The Ultra Spice Race

Brief Summary of the Event

Start Date: Sat 27th January 2018

Start Venue: Goa

Start Time: 5:00 am

Finish Date – 28th Jan-1st Feb 5:00 am.

The Ultra Spice Race consists of 3 distances – 500km, 1000km and 1750km all starting and finishing in Bogmalo, Goa. Comprising solo and relay team categories, all racers in all categories must have a support vehicle and crew. In the 1000 and 1750 km categories, 2 support vehicles with a minimum of 2 drivers in each vehicle are mandatory.

Ultra Spice 500

The Map – Ultra Spice 500 – https://ridewithgps.com/routes/17407425

Route – A 24 hour ‘out and back’ race, will have only solo and 2 person team category. The Race starts in Bogmalo, Goa heads south along the Coast road, heading inland from Honavar towards Jog Falls. Rolling terrain soon turns into a steady climb up the Western Ghats to turn around above the Falls and return the same way. The total distance 500 Km has a the total elevation gain of 5500 Mts.

Ultra Spice 1000 – RAAM Qualifier

The Map – Ultra Spice 1000 – https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18159439

Route – A 56 hour race it will have solo and 2,3 and 4 person team categories. The Race follows the same route at the 500 till Jog Falls. From there it continues around the edge of Wildlife sanctuaries, climbing steadily towards Chikmaglur. Still in the forest and spice plantation covered hills, the route heads south till it touches the Mangalore-Bangalore highway and turns to descend towards the coast again. From Mangalore the route follows the coastline back to Goa. The total distance 1000 Km has a total elevation gain of 9500 Mts.

Ultra Spice 1750 – RAAM Qualifier

The Map – Ultra Spice 1750 – https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18150512

Route – A longer race of 120 hrs it will have solo and 2, 3 and 4 person team categories. The Race follows the same route at the 1000 till it touches the Mangalore-Bangalore highway. There instead of heading back, the route continues south along the Western ghats, rolling through spectacular coffee and spice plantations of Coorg. From there it descends down from the Sahyadris to Iritty in Kerala before heading back up to Wayanad.  Heading into the Nilgiri mountains through Eucalyptus trees the route climbs up to Ooty at 2200Mt through a winding 25 km route. Turning around the route returns the same way to the Mangalore-Bangalore highway and turns to descend towards the coast. From Mangalore the route follows the coastline back to Goa. The total distance 1700 Km has a the total elevation gain of almost 21200 Mts.

Race categories

Race categories are separated in to SOLO and TEAM, and additionally based on Age, Gender and Team size. All categories are run regardless of the no. of participating teams with the category however the no. of podium finishes is dictated by the no of teams in each category.

SOLO is just that…. Solo! Solo racers ride the entire distance, while their crew provides them with full support.

TEAM – This is a race that allows riders to challenge themselves, while sharing the distance with team mates.

Team Format – The team event is a relay, not a peloton of 2, 3 or 4 members. Team members take turns riding, while other/s rest in the support vehicle and move up the road. Teams have the freedom to decide how often you swap riders, how long each member rides and how much distance each covers. If Rider A is cycling, the support vehicle will position the next rider B, with her/his cycle up the route. B will wait for the A to come right up to that point, and overlap cycles, before starting to ride. A will stop, put bike on car and vehicle will follow B and move up to the next exchange point. (refer video below in which Team Break The Cycle does it ‘oh so smoothly’)

Team members may share the driving of the support vehicle, though at least one dedicated driver is mandatory for safety.

Racing Age – For Solos, Racing Age is the age each Racer will turn during the calendar year of the race (year of race minus birth year). For Teams, Racing Age is the age each Racer will turn during the calendar year of the race (year of race minus birth year) and Team Age is the average racing age of all Team members (total number of years divided by 2,3 or 4 depending on team size). Age group of 50+ includes those who have or will complete 50 in the Race year.

Gender

All Men

Mixed – at least 1 member is Male and 1 Female.

All women

Team Size – Teams have the option of racing in teams of 2,3 or 4 members.

Rough outline of timings

 

 

Event Owner

Inspire India – Sports Event Management company – Proprietor – Divya Tate.