Root 66 Mountain Bike Race to be Held at Grafton Ponds Outdoor Center, Vermont

June 5, 2012 - PRLog -- Grafton, Vt. -- Grafton Ponds Outdoor Center, a year-round outdoor recreation center located in Grafton, Vermont will host a stop on the 2012 Root 66 Mountain Bike Race Series this month. The event is entitled the 1st Ever West Hill Shop / Grafton Ponds Mountain Bike Race, and will be held on Sunday, June 24.

For the past 19 years, West Hill Shop, a local bike and Nordic ski shop located in Putney, Vermont, has been hosting the race; this year, the two entities joined forces to co-sponsor the event to make great use of Grafton Ponds’ mountain bike trail network.

The 2012 Northeast Root 66 XC Race Series is a series of 16 cross-country mountain bike races held at different venues throughout New England between April and September. This year marks the ninth season for the series and has become some of the most fun and competitive mountain bike racing in New England. The series offers free events for children age 5-11 years, easy-to-enter races for racers age 12 years and older and affordable entry fees.

The 4.5 mile race course at Grafton Ponds is a mixture of ski trails, flowing single track and less than a quarter of a mile of pavement. It has a fun mixture of climbing, flats and downhills.

Register online at BikeReg.com at a discounted price of $20. Race-day registration opens at 7 a.m. in the base lodge and the race will begin at 9 a.m.

Grafton Ponds is located at 783 Townshend Road in Grafton Village. Ample parking is available.

ABOUT GRAFTON PONDS
Grafton Ponds Outdoor Center offers year-round outdoor activities that are open to the public. In the summer, it has more than 2,000 acres of mountain biking and hiking, canoeing, Frisbee golf, fly fishing clinics and popular kids camps. In the winter, it has 30 kilometers of Nordic skiing (with snowmaking on select trails), snowshoeing and a 600-foot snow tubing hill. The center is part of the Grafton Inn, a Vermont country inn, located in Grafton Village.

The Grafton Inn and Grafton Ponds are part of the Windham Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Grafton, Vermont whose mission is to preserve Vermont’s rural communities.

For more information on Grafton Ponds and its programs, visit graftonponds.com or call 802-843-2400.