TOMMY KNOCKER 10

April 6, 2024

Come kick off the season with us at the Tommy Knocker 10 in Santa Clara, NM just outside of Silver City! This fun 10-hour endurance relay allows solos, duos, and teams to compete for the most laps on the fast and fun Ft. Bayard trails. The trails are great for all ability levels and are fast and flowy with true singletrack for you and your crew to enjoy.

About the race
Race Details
Schedule
Media

About the Race

April 6th 2024

2024 Pre-Race Email Link - in case you didn't get the email

For those that don’t know, we lost two giants of the Silver City community in October 2022, Alex Olsen and Martyn Pearson. Not only did Alex and Martyn own the local bike shop, Gila Hike and Bike, they were also heavily involved with the local high school teams as coaches. As for Zia Rides, Alex was a long time Zia Rides employee and close friend, and Martyn was a true driving force behind the Tommyknocker. The Tommy Knocker 10 is now dedicated to Alex and Martyn, so help us keep their memory alive every year by making Tommy Knocker our biggest and best event.

With the help of the Village of Santa Clara and the USFS we officially moved the event venue onto the grounds of Historic Ford Bayard in 2023. For those that made it in 2023, you are fully aware what an amazing improvement this was to the event. Better venue and a new and improved course make the Tommy Knocker 10 a great start to the Zia Rides Season.

Curve through the beautiful grasslands surrounded by enormous juniper and cottonwood trees, get a little bit wet riding through fun stream crossings, and see beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and meadows. The course is an intermediate 13+ mi. loop with less than 1000 feet elevation gain.

Bring the whole family for a weekend of killer riding, hanging out in the spooky but cool Fort Bayard staging area, and then go for a soak in local hot springs while sightseeing in the Gila Wilderness area. The Tommy Knocker 10 makes for an amazing getaway weekend of recreation and fun. We hope to see you there!

Race Details

DEADLINES

Early Bird Price – register by November 30
Regular Price – register by January 31
Last Minute Price – register by April 3

Discounts

Juniors (under 18): Half price at checkout
Full-Time College Students: Half price at checkout - email Seth at elcapitan@ziarides.com for a code

TRANSFERS, CHANGES & CANCELLATIONS

Refund Policy

Refunds are not offered but we totally understand that life happens. If you need to adjust your plans, we have several alternatives set up to make life easy for you and to ensure the event goes on for our other racers.

Transfers

Transfer your registration to another rider in BikeReg by March 1.
- Edit your entry to provide the new rider’s email address and also change any other information on the event to placeholders (i.e. “edit this”) if you don’t want your information to be visible to the new rider.
- If you don’t have your edit link, you can request one here: https://www.bikereg.com/edit/tommyknocker10
- Once you’ve updated your entry and saved changes, go to the above link and put in the new rider’s email address and click “Send me a link to edit my entry”
- They’ll receive a link they can use to edit the information on the entry to be theirs instead of yours.
Transfer your registration to another race.
- Email Seth at elcapitan@ziarides.com by March 1.
- We will send you a registration code to be used for another Zia Rides event minus a $10 transfer fee.
If you want to be able to request a refund, then buy the race insurance available from Alliance through BikeReg. It is not expensive, and it ensures that if you get hurt, sick, or something comes up, you are able to request a refund.

Changes

BikeReg will allow you to make some changes. Login to your registration on BikeReg or request the ability to edit at: https://www.bikereg.com/edit/tommyknocker10

Cancellations

The safety of you, your crew, and our wonderful staff is the most important thing to us at Zia Rides! If a race must be cancelled or shortened due to Mother Nature or other uncontrollable circumstances, refunds will not be issued. Unfortunately, the money has already been spent and we still have to pay for the event whether it happens or not.

PRIZES

Prizes will be awarded to the top three in each category and to the fastest male and female lap.

We realize that fast and riders are not the only people that make our events awesome. Sometimes we recognize other folks, so stick around for awards. We don't recognize all of these things every year, but folks have received prizes for things like the following:

Congeniality Award: Awarded to the most courteous rider on the course
Most Fun Rider Award: Awarded to the rider with the most spirit (Anders is not eligible to compete!)
Endo Award: Awarded to the rider with the worst luck
Best Costume Award: Awarded to the rider who completes at least one lap in their goofy getup
Best Classic Bike Award: Awarded to the rider who completes at least one lap on a vintage bike
Best Mustache Award: Awarded to the rider with the best facial hair
Best Hype Man/Women Award: Awarded to the most enthusiastic supporter
Best Volunteer Award: Awarded to your favorite Zia Rides volunteer
Best Camp Award: Awarded to the camp with the best decorated tent
Best Family Award: Awarded to one of the awesome families at our race
Oldest Rider Award: Awarded to the oldest rider
Youngest Rider Award: Awarded to the youngest rider
Furthest Traveled Award: Awarded to the rider who travels the longest way to be here

SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER

Click Here To Sign Up

We always need volunteers! In return for your time we promise you fun, SWAG, and our undying gratitude. Please visit the link above to see what volunteer opportunities are available and sign up.

STAGING AREA, CAMPING, & HOTEL

MAPS OF THE NEW VENUE

Official Venue Map

CAMPING/PARKING FEES

To help control numbers and manage space in the staging area, we will be charging for parking passes to cover the entire weekend:

Cars: $5

Small RVs and Trailers: $10

Large RVs and Trailers: $20

DIRECTIONS

Fort Bayard

Google Maps Link

This is pretty much the address:

Fort Bayard Museum – National Historic Landmark

26 Calle El Centro

Santa Clara, NM 88026

STAGING AREA

The staging area is at Fort Bayard Parade grounds next to the museum. There will be signs directing you to the staging area from the highway. To get to Ft. Bayard from Silver City, head east on US-180 for seven miles. Take a left onto Ft. Bayard Rd. and continue straight for half a mile following the signs to Fort Bayard. Take a right into the fort grounds and follow it straight for about a mile looking for the Zia Rides arrow signs. When you lots of creepy old buildings. You have arrived! Check in at the entry tent, and you are there. See you there!

CAMPING DETAILS

Zia Rides has been given permission to camp at Historic Fort Bayard. Camping opens Friday at 10AM and closes Sunday at 12PM. There are designated camping areas for solo riders along the west side of the parade ground before entering the transition tent. You can’t show up early unless you sign up to volunteer. See the volunteer tab.

There is plenty of parking for rigs of all sizes. However, to maximize space and order, we ask that you carpool and try to keep your RV within a reasonable area. We will not allow RVs to park horizontally across multiple parking spaces. If you can’t park your RV vertically into a space, we ask that you leave it at home.

Also, this is primitive camping, people! There is no potable water, no electricity, and no complimentary foot massages at the camp, though we do often have a massage therapist scheduled for the event.

HOTELS

We have two partner hotels. Just mention Tommy Knocker bike race when you call to make a reservation at:

WASTE MANAGEMENT

We will provide dumpsters and porta potties so that you can dispose of all your waste properly!

PETS

We love pets and welcome them at our events! If you bring your pups, please keep them on a leash or under control in your area.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Tommy course map

MTB Project – big thanks to Chris Bare

The course starts and finishes at the grounds of Historic Fort Bayard. The course starts at the staging area and travels clockwise, taking advantage of various trails in the Ft. Bayard Trail System. The course is approximately 13.4 miles and mostly beginner and intermediate terrain. It includes under 1000 total feet of climbing, and has an elevation that ranges from 6,000 ft. to 6,600 ft. The course is mostly singletrack with the new changes from 2023 and balances fun stream crossings and meadows with beautiful views and flowy decents through juniper trees.

RACE RULES

The racer or team that completes the most laps in the least amount of time, within 10 hours, wins.

Be nice to your camp neighbors and fellow riders.
No Littering: Please treat the area and trails with respect. Any racer found intentionally littering will be disqualified.
Helmets: Required when on the bicycle at anytime, whether racing or not.
Ear Buds: Headphones, earbuds, speakers, and other audio devices are highly discouraged. Part of the point of this is to be out in nature taking in the sights AND sounds. If you must wear headphones you may do so in ONE EAR ONLY. For your safety and the safety of others we ask that you be mindful of your volume and surroundings and ask that you keep the volume low enough that you can hear others. The ability to communicate with each other and other people on the trails is a safety imperative.
Course Food/Water Support: any person may supply a racer on the course with food and water.
Course Mechanical Support: racers may receive mechanical assistance on the course. A rider providing assistance to another rider must have entered the course under their own power, either on foot or on a bicycle, not by motorized vehicle. Any rider who has entered the course in support of another may bring equipment and tools and may even swap bikes with the rider in need of support. The cannibalizing of bikes is permitted.
Canceling a Lap: once on course, a racer is expected to complete the lap. However, should the racer be unable to complete the lap for any reason, including injury, a teammate may simply restart the lap. If a teammate restarts the lap, the original racer is not permitted to go through the timing gate for that lap.
Duos and teams: all coed teams are required to have a minimum of one person of the opposite sex. In order to be on the podium, there cannot be a difference of more than 2 laps completed between teammates. Translastion: if someone does 4 laps, then everyone else has to do a minimum of 2. Each member is required to complete at least one lap, except in the case of a confirmed race day injury.
Passing Etiquette: Follow rules #1 and #13. For those that need it spelled out: (A) Racers riding bicycles have the right of way over racers pushing bicycles. When practical, racers pushing should stay on the least rideable portion of the path when being passed. A racer pushing or carrying his bicycle can overtake a racer riding his bicycle provided he does not interfere with the rider’s progress. (B) Slower riders should yield to overtaking riders. Riders should clearly voice the command “On your left, I’d like to pass,” etc, when overtaking another rider. (C) Riders being passed must move over as quickly, efficiently and as safely as possible. (D) It is the responsibility of the passing rider to overtake safely. But that doesn't give the slow rider permission to violation rules #1 and #13. (E) In the event two riders are vying for position, the leading rider does not have to yield his position to the challenging rider. However, a rider may not bodily interfere with the intent to impede another rider’s progress.
Course Cutting: any attempt to cut the course will result in immediate disqualification of that racer’s entire team.
Bad Attitudes: if there are two or more complaints about unsportsmanlike behavior, the racer and his or her team will be disqualified from the race, asked to leave the venue, and will not be welcome at future events. We will also talk smack about you. Refer to rules #1 and #13.
Penalties: all penalties are determined on a case-by case basis by the Race Director.
Assholes will be disqualified.
Act of God: In the case of catastrophic failure due to weather or another extenuating circumstance that prevents the ongoing scoring of the event or creates a racing environment that is deemed too dangerous for the participants, the race may be called as of a certain time, or postponed and restarted, or any other way we damn well please.
Protests and Changes: must be made during the 15 minute protest period immediately after the race. After that, the results are final.

1b. Have fun!

SPONSORS, VENDORS & BOOTHS

Food and Drink

Peddler on the Path: A café-on-wheels serving locally brewed coffee and baked goodies
Pizzart: delicious food fired pizzas
TGI Frybread: delicious local food stand serving up frybread, Navajo Tacos, burgers, etc.
Open Space Brewing: A local brewery serving premium craft beer and hosting our packet pickup will also hosting a beer garden on Saturday afternoon and evening at the venue.

Bike Industry

Twin Sisters Cycling and Fitness: Local bike shop will be providing official neutral bike mechanic support
Gila Hike and Bike: Local bike shop will be stocking up an aid station at the midway point of the course
Hammer Nutrition: Supplying the aid stations and your goody bags with Gel, Fizz, and Heed
BiciFixx Mobile Bike Shop: our friend Alti will be out there to help keep you rolling

Other

Rocky Mountain Cannabis: will have some stuff to share with those who are of age.
Grant County Community Foundation: will have a booth sharing information about the memorial fund for Alex and Martyn for outdoor projects to benefit the community.
Yahova Rapha Therapeutic Massage: providing massage for your tired legs and bodies. Open Friday noon to 8pm and Saturday 9am to 8pm.
Elevate PHW: our friends and sponsors will have a tent with foam rollers set up to help keep you limber and roll out leg cramps