HUMM Appalachians Sep 13-15, 2019
 

We're back in the Appalachins but a whole new riding area! HUMM Appalachians will be held in George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in Virginia from Sep 13-15, 2019.

What's a HUMM? It's 2 DAYS of 100% pure off-road adventure navigation challenges for teams of 2-4 riders. Whether you're new to off-road riding or a trail ninja, HUMMs let you and your team choose your adventure...

All teams get the same maps (Reference Map and Topographic map(s) of the riding area), and a HUMM Points Book on Day 1. Each checkpoint gets its own page with key info about its location - your team figures out how to get there. Every team has a different strategy, so there is no set course. You're never following a string of riders down the same dusty road!

https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ev...19-900x486.jpg

See the HUMM trailer for a taster. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4CDmq-0xoE

Mark Carrera is our local organizer for HUMM Appalachians, and Tom Asher Adventure Riding Academy will be wrangling points and providing off-road training prior to the event. Note this event is 2-days of off-road riding on Sep 14-15. Check-in and briefing is Sep 13, off-road training on Sep 12 and 13.

Mark your calendars and form your team. Don't have a team? No worries, we can team you up! Online registration is open now with super early bird rates!

Mountain Madness newbie
 

Hello, I'm looking to sign up for the Mountain Madness event in Virginia in Sept. I'm very new to off-road riding, so I'm planning on taking Tom Asher's off-road training that week, as well as squeezing in all of the time that I can on my bike before hand. I will be on my '09 Yamaha XT250, it's a single cylinder, so that part's easy. But, I'm not sure what kind of team I should be on as far as navigation (maps or GPS), and at this point, don't have much experience with either, especially in this environment. Do you have any recommendations?
Thanks

Just signed up for my membership here and registration for the event!

Will be at a Hilton Hotel 8 mins away. Was told the main hotel was sold out for the weekend.

Can't wait for the event!

When you register you are asked your skill level, and what you're riding. If you don't have a team mate, that helps us match you up with a suitable team mate - we don't pair experts with newbies! :) So the idea is no one is a burden, you work together as a team.

As for Class - we recommend Map class, always. EVERYONE needs to improve their map reading skills. What do you do when your GPS fails - and it will? What about when there ARE no maps available for the GPS for the part of the world you're in? A map tells you much more about the area than a GPS, and is much better for planning a ride. Scrolling around on a tiny screen really sucks when you need to see the overview.
I'd also recommend an off-road class asap, then some practice, and finish off with Tom to get the greatest improvement in skills in a short time. Practising without any training means you will have to UNLEARN new bad habits in the class!

Mountain Madness newbie
 

Thanks a lot for the information, I will look for some training right away, sign up for the Maps section, and even dust off a few of the dozens of maps I have to polish my skills. I am a fan of having a map along on any trip, not only for the reasons you mentioned, but you never know when you want to veer off from your original plan.

Important update for HUMM Appalachians 2019
 

Hi everyone,

We’re truly sorry to notify you that we are cancelling this year’s Horizons Unlimited Mountain Madness (HUMM) APPALACHIANS event slated for September 13-15, 2019. :( Just not in the cards for this year. It was a part of the 'KTM AMA Adventure Riding Series' and the 'Beta AMA Dual Sport Series'.

Despite opening registration and promoting since February, a serious review of the resources needed and the uncertainty of improving registration numbers in the remaining time leading up to the event mean it is no longer a viable endeavour to make it a decent experience for you. Clearly, this is not the outcome we wanted. We were very reluctant to decide this given how much previous participants enjoyed the HUMM last year and for those who couldn’t come due to Hurricane Florence the year before, but we can't absorb a large loss on the event.

We've contacted everyone who had registered. Thanks for your understanding.

Mountain Madness newbie
 

Sorry to hear about the cancellation as well, and I imagine it was a hard decision to come to. While I've not attended any of the previous HUMM, I've attended enough events to know how much work goes into putting them on. Thanks for all the work that went into it so far, and I look forward to 2020 and the chance to participate in what looks like an amazing time.