Wilmington, NY - The June 16-19 second annual Wilmington/ Whiteface Bike Fest, in Wilmington, N.Y., celebrates the bicycle. With activities and events including the Wilmington/Whiteface 100k bike race (one of three qualifiers for the Leadville 100), the Whiteface Uphill Road Race and the “Brainless Not Chainless Gravity Ride,” the four-day event promises to be a party on two wheels.
The festival kicks off Thursday, June 16, at 8 a.m., when the Wilmington Dirt Jump/Skills Park opens in the Wilmington Bike Park. Registration for the Uphill race and the “Brainless Not Chainless Gravity Ride” will also continue at the Whiteface Business and Tourism Center from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday also includes a “Fun Not Fear” MTB instructional clinic on the Flume trails from 4-6 p.m.
Friday’s schedule features the opening of the Whiteface Mountain bike downhill park, at 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m., a free dirt jump clinic with Kyle Ebbett, 5-6 p.m., a jump jam & trials exhibition, 6-9 p.m., and the “Brainless Not Chainless Gravity Ride.” The parade of bikes begins at 4 p.m. with a Mass LeMans start at Santa’s Workshop and takes the participants downhill, 1.6-miles to Route 86. Awards will be presented at the Wilmington Bike Park for the best themed bike and for best costume.
The opening of the Bike Fest Village, at Whiteface Mountain, a ribbon cutting ceremony to open the Hardy Road Trail Network, at 10 a.m., and the 10th annual running of the Whiteface Uphill Bike Race highlight Saturday’s schedule. The village opens at 7 a.m. and throughout the day visitors can enjoy vendor displays, children’s event, food and entertainment. Admission is free.
The Uphill race begins at 5:30 p.m., and more than 340 cyclists are expected to climb New York State’s fifth highest peak via the Veterans Memorial Highway. The race is open to both road and mountain bicycles. The Whiteface event is the first race in the nine-race “Bike Up Mountain Points Series” (BUMPS) Series. An award ceremony and barbeque will be held at Santa’s Workshop beginning at 7 p.m.
Sunday’s Wilmington/Whiteface 100k begins at 6:30 a.m. and the festival’s village re-opens, at Whiteface at 7 a.m. More than 800 cyclists will race from Whiteface to Lewis and back to the Olympic mountain on the area’s paved and dirt roads, mountain bike trails and the Whiteface Mountain trails. It’s a test of determination, guts and even sanity for the opportunity to earn one of only 100 coveted entries into the Leadville Trail 100, mountain biking’s most prestigious race.
The weekend long festival is expected to bring 4,000 biking enthusiasts to the Wilmington region.
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