The inaugural Lincoln Park Mountain Bike Challenge & Festival on Saturday, July 18th is going to be packed with people and full of excitement for the entire family. The event takes place from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm in Lincoln Park at the Pavilion and is open to the public.

Lincoln Park Mountain Bike Challenge & Festival features:

Children, Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced classes
150-250 participants and 500-1,000 spectators are expected
Cash prizes for top placement in each class
First Advanced biker to reach trail-entry is the “King of the Hill” and wins $50
Paved and off-road sections of race for all levels of competition
Kids Bounce House
Awards ceremony on grandstand stage
“Party in the Park” with live-music performances
Grand Raffle Prize Drawing
Event Raffle Prize Drawings
Food Vendors and Retail Vendors
Beer Garden

The presenting sponsors this year are Midwest Communications (The Bridge & Classic Rock) and the Lincoln Park Business Group. Supporting sponsors include: Continental Ski, Lamar, Northland’s Newscenter, Sound Central, and Nordic Waste.

With great cash prizes to be won, we expect around 150 to 250 participants. There will be four classes: Children, Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. The top placement in each category will all cash prizes. The top three placements in each class will receive trophies. There will also be a $50 “King of the Hill” prize for the first mountain biker to reach the trail-entry at the top.

The Advanced class race will begin at 1:00 p.m. with a mass start at the bottom of the hill near the Lincoln Park Pavilion. The Intermediate class will have a mass start at 11:00 a.m. in the same location. The Children and Beginner classes will be shuttled to the trail-entry at the top of the hill and will begin their race at 9:00 a.m.

The Elephant Rock Trials Competition will take place all day and features a course with both urban and nature sections. Spectators will get a close look at the the skill and coordination these athletes have while doing freestyle tricks over obstacles without touching the ground.

All participants will be automatically entered into the Event Raffle, but they must be present to win. The awards ceremony begins at approximately 3:30 p.m., or once the final participants have crossed the finish line.

The “Party in the Park” will follow and feature several live-music acts. Opening is Jamie Ness and Brad Nelson, the second performance will be the Uprising, and the headliner is Two Many Banjos. Peter Kavula, an interactive musical performer, will perform throughout the day and interact with the kids. Nick Felbum will perform his acoustic music in the morning.

Our Grand Raffle Prize is $1,000 cash with second place winning a brand new mountain bike valued at $650. Purchase raffle tickets for only $5 each!

Ten percent of the proceeds will be donated to the Cyclists of the Gitchee Gumee Shores (COGGS). They manage the trail in Piedmont and will help with the event by signing the trail for the different classes. They will also be responsible for tracking participants’ times in each class.

For more information or to register, please call Heath Hickok, LPBG’s executive director, at 218-727-6573. Also, register online at www.LPBG.org.