Whatโs different this year?
Expanded Qualifying trails
Off-road requirements.
Starts 1 weekend early for Good Friday / Easter rides.
๐ ๐๐๐๐ฆ & ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐จ๐๐๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ง๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ขN
This Junior Challenge is designed to get kids 4 to 14 years of age riding DORBA trails during the month of April โ and maybe inspire them to sign up for other events.
The idea of the challenge is simple: Juniors will ride as many miles as they can on any open qualifying trails during April. A specific number of different trails is not required.
Juniors who enter the Miles & Smiles Challenge will receive an award medal based on their achievement:
Bronze: 30 miles
Silver: 60 miles
Gold: 100 miles
Diamond: 200 miles
Challenge Rules:
The challenge will run from May 29th to April 30th. All mileage claims must be submitted by the end of the day on Monday, May 1.
The challenge is for kids 4 to 14 years of age, as of the challenge start.
The challenge is free but parents must register their Junior by clicking on the "Register Now" button above. Juniors may sign up and join in the fun at any time during April, before the challenge ends.
Any publicly accessible off-road trails in Texas will qualify (so long as the trail is not lift or shuttled served and is on trailforks or strava). This will allow juniors to log miles at NICA, TMBRA, DFW Series races and more.
Each ride must be 50% off-road. Riders can utilize pavement before, after or during a ride, but each ride can only have as many qualifying pavement miles as off-road miles. (Record them separately if needed). For example, if a rider traveled 12 miles to and from the trail, then rode 4 miles on dirt, they could count 8 miles toward the challenge. If you have a NICA practice on pavement, great job, but sorry, they donโt count toward this challenge!
Juniors MUST use a GPS, smartphone app, or other odometer device/system to log their miles. MILES MUST BE DOCUMENTED. Estimates or undocumented claims will not be accepted.
Parents or Juniors must post documentation of their ride mileage on the Juniors Facebook page for credit. This must include the name of the trail, a photo of the Junior at the trailhead (or at a trail distinguishing feature), and a screen shot/photo of the GPS/app/odometer device data. Other reasonably specific documentation of the ride mileage, date, and location *MAY* be accepted, at the directorโs discretion. The Miles & Smiles challenge will be run on the honor system. Please submit only mileage your Junior has actually ridden.
Donโt ride closed trails.. and especially donโt share about riding closed trails.
FAQ:
โHow much does entry into the Miles & Smiles cost?"
Itโs FREE, thanks to DORBA and our generous sponsors.
"Do we have to be DORBA members to participate?"
No โ but I would really, really, REALLY encourage you to join DORBA. Itโs because of the hard work of the club board, stewards, and volunteers that we have great trails to ride.
"We are planning to ride a trail in North Korea next weekend. Can those miles count?"
No. Itโs great to ride different trails, and we applaud Juniors riding in other places! But the Challenge has to have some sort of โstructureโ to function, and is designed to celebrate the local trails DORBA Juniors most often get to ride. So we are limiting it to miles on qualifying trails, as stated in the rules.
"My Junior doesnโt have a Garmin. What should we do?"
If you donโt have a Garmin type device, there are multiple smartphone apps you can use to document mileage. You can also find cheap non-name brand GPS odometers, such as coospo.
"'No specific number of different trails is required' โ so can my Junior ride ALL the miles on ONE trail?"
Yes! This is a MILEAGE challenge, not a trails challenge like the one we have in July.
"I have a question not covered in the Rules or FAQ. Whom should I ask?"
Please post your question on the DORBA Juniors page or email dorbajuniors@dorba.org.