wow what a fussy sigforum crowd on this. I've done hundreds of road races. None were ever not fun even if I didn't do well. The particulars matter a bit for advice but its really hard to imagine an event that is a charity type event being either risky or not fun. There is a massive difference between doing 22miles and a century FWIW. You could do the former tomorrow and the later will be out of reach (at least with any rational time limit) without a massive change in equipment and training.
Go have fun. Up your training to do an occasional distance that is at least 80% of what you want to do for this event. Do everything you can to help at the equipment level which is both personal equipment and your compromise bike equipment (mostly you can get the best/lowest resistance tires on the Fuji). You are a gear guy so you can probably find a decent road bike cheaply if you want the right equipment.

I’d like to thank you all for your input. I still haven’t decided if I am going to race in the event.

Two weeks ago I had a bit of a spill on my mountain bike on one of the more gnarly trails in my area and nearly went off the trail into the woods at speed. 200mm disc brakes stop a bike with shocking efficiency. Rather than hit a tree I went over the handlebars awkwardly while still holding on and managed to fall on my knee and side. It was a very strange crash. My knee took a hell of a smack and is just now starting to feel normal again.

I took last week off from riding and noticed a big improvement in my knee. My most recent ride did result in a little pain afterwards but nothing like right after the crash.

If I do decide to race I’ll let you guys know how it went. Buying a road bike is probably not going to happen as I have my 2022 Scott Spark XC bike nearly paid off but I might throw some road tires on my Fuji cross and go for the 40 or 60 mile race.

See if you can use that battery powered bike, sure help in covering the hills and distance

Nice thing about road riding is the lack of trees in the path....

When my uncle first asked me to join him I joked about using my “trans” 52v-2400W ebike that identifies as a regular bicycle and smoking the entire field.

Sort of like this classic from the Babylon Bee.

Update.

I visited my Local Fun Store Local Bike Shop to get a new wire for my dropper seat post today and mentioned the race in september. Turns out my LBS has a team and I am going to be joining and riding with my bike shop friends. It gets better….I discovered there is also a mountain bike event so I will be testing my skills on the single track that happens to be in my back yard . I have a home field advantage so if I can get my endurance up it should be lots of fun.

My Giant Anthem on the trails at my local 1000+ acre park earlier today.



Not bad considering we’re only 1/2 way thru the week and this is 30% road riding and 70% singletrack trail riding with lots of elevation change.

Do you think three months is enough time to prepare if you’ve already started riding a mountain bike 18-24 miles every week?

Yes.

Lots of good advice here, although I don't think it's necessary to ride 5-6 days per week.

In the past year, I've done a three day ride down the coast (3 days, 290 miles) as well as two full Ironmans. I was able to do 2x20 miles and a long ride per week. In Florida, with just 1500' of elevation gain on the course, I averages 20.2 mph and in St George, with 7400' of climb, I averaged 17.2 mph. Dramatically different courses. I did train on a tri bike though which makes a huge difference.

You didn't mention (or I failed to see it) that you're using a road bike. I assume you will. Find a Craigslist bike that fits. New bikes are pricey and hard to come by.

As for race, you won't be competing for the podium, so dont take it too seriously. Don't tailgate. You're not a Tour de France rider, so don't ruin your day (or someone else's) by getting tangled up with them.

Enjoy training with the group. You'll make quick improvement!

Late to the party here.

I've not done any races, but have done a few longer (40-60 miles) organized rides.
Agreed with some early responses, there will be a fast group that will just disappear off the front.

I used to ride regularly with a local race team, some of those guys were crazy fast. I remember being on a more casual group ride with the club & dropped in with the fast boys after a regroup stop.
Once we were back underway, a group of about 9 of us was running about 1" apart & just a tick over 30mph
I held on for about a mile & had to bow out. Curious how I'd fare now, with all the Peloton miles racked up.

Terrain will play a big part of it. Flat or hilly, do you have wind (almost everything is a headwind).

My first big ride was one put on by Continental Airlines (which gives an idea how long ago), and it was on a bike that wasn't exactly a great fit for me (58cm Cannondale R400, IIRC).
The 2nd was the Tour de Houston, which starts in downtown & had multiple distance turnoffs for what you were feeling up to. I think I did that one on the same Cannondale.

Got rid of the big bike & got a smaller bike from my uncle, it's either a 55 or 56cm & a much better fit (and has much better components).
Did a 3rd event on that one, a charity ride for fallen officers. Lots of rough pavement on that one & made it almost to the point of taking an earlier turnoff for a shorter route. Luckily the pavement smoothed when we changed counties & it got better.

I'd say go for it, if you have the time to put in for some training.