Montenegro’s LONAC Adventure Race Series 2010

Throw all the best ingredients—meat, vegetables, spices—into a pot, and you have the traditional Montenegrin meal that used to be cooked over a fire or in a pit in the earth.  Today, lonac (pronounced LO-nats) stands for the mix of adventure events in the country in 2010, eight events ranging from the World Parachuting Championships to the 3-day Mountaineering Days.

The first event this season is the Paths of King Nikola road cycling race, April 29th to May 2nd.   Montenegro, named “Black Mountain” for its “excessively mountainous regions,” rises from Adriatic turquoise waters to dramatic glaciated mountains in less than 100km.  The 4-day road race takes professional European riders and tests them on the winding roads that connect the mountains and the sea, generally following the route of the one and only king of Montenegro.  It’s a rare opportunity to ride some of the wild roads of Montenegro, such as the Morača canyon, with no traffic, and Black Mountain Montenegro will offer an itinerary that follows (or leads) the racers.

If you’re less inclined to barrel through the country on skinny tires, test yourself and your team in the Adventure Race Montenegro.  The one-day option, September 25th, is a multi-disciplinary race in the Bay of Kotor, and the Expedition Challenge runs over two days, October 1st-2nd.   The race tests competitors in some of Montenegro’s most severe and spectacular places–such as the Tara Canyon, the deepest canyon in Europe–but it also tests the teams navigation skills, route planning, and endurance.  In the wilderness of the world’s youngest country, a landscape still inhabited by bears and wolves, you will be timed in rafting, kayaking, mountain biking, road biking, and running.  The race benefits local charities and aims to raise awareness of Montenegro’s “Wild Beauty.”  If you would like to help, compete, or just learn more, click here, or check out the facebook page.