LA Tourist Race 1: Hope Y’all Come Back Now?
Photos and words by Kyle Kelley
The LA Tourist Race Series is a triptych of grassroots, self-supported mixed terrain rides/races in Los Angels using some of LA’s most iconic bike routes. Each race is pieced together using multiple rides throughout Los Angeles and the surrounding mountains that many Angelenos would never imagine doing on the same day. While there is a route provided for participants, in these races someone replicates the world’s wackiest ultramarathon, the Barkley Marathon! In the Barkley Marathon, if you complete 60 miles of the entire 100-mile course it’s called the “Fun Run”, this is what most people are able to do before the full retreat. There are checkpoints where books have been left, as racers arrive they rip their race number out of the book and are on their way to the next checkpoint. And if you were wondering, only even or odd numbers are given out for each particular race. The books are just random ones found at thrift stores, so it would be very difficult to cheat. There is no right or wrong way to complete this race, if you know of a six-mile hike-a-bike that cuts off 15 miles, take it! The Barkley Marathons are extremely challenging, they usually require bushwacking and many other obstacles not usually associated with a running race. So the LA Tourist Race series has translated many of these ideas to modern day gravel or adventure racing.
