On Saturday, March 9, the Homer Cycling Club is hosting the ninth running of the multisport 50-100K Bike Epic event in the Caribou Hills. The event takes place on groomed snowmachine trails for bikers, runners and skiers. Time limit for the race is capped to 24 hours.

The first few years of the event were hosted by the Kachemak Nordic Ski Club, starting in 2013. According to current organizer Chuck Lindsay, it was a huge success, although the “no-snow” winter of 2015 was definitely challenging for both athletes and event organizers.

The event starts and ends at McNeil Canyon Elementary School on trails groomed by the Homer Snomads.

Lindsay notes that it’s a key annual fundraiser for the Homer Cycling Club. “We use proceeds from this event to build mountain bike trails around Homer, including the Diamond Creek State Recreation Area, newly proposed trails at the Cottonwood-Eastland unit of Kachemak Bay State Park, and also to contribute support in advocacy efforts like Homer Shares the Road and Safe Kids Program.”

This year there are currently 114 athletes registered to participate. Many of them are locals from the Kenai Peninsula but there are athletes registered from across the state of Alaska and as well as Washington, Colorado, Montana, Washington, D.C., and one runner from Quinto Vicentino, Italy.

More information is available on the Homer Cycling Club website at https://www.homercyclingclub.org, which includes maps, race regulations and qualification requirements. The website also includes a link for volunteer opportunities for those who might be interested and race results from previous years. Registration was scheduled to close on March 6.

The event is sponsored by CycleLogical, Homer Saw and Cycle, Loopy Lupine, SnowMads, Moore and Moore Services, Inc., BST Milling and Brunner Machine Works, LLC.