatyfork, WV claims to be the longest running mountain bike event held in the same location. While the race’s name has changed at least once in the 20 plus years, the Elk River Touring Center still plays host each summer to a small group of rag tag riders who tackle the Monagahela National Forest’s gnarly singletrack and big mountains in a roughly 100 KM (62 Mile) point to point off road race.
The Wild 100 a mountain bike marathon where the course length is determined by each rider’s route choices. Racers check in at six different checkpoints indicated on the Slatyfork Trail Guide they receive at the beginning of the race. The CP’s change every year, and while each rider decides which trail, dirt road or (minimal amount) of paved road is the best route to the next CP, the CP’s must be ridden in numerical order. No outside help to racers is allowed, although the organizers, ERTC, do a great job of providing water, food and Gatorade at several of the check points. Although every year is a different set of CP’s, returning racers have the advantage of knowing where the junctions are and which trails are more brutal.
I first tried myself against this epic in 2001. I got the map like all the other racers, found CP 1 and then proceeded to ride to via what the map showed as the shortest route. The Slatyfork singletrack is phenomenal. I spent hours finding that out first hand. Then I missed a turn and rode all the way to the bottom of that huge mountain … only to have to turn around and ascend it one unnecessary time. This added another hour to my time and 1,500 additional feet of climbing. I arrived at CP 3 completely frazzled, having run out of water an hour earlier, and with cramping legs and a binding, mud-clogged chain. The Wild 100 had beaten me. Since then I have learned to utilize the gravel roads and minimize the difficult-rated singletrack, with a few notable exceptions. I also pay attention to where I am at all times, so as to not miss a critical junction and end up having to climb back up hill.
