NIMBY Fifty 2012 - Pemberton, BC / Red Bull Downtime - NIMBY Fifty Race within a Race

People are being pretty dramatic..

I haven't done it, is it worse than this?

OK then, signed up. If I do even half the riding I am dreaming of doing I'll be sweet!

Cheers, Ben

no one's being dramatic. its not a hard bike ride if you take 4 hrs and walk up sphincter/econoline (which is hard but rideable).
its a hard race, like finishing near the front and cleaning everything.

I plotted the approx route out on my gps and lap 1 was ~12 km and 350m climbing, lap 2 was ~15km and 600m climbing.

Note: this was not actually riding course so these figures don't take into account every twist and turn or micro-climb so are indicative only

(Im assuming lap 1 is Sphinctor/Dark Forest and lap 2 is Happy/Nimby/Overnight - the map isnt clear)

Looking at the map I am a bit confused.

Ride the road up to Radio Tower, then the gravel over to Happy, Waco, Nimby climb. Down Overnight, then out to Sphincter, Econiline, and No Err. Finish off with Ramble, Mody and Dark Forest?

Connor I think the course was changed for the Pemby 4Q's day from what that profile shows.

Shirk…I think the laps are the other way around as someone said theres a 3hr cut off at Overnight.

Shirk has the course correct. You ride 2km from the farm (on Hwy 99) to the gravel road. Up the gravel road to Radio Tower, back down lower end of the gravel road and across to Happy Trail [HTML_REMOVED] Waco [HTML_REMOVED] NIMBY [HTML_REMOVED] Let it Go to paraglide launch. Down new trail to road that takes you to Overnight, then out to Sphincter, Econoline (backwards), then up and down No Err, and finish off with Ramble On, Moby Dick and what's left of Dark Forest (it was logged in the spring - we are considering a few possibilities as a replacement). Then back along the Hwy to the farm (2km).

Course play by play here.

In response to Connor who referenced the map of the 4Queens Pemby stage, and asked the question "is it worse than this?" I'd like to share my view. I was a racer in the 4Q (and 4Jacks) and I am one of the three race directors of NIMBY Fifty.

I would have to say that NIMBY Fifty is by a small margin "easier" (and I mean that in the most relative sense) than the 4Queens route, but only because the 4Q course included the ascent up Middle Earth and descent down Gravatron/Gravatrout as well as the full descent down Stimulus. Whereas NIMBY Fifty does not get quite as gnarly as those two descents.

Although some of the trails are similar, the routes are way different from one another. The overall course topography and general "race pace" of each one was/is very different. NIMBY Fifty is definitely more accessible to a wider margin of riders, nevertheless, it's not for the total novice rider who wants to try a bike race.

Both courses are totally doable by anyone who puts in a decent amount of riding time in preparation and can handle the trails of the Shore or Sea to Sky. It's not to say you will win or come within the top xx places, but in both cases you can totally complete either route - you will be challenged, you will likely cry in pain and you will scream with excitement. What a freakin great way to spend the day!

To use the term "worse" (as Connor's question did) implies that this is all bad, where in fact all we're really talking about here is some damn good mountain biking. We're talking about huge amounts of wicked single track ups and downs, packed into one big day. Two words: pace yourself. And you'll have fun. You'll certainly be knackered, but you'll survive and you'll look back on it fondly and with pride.

Just get out there and do a whole bunch of climbing on single track before you show up on May 26th. See you there.

Signed up.

Time to start putting in miles.

i was on a hard tail and hated the final 2km (is that all?) of pavement….

Signed up.

Time to start putting in miles.

sell out

People are being pretty dramatic..

I haven't done it, is it worse than this?

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The reason that day was tough is because it was a billion degrees.

i was on a hard tail and hated the final 2km (is that all?) of pavement….

and single speed you crazy mofo!

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The reason that day was tough is because it was a billion degrees.

yeah, it wasn't nearly as tough as the Flank Fest of the Jacks….now that was hellish