Rails to River XC Mountain Bike Race

Rails to River XC Mountain Bike Race

The Rails to River XC Mountain Bike Race will return to Lake Fairfax in 2024 on Sunday May 5th!  The rain date is Sunday June 2, 2024.

The Rails to River is a cross country mountain bike race with racers doing 1, 2, or 3 laps of the approximately 7 mile course.

The base (1 lap) race starts at 9am, the Sport (2 lap) race starts at 11am, and Expert (3 lap) race at 2pm.  This timing was intentional as we wanted only one race to be going on at any time.  In other words, one race ends before the next race starts.  This limits the amount of bikes (and people) on the trails at any time so you've got plenty of room to crush it!!

The staging area for this race is the Large Pavilion inside Lake Fairfax Park.  There will be signs and volunteers helping your park once you enter Lake Fairfax Park.

Check-in begins 90 minutes before your race starts.  For example, check-in begins at 7:30am for the beginner race that starts at 9am.

Course Information

*** There is a stream restoration project at Lake Fairfax that may impact the course in 2024 and 2025…we will keep everyone posted on any related course changes. We've been in contact with park management and at this time, we do not believe there will be course changes. ***

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31565113

IMPORTANT…THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO PRE-RIDING ON RACE DAY, but the course will be marked on starting Thursday if you want to ride the day before the race.

Race Day Schedule

Sunday May 5, 2024
9:00am – Base (1 lap) classes staggered start
11:00am – Sport (2 laps) classes staggered start
2:00pm – Expert (3 laps) classes staggered start

Course will be marked by Thursday May 2nd for pre-riding.

Draft Race Start Procedures
We are separating each race into wave starts to allow enough space to spread out the field of riders.  Each wave will be separated by a few minutes.  Exact start times will be based on the number of riders in each class and is included in the race day information emailed out to all racers.

Base (1 lap)
Check-in open from 7:30 to 8:45am
9:00am - 9:15am wave starts

Sport (2 laps)
Check-in open from 9:30 to 10:45am
11:00am - 11:15 wave starts

Expert (3 laps)
Check-in open from 12:30 to 1:45pm
2:00pm - 2:15pm wave starts

Race Distance/Classes

Base = 1 lap (~7 miles)Sport = 2 laps (~14 miles)Expert = 3 laps (~21 miles)In each race distance, we'll have the following classes: female 19-U, male 19-U, open female, open male, male masters (40+), female masters (40+), male masters (50+), female masters (50+), female singlespeed, male singlespeed, clydesdale (200lb+).

Course Notes

The race course is roughly 7 miles in length with the start and finish of the course at the large pavilion.The elevation change is about 500 feet and there are no significant climbs, although there are numerous shorter ones.The race starts heading up the gravel road towards the cricket fields.There are a few fairly technical rock sections, but they are short and can easily be walked if needed.Lake Fairfax is awesome…come get some!