Allen Clark Hill Climb Time Trial Bicycle Event

Sunday, October 5, 2008 Start 10:00 AM — Stark Mountain Bike Works, Route 100 & Route 17 Finish Top of Applachian Gap Race Details Length: 6.2 miles Vertical climb: 1,600 feet Race format: Time trial, one-minute intervals Registration fee: $25 Prizes Best Times — Medals awarded to the top three men and women in age categories. Post-race shwag raffle. New Records — A special prize of $100 cash will be awarded to any man or woman who can set a new course record. New for 2006! Men's record: 24:59, by Stefan Bumbeck, 1998 Women's record: 28:44, by Audrey Augustin, 2001 Combined Events — Trophies will be awarded to the man and woman with the best combined times for the bike race and Sunday's Stark Mountain Hill Climb footrace.

Bike the Appalachian Gap for a Great Cause!

The Allen Clark Bicycle Hill Climb is named in honor of long-time Mad River Valley resident, Allen Clark. An avid cyclist who took up biking late in life, he rode 2,500-3,000 annually in Vermont. Allen especially loved the challenge of the Appalachian Gap. This event is a tribute to Allen's life and a fundraiser for Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports, an organization that meant a great deal to him. The race returns this year for its eighth edition after a one-year hiatus.

Who Can Participate?

Cyclists and Unicyclists of all ages and abilities with any type of bicycle are invited to tackle the challenge of racing to the top of the Appalachian Gap. In keeping with the spirit of its namesake, the late Allen Clark, the Hill Climb is a celebration of cycling as a sport for people of all ages and physical abilities, with any type of bicycle. Clark was a Mad River Valley cycling enthusiast and a regular bike-shop customer who didn't take up the sport until he was in his sixties. He went on to log between 2,000 and 3,500 miles a year, well into his 70s, riding in all weather and in every month of the year. His favorite bike was a Bianchi hybrid, fully rigged with racks and a huge storage trunk. The bike weighed more than 40 pounds — more than twice the weight of a typical racing bike.

The Ap Gap climb was one of Clark's favorite rides, as it is for almost every cyclist in the Mad River Valley. The climb can be difficult and even downright painful, but getting to the top is always extraordinarily rewarding. Regardless of what level rider you might be, riding the Gap is the ultimate fitness reality check. That's why local riders come back to the Gap again and again, in a kind of love/hate relationship.