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Lotoja. The most EPIC road race in america.
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+2 for PCP2P. I know Jonathan planned to do it the year I did but DNS due to air quality. I think this would be the perfect race for him. Would love to hear this race report on the pod.
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Peaks Challenge is beautiful. For someone who never did any exercise or sport until I took up riding at 40, it was challenging but still quite doable at my slow pace. Melbourne to Warrnambool (Warny) has a long history and is pretty competitive.
I see this thread’s brought all the Aussies out of the woodwork. 
Hey Jonathan, whilst you’re over here (I’m talking about this like it’s a done deal 
) how about an in-person podcast at Australian Institude of Sport?- given it’s been referred to in a few podcasts.
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Do the pisgah stage race, assuming Asheville is accessible by then
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If Europe; Norway
Bergen - Voss
Scenic road race, as most roadraces.
http://bergenvoss.no/bergenvoss/bergen-voss-a-brief-presentation/
Offrad Finnmark
Several distances, one of the toughest mountain bike races out there.
150/300/700 km of arctic tundra trails
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L’etape de tour
Ironman Wales
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One-Eyed Dog 100 and/or BT Epic in Missouri.
The Fred Whitton challenge, just to experience the delights of Hardknott pass and Wrynose pass.
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Would love to see another swing at Leadville as discussed on the podcast. The 7:30 target time would be ambitious, but seems doable based on the previous result.
I know there isn’t a lot of love for gravel, but maybe consider one of the events that rewards good bike handling and has some mixed surface thrown in (maybe one of the BWR’s?).
Unbound 200 has a lot of TR athlete participation every year, but that sounds like it’s maybe on the wrong end of the gravel spectrum. It doesn’t really require a lot of bike skills, but does have a lot of levers to pull to execute well (tactics/pacing, hydration/nutrition, equipment, etc.). Would love to see someone from TR give it a shot if anyone has interest.
If a goal is to generate a bunch of interest/clicks, it’s hard to beat the big Lifetime “bucket list” events (Leadville & Unbound), at least for the US market. But those races are already beat to death in the media and doing something more international or off the beaten path would be interesting as well.
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Iceman is the classic Michigan race, and late enough in the season it could be part of a multi race task list.
Marji if you are feeling bold.
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Peaks is probably the biggest effort. Tour of Brisbane is a good grand fondo, and if you are interested in gravel Seven Gravel race is 125km and 3200m of climbing and the area will also host the 2026 Gravel World Championships so you’ll get a good taste of what it will be like.
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I nominate Offroad Finnmark 700.
28. July 2025. Maybe the hardest single stage mountainbikerace there is. High above the arctic circle, in the Sapmi area.
9 days after The Rift in Iceland which mean it can be combined
The new and improved course would dictate “as big as you can fit”. Rift 2025 | 195.1 km Cycling Route on Strava
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IMHO, I’m recommending NOT to do Iceman or Marji. These races are popular, but not worth going to. Unless you like a party and a scene. However, if you’re judging an event on the actual course, I’d skip these two.
Con’s Iceman:
- Boring non-technical course and barely requires a MTB.
- Point to point making logistics an issue requiring you to have a support person
- Weather uncertain and a 50/50 chance of being muddy/cold/wet/etc.
- End of season generally when you’re ready for offseason, rather than peaking for a race.
Con’s Marj:
- Not fun. Difficult just to be difficult. Almost like a weekend warrior event. Very few race this and are just trying to survive.
- Very long day on the bike where it becomes a grind. Terrain is unrelenting so very few spots of actual enjoyment.
- Point to point so requires a support crew. Support crew MUST move along with you all day to provide aid every few hours if you want to finish in a reasonable time.
- Sells out within minutes so you must commit almost a year in advance.
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I did! Is that event still happening? I thought I remember hearing it was no longer being held.
Thanks for the intel!
OMG please no RAAM 
I regret saying that, lol. I’ve got some angry folks in my inbox!
The Aussies are dominating the recommendations so far! And yeah, that would be really cool to connect with AIS there.
You can’t fool me with calling those “delights”. I’ve heard the tales of that race! 
The “short” version is 300km 
Michiganders are only second to the Aussies so far on number of recommendations. Y’all are effective evangelists!
I love Michigan (have family there) and the UP, but I will not be doing Marji. That one looks like a good way to have a bad day
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@Jonathan Do Vapor Trail in Colorado. Gotta join the waitlist now.
This is awesome! So many suggestions. I feel like we need to do a poll on here and announce that poll on the podcast this coming week.
A few notes on some disciplines:
I’ve done plenty of MTB stuff for the podcast in recent years, so this time it will be road and/or gravel. That said, I still want to do P2P next year, and possibly Leadville if I can get in? Also planning on BCBR in 2026.
For tri, as of now I plan to do another XTERRA next year, but a full focus on tri won’t happen until 2026 or 2027 (would love to do a full then 
.
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Timing it to shift into a new age group? Wise move 
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