The six-hour event will wind through a track loop in the Canadian State Forest on Saturday, February 11, as part of a weekend of cycling events that make up the inaugural Ballarat Spokes Festival.

About 150 competitors are expected to take part in the Mountain Bike Victoria event, which is being hosted by Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club Mountain Bike section (BSCC MTB).

BSCC MTB committee member Tanya Wiggins said it was a first for Ballarat to host an endurance event. She said all profits from the race would go to the Ballarat Cancer Research Centre.

“People from all over the state compete,” she said. “Because it’s part of the Spokes Festival there will be lots of cyclists in Ballarat for the weekend.”

The endurance race is a six-hour event in which participants can enter solo or as part of a team of two or three people.

They ride around a flowing, fast, single-track loop starting and finishing at Pax Hill Scout Camp, with the winners being the rider and team who complete the most laps in the designated time.

The race begins at 10am.

“It’s a track we used for one of the events we held last year, but it was wet, so this will be the first time competitors will have a chance to ride it dry,” Wiggins said.

“It’s also the first time in Ballarat we’ve run anything that’s had a team element to it.”

Spectators will be able to gather at Pax Hill Scout Camp for a view of the riders at the finish line.