EBent, over at the 'BentRider Online forums, recently posted to let the world know that yes, recumbents can race off-road. Here's what he had to say:

At the last minute, I entered an MTB off-road bike race this Sunday (2 days before the race) and to my shock and pleasant surprise, I came in 4th in my age group (top 1/3 overall in my division)!

The shock/surprise came from:

-I "raced" on my wife's stock Rans Stratus.

-Tires were Big Apples.

-I'm 47 and haven't done this kind of intense off-road riding since my 20's.

-It was a fairly intense 12 mile course with steep elevation gain/loss over logging trails and single track with plenty of mud due to wet summer here in New England, plus rain the day before the race. Yes, I had to get off and push my bike in a few spots, but so were all those on MTB's around me. Yes, I'm plenty sore today.

...

Here's a post-race photo. Race was called "Bike for Bovines" (sponsored/held at local educational farm) so I made my own shirt that says "Reclined for Bovines". Knee bandage was from crash on mega downhill around mile 9 where I found a rock in middle of trail while descending at 25+ mph (bike survived fine, Yay Rans!). Note: I didn't have time to remove rack/mirror/kickstand/bell (that sure got looks from the hard-core MTBers, besides the fact I was on a 'bent). Several folks commented, "I thought those things couldn't climb!"

Congrats to EBent on a successful race!