Abi Snyder knew there was an effort afoot to bring the USA Cycling Endurance Mountain Bike Championships to Roanoke. She’d even written a testimonial letter about how the Roanoke Valley and its vast and varied trail network would be a great fit for the event.
So when she got word that the races were coming to her home turf, Snyder immediately reached out to friends in the elite mountain bike race community.
“I was like, ‘You have to come!’” said Snyder, who lives in Roanoke.
Several of Snyder’s good racing friends will be among the more than 1,000 riders who will test their skills and fitness during the event, which spans a week and includes three different races.
Race officials recently finalized the courses for the races, which start with a marathon at Carvins Cove on July 14 and conclude with multilap cross-country races at Explore Park on July 19 and 20, with a unique short course event at Elmwood Park sandwiched between.
Roanoke native Gordon Wadsworth, a veteran elite mountain bike racer, is the event’s technical director and helped pull together a bid in which the local team gave USA Cycling multiple options for courses.
“Among Explore Park, Mill Mountain, Carvins Cove we knew we could come up with some really good stuff,” Wadsworth said. “USA Cycling felt comfortable after their site visit. They were confident in the terrain.”
Some racers will focus on a single event, or maybe two, but many will participate in all three races. Wadsworth said there are currently about 2,000 race entries. The biggest fields are in junior and under-23 categories.
“We are going to have the most talented, fittest racers in the country coming to this,” Wadsworth said. 
Starting long
Carvins Cove offers the valley’s largest connected trail network, so it was the natural choice for XCM, or cross-country marathon. The races, on a 40- or 53-mile course depending on the category, will take even the fastest elite riders several hours to complete.
The races will start and end at Hollins University, which offers more space and parking than is available at the cove. Riders will quickly connect to the Tinker Creek Greenway trail that runs from a parking area just north of Interstate 81 to the boat dock area. From the boat dock, racers will grind for several miles on the rolling gravel road — officially called the Happy Valley trail — that runs on the east side of the reservoir before reaching the bulk of the area’s trails at the upper end of the reservoir.
Snyder, who is racing all three events but specializes in the marathon, said the early going will help riders get into a groove and spread out before reaching the narrow single track that dominates the middle part of the courses.
Once at the heart of the course, riders will hit many of the cove’s classic, most-popular trails, including Rock and Roll, Arrowhead, Songbird, Four Gorges, Hi-Dee-Ho, the Gauntlet, Lakeside, Comet, Enchanted Forest and Schoolhouse. While amateurs will head back to Hollins — backtracking on what was the first 10 or so miles of the course — elite riders will complete a second lap that includes Midway Cruise and Buck.
Snyder describes the course as “classic Southeast,” with a combination of bench-cut single track, a few technical spots and enough climbing to be a fair test of fitness.
The two big climbs will be Hi-Dee-Ho and Buck.
“Hi-Dee-Ho is the shortest way up the mountain and it’s steep,” she said, “And once you’re up there you almost immediately are going down Gauntlet.”
Though it’s a downhill, Gauntlet will test riders, Snyder said.
“If riders are not familiar with it, there could be some crashes,” she said.
The rolling single track of Lakeside will give riders a chance to refuel and rehydrate after the tough Hi-Dee-Ho climb and the equally challenging Gauntlet descent.
After connecting to Comet, which Snyder says is her personal favorite trail at the cove, amateurs will make their way back toward Hollins, including hitting Enchanted Forest, a short section of trail winding through tall pines on the lakeshore.
“I first visited Roanoke in May of 2020 and that was the first time I rode Enchanted Forest,” Snyder said. “It’s just amazing, almost like something you’d see out West.”
The amateur course clocks in at just over 40 miles, with approximately 4,300 feet of climbing. The Elite course is 53 miles long with 6,300 feet of climbing.
So, a long day in the saddle.
“I expect to be out there five to six hours, depending on the heat,” said Snyder, whose goal is a top-5 finish. 
Downtown madness
Short track is to mountain biking what criterium is to road racing: riders completing multiple laps on a relatively short course over 20 minutes.
While it’s common that short-track courses include single-track trails, the Roanoke course is unique. The 1.1-kilometer course winds around Elmwood Park, including stretches of grass, pavement and a short jaunt over large rocks.
While by far the shortest races, short track is far from easy.
“Mill Mountain was a possibility for short track, but we wanted to include an Elmwood Park option in the bid,” Wadsworth said. “It puts racing in the middle of town.”
And that makes it the most spectator-friendly of the week’s races.
Jack Perry, a 28-year-old who lives in Roanoke, has geared much of his recent training to the short-track event.
“The tactics are a lot different from cross-country,” Perry said. “Everyone assumes because it’s such a short race that you’re going all out all the time. It’s really about picking your spots.”
The format and course mean riders may be able to form packs and benefit from drafting at times.
July 17 is the big day for XCC, with races getting underway for junior qualifiers at 10 a.m. The day concludes with Elite women at 7 p.m. and Elite men at 7:30 p.m.
Perry, who is racing in the Elite category, is looking forward to the crowds.
“I love it when courses are lined with spectators,” Perry said. 
Explore Park back in the spotlight
Back in the dark days when mountain biking was not formally allowed at Carvins Cove, Explore Park offered one of the area’s best mountain bike-specific trail networks.
While the mountain biking at Explore Park does not get the attention it once did, its trails are still alive and well. And they’re better than ever, with a new section having recently been completed by a professional trail-building company.
On a recent sultry afternoon, Roanoker Josh Sherven was at Explore Park getting in a few practice laps before work.
A former collegiate cross-country runner, Sherven is relatively new to mountain bike racing, but he earned a spot in the men’s Masters race through recent good results in regional races.
“I think this course is awesome,” said Sherven, who will compete in the 45-49 age group. “The course is really hard. There are very few places where you can recover. You’re always either fully engaged going uphill or downhill. There’s not a lot of relief of any length to lower your heart rate or recover mentally.”
The soil at Explore Park includes lots of clay, which can be both sticky and slick if it’s at all wet. Sherven noted the challenge of a short-but-steep climb on the new section of trail.
“Unless it’s bone dry, I actually think it’s faster to run it,” he said. “You’re burning matches and if you lose traction you’re going to stop anyway.”
Trails at Explore Park also feature lots of exposed roots, which can be perilously slick in damp conditions.
“The ones that are at a 45-degree angle, especially where you’re leaning into a turn, can be tricky,” Sherven said.
Racers will ride multiple laps of three different courses, depending on the category, with races to last 60 to 90 minutes.
Blue course laps are 2.3 miles long with about 330 feet of elevation gain. The Red course is 4 miles long with almost 600 feet of elevation gain. The Black course is 3.3 miles long with 455 feet of climbing.
Racing at Explore Park runs from July 18 to July 20, with Elite/Pro men and women racing around midday Saturday. Because riders will be completing multiple laps, the XCO races are relatively spectator-friendly, and Explore Park offers plenty of amenities. 
