As if the racecourse wasn't challenging enough, it seems the newest Test of Metal contest is the race to register.
Exactly 800 hardcore mountain bikers signed up to take on the grueling Test within 4 hours and 19 minutes Monday (Jan. 2).
"The weird thing is that we sold out faster than half the people actually do the race," laughed Test of Metal founder Cliff Miller. "It's a testament to all the hard work that people have put into it."
This year's sell out record eclipses last year's record of six days nine hours and 43 minutes.
Online registration has made it easier to quickly submit entry forms, said Miler, and when registration opened at noon on Monday (Jan. 2), submissions came in at a fast and furious pace, at one point reaching 10 forms per minute.
Between noon and 12:50 p.m. 502 individuals registered for the race, and the remaining 298 athletes had all signed up by 4:20 p.m.
"It's the joys of the internet," said Miller.
He said he hasn't examined the list of names, so it's unknown if high profile athletes will show up like Vancouver Canuck's hockey star Trevor Linden did last year. But there are sure to be a number of pro and elite riders, many of whom call 樱桃视频home.
Race organizers have now turned their attention to new and exciting aspects of the event.
"We've got a few tricks up our sleeves we're looking at but we're going to keep those a secret for a while," said Miller.
One detail that's no longer a secret is the Test's involvement in the Hell of a Race Series.
Riders will have the option of signing up and conquering two other high profile races in the new series.
"We've partnered with Rat Race from Roberts Creek and Gearjammer from Squamish," said Miller. "We identified those as the three best grassroots races in B.C. and they're all relatively close to each other and the Lower Mainland so we put them into a series."
And starting in May, organizers will begin recruiting the more than 300 volunteers who are partially credited with making the race the phenomenon it has become.
"The volunteers are one of the things that make the race," said Miller. "The riders themselves all rave about the volunteers."
Those who didn't make it under the registration cut off could still find themselves at the starting line on June 17 if they remembered to get on the waiting list.
Those who did secure one of the coveted spots are reminded to draft a training regime and consult the training pages of the Test of Metal website.
