Will this replace the Warbird, or is it something entirely new?
Salsa/Gabe Welker
At 300 miles with nearly 17,000 feet of elevation gain, the Mega Mid South gravel ultra race follows the outer perimeter of every past Mid South course. This past weekend, 146 people lined up for the second Mega grand depart, a few of whom were Salsa-sponsored riders riding a new, unreleased race bike from the brand.
The Mega is put on by the Mid South team from its headquarters at District Bicycles in downtown Stillwater, Oklahoma, where the race begins and ends. While the route can be ridden year-round in one go or as a multi-day bikepacking adventure, the now annual grand depart is a send-off from the registration party for next year’s Mid South run and gravel race series (which recently announced a new format).
Mid South 2025: Bike checks, tech, and community
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In contrast to the fully supported Mid South events, the Mega Mid South is self-supported, has no registration fee, and Trackleaders tracking is the only requirement for participation. When the 2025 Mid South race was cancelled due to wildfires, Ted King and Chase Wark went head-to-head fundraising for the nascent ultra’s fastest known time (FKT), with Wark riding away with the men’s record.
The 2025 grand depart gave riders another opportunity to harness the spirit of competition and set a new course record. The first across the finish line in both the men’s and women’s categories were Salsa Cycles team riders. Matt Acker won the men’s race, and Jill Martindale took the women’s category along with the FKT. Another Salsa rider, Britt Mason, was on track to best the women’s FKT by almost 5 hours, but due to technical difficulties with her computer and phone, she scratched around mile 285.
Acker, Martindale, and Mason were all riding the same bike, one that doesn’t appear in Salsa’s current catalog.
While the event is, for the most part, unorganized, the Mid South media team does a lot to hype it up on social media. Watching the racers grind it out from the comfort of my home last weekend, I first noticed something different about the bikes ridden by Salsa’s team leading the pack. In an Instagram post, the brand indicated it would be showing and demoing new bikes during the event, but it seemed that its riders were also putting them to work on northern Oklahoma’s red dirt roads.
The marketing tactic is similar to what other brands have done at major race events like Unbound. It’s a slow leak, as pros are equipped with new bikes to drum up momentum months before launch. You could also call it a leanch.
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