Lincoln County To Hold Park To Park Pedal Extreme

By MAGGIE MCMURRAY

Moapa Valley Progress

The Lincoln County Park to Park Pedal Extreme may be the outdoor adventure, bike race, and food extravaganza you’ve been looking for this fall. The race will be held October 8 and it begins and ends at Kershaw-Ryan State Park near Caliente, Nevada. Featuring outstanding views and three degrees of physical challenges, the race features beautiful vistas as well as some of the best cooking around.
“The reason we started this race is that we want people to know what we have in Lincoln County,” said race organizer and State Park Interpreter Dawn Andone. “We are home to five Nevada state parks, many old mining towns and ranches, and lots of amazing geological formations.”

The races are designed around these attractions to give riders the best possible view of the beauty and history that can be found in Lincoln County.

The three race courses are also designed to take in as many state parks as possible. The 40-mile race from Kershaw Ryan State Park, travels to Cathedral Gorge and then back again. A 60-mile race follows the same route, but continues on and up through Pioche, an old Nevada mining town. The 100-mile race continues on after Pioche to take in Echo Canyon and Spring Valley State Parks.

The 40-mile race is considered to be fairly easy on relatively flat terrain and accessible even to beginners. The other races have greater degrees of difficulty.
This is the race’s 6th year and it is growing in popularity. From 40 participants in its first year, the event has grown to more than 200 riders But race managers have capped the race at 250 to keep preserve a small-town atmosphere.
“We want to keep it small enough for people to have a great experience,” Andone said.
The scenery is not the only part of Lincoln county that riders get to experience. The race also provides a bounty of locally produced foods for riders to eat before, during, and after the race.

Riders participating in the 100-mile Extreme are treated to a mid-race lunch at Spring Valley State Park, while the other riders are fed lunch at Kershaw-Ryan. The local Farm Bureau provides one of the highlights of the race, which is a full dutch-oven dinner around a campfire at Kershaw-Ryan State Park later that evening.

Andone said that since the goal of the race is to introduce people to Lincoln County, they try to keep the dinner as local as possible by using locally-sourced meat and vegetables, as well as locally baked bread.

The dinner is also cooked by locals as a way to let people meet and interact with not only other riders, but the community hosting the event.
One rider who returns every year to participate joked last year saying, “This is the only ride I do all year that I actually gain weight on.”

Registration is ongoing and interested riders can find more information and register online at parktoparkpedal.com. Packet pick-up and late registration will take place Friday night, October 7, and “Day of” registration will also be accepted until the race is full. “Day of” registration fees are cash only and shirt sizes are not guaranteed.