Salsa Cycles - Salsa Two-Four

MORC Transfers Salsa Two-Four Fest To Muddy Paws Racing

For Immediate Release: 11/01/11
Contact: Amanda Scholz
MORC Event Director

Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists (MORC), an IMBA chapter, announces transfer of ownership of the Salsa Two-Four Fest, formerly 24 Hours of Afton, to Muddy Paws Racing, the owner of the Wausau 24.

After a long history promoting this endurance mountain bike race, MORC has decided to step away from this event. This decision was not made lightly and many factors were considered. Increased difficulties working with the venue, stagnant participation numbers, volunteer fatigue and decreased profits were all considerations made during this process.

The event was founded and organized in 1994 by Mark Westlake and members of the Habanero Bicycle club. It was located at Buck Hill for the first two years before moving to Afton where it has been located since. It was gifted to MORC roughly 7 years ago.

MORC/IMBA is a not-for-profit volunteer organization dedicated to safeguarding the future of mountain biking in Minnesota through the promotion of responsible riding, establishment and maintenance of mountain biking trails, and preservation of Minnesota's natural resources.

Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists (MORC) began as the North Central Mountain Bike Group (NCMBG) under the umbrella of the Minnesota Coalition of Bicyclists in 1994. March 1998 marked the official name change to MORC as its known today. At this time there was a list of about 30 “members”. Despite a rocky start and with the guidance of some key people, the membership has grown to over 800 members today. The first project was Lebanon Hills. Although Terrace Oaks and the River Bottoms were earlier projects, they were already well established and simply fell under MORC’s umbrella when it was formed. Lebanon was the first single-track mountain bike trail built truly to sustainable standards with heavy involvement from the land manager. To date MORC maintains over 75 miles of trail in the metro area.