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Mountain bikers will be putting the pedal to the metal one last time this weekend.
The final Test of Metal race had about 1,050 people registered to take part as of last weekend. The race on Saturday will mark the end of an era for founder Cliff Miller and his core group of about 35 people, otherwise known as the Test Pilots.
鈥淎ll the Test Pilots are stepping up to the plate as they always do,鈥� Miller told The 麻豆社国产.
Add to that 300 or so race day volunteers, known as the Metal Crew, and it sounds like a small army.
The problem, though, is the core group has been at it a long time and ready to step down, with no new core being groomed to grab the handlebars.
It鈥檚 a challenge faced by other groups in 麻豆社国产as the community grows. It may seem paradoxical to some, but many of the newcomers are young families with children and parents who are busy working, often commuting to the city, and do not have the time available to help organize an event like the Test of Metal.
鈥淭he volunteer base just isn鈥檛 there anymore,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淓very event I know is going to be having that problem.鈥�
While some from outside the group have offered to take over the race, Miller said the core did not wish to see what they have built simply handed over, possibly threatening the legacy of the race. Still, he added, people are free to organize their own race if they choose.
For infrastructure such as the barricades, tables and tents, the local Lions Club has stepped forward to act as guardians of a legacy of more than 20 years.
Test of Metal grew out of a conversation over beers between Miller and Kevin McLean. Miller said the race actually had its origins on the Sunshine Coast, but there was a problem back in the 1990s because mountain biking was not encouraged in provincial parks, the places that had the trails at the time.
鈥淢ountain biking was kind of a dirty word in provincial parks,鈥� he said.
Organizers of the Test, though, began working on trails, helping to add to a network for riders that forms part of the infrastructure of the event.
Now in its 21st year, the race has left behind parts of the trail network like the Carpenter鈥檚 Son Bridge, Powerhouse Plunge and Farside.
鈥淎 lot of people are not aware of that,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of history out there that nobody knows about.鈥�
The event has left a mark in other ways too. At the last OreCrusher event, a rider Miller did not know came up to him and thanked him for Test of Metal, telling Miller that the race had changed his life after he had decided to take part five or six years earlier.
鈥淗e was out of shape and couldn鈥檛 get off the couch,鈥� Miller said.
The race helped inspire the man to get active and healthy by daily mountain biking. It鈥檚 these kinds of stories that stick with Miller.
鈥淚 think anybody that does the race has got a story. I think the real stories are not the top finishers, but the real stories are the people at the middle to the end of the pack.鈥�
Then there are the stories that stranger than fiction like the 鈥淢ud Race鈥� from 2007, which followed a week of torrential rain.
鈥淧eople crossed the finish line so muddy we couldn鈥檛 tell who they were, even after they took their glasses off,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was amazing to see.鈥�
The twist in that race was the roughly 250 people who got sick following the race, apparently from campylobacter, a group of bacteria often associated with food-borne illness. Health Canada studied the situation, sent their findings to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Ga., and ultimately to Glascow, Scotland for a world conference on emerging infectious diseases.
Miller now laughs as he recalls being front-page news for three weeks running. The first was for the race, the second came when he asked his wife to marry him, and the third was for the campylobacteria.
鈥淚 said, 鈥楤oy, we really got to do something stupid to get on the front page of The Chief three weeks in a row,鈥欌�� he said.
And where does Miller expect to be this time next year? The answer is on a bike with the other Test Pilots and a few associates riding on the course in kind of an unofficial Test 鈥� no hoopla, no organizing, just mountain biking.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a social event for us,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he Test of Metal will live on. It just won鈥檛 be the big production it is.鈥�
