The Intermontane Challenge is a new breed of endurance cross-country mountain bike competition. A five-day stage race for both solo riders and teams of two, it’s the only race in North America offering both formats. But the real innovation is the cloverleaf course design, which has each stage starting and finishing in the same place: Kamloops, a town of approximately 80,000 in the interior of British Columbia.

Racers and their support crew won’t have to schlep base camp along to a new location every day. Instead, they can look forward to a hot shower, civilized dining and sleeping in the same bed each night. Bikers can focus on covering 450 km (280 mi) of “sweet, flowing singletrack” and the “occasional super-technical section.”

Course designer Dustin Adams, a former DH and XC pro and Kamloops local, has taken great pains to keep gravel roads and hike-a-bike sections to the bare minimum. He has, however, built in some monster climbs to spread out the pack a little. All this and an unbelievably fat purse ($60,000 in cash prizes, equally divided between men and women) will undoubtedly attract some top talent. Inaugural race is July 27-31, 2009. More info: www.intermontanechallenge.com