The next Scrabblethon is Sunday, March 1st – join us for March Mudness!

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Scrabble, bikes, how can you top that? ATR ran the first ever Scrabblethon back on December 15th, 2024, and it was a blast! Read the event report here. Then we had the (mostly snowed-out) Scrabblethon Tournament spring 2025!

MTB and gravel race seasons are starting very soon – this is a great opportunity to get the heart rate up!

Or, as always, you can make it a social event and ride with friends – that’s the great thing about this event.

We’ll be returning to the Francis-King course, and it’s a mostly non-technical loop over a wide range of terrain (one tricky uphill corner). Collect a Scrabble tile each lap, riding for up to one hour, and whoever has the best word at the end wins the day!

The (General) Details

Try to arrive before 11am, we’ll do some intros and cover the details of the event. Any off-road bike should do – MTB, gravel, cyclocross, all-road (ideally with some knobs, if it’s wet, traction may be limited in a few spots).

Laps are in the 5-10 minutes depending on ability. We’ll start with a neutralized lap as a group, then the hour starts and everyone is off! Ride your own pace, keep it social with a friend, or give it a go!

Each time around, collect a Scrabble piece, and contemplate your word each lap.

After 1 hour, no more laps. At that point each rider figures out their best words, most points wins!

Bring a friend or two, this is a fun event!

Full details will be emailed to those signed up around 6pm Saturday night before the event, including a meeting time and spot for those who would like to ride out in a group.

Safety is a huge priority of course, and all efforts are made to select quiet roads/trails that are low traffic, but please be respectful of other trail users, this is just for fun!

The Scrabblethon – Rules & Sign-Up

A few rules to try to keep things fun for all:

• Meet just before 11am, the designated location for this will be emailed Sat night before
• One Scrabble tile per lap, handed out in the Neutralized start/stop area
• Please neutralize/ease up for the Neutralized zone, eg avoid passing
• Ride as many laps as you can in one hour!
• Once we hit one hour, no more laps
• No trading tiles
• No phones to check spelling! (It’s fine to consult with other riders.)
• One word per rider
• Just one big category since this is mostly on chance!
• You’ll need somewhere to stash your tiles, eg: jersey, jacket, or shorts with a pocket! Bar bags work too!
• $10 cheap! Help support all the cool stuff to come from ATR!
• Sign up is required, see below!

Course Details

We’ve got a nifty loop we’ll be using through Francis King park! It’s a mix of fireroad, double-track, thick gravel and a short singletrack climb. The loop is mostly non-technical, with one corner on the singletrack climb that’s a bit more tricky and may see people off their bikes for a few steps. This loop has the least elevation of our courses, but that gravel by the power station will make up for it! 😂

Meeting point will be the northernmost point on the map, essentially just off Munn Rd on the unpaved Highland Rd, where there’s a yellow gate.

• Francis King Route (Strava): https://www.strava.com/routes/3309375804766635976
• Francis King Segment – Clockwise (Strava): https://www.strava.com/segments/38645418
• Francis King Segment – Counter-clockwise (Strava): https://www.strava.com/segments/38725562

Just another friendly reminder that these trails are open during our event, so please be considerate of all hikers and other cyclists!