A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, played, heard, observed, worn, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here.

What: Discovery Channel Eco-Challenge Adventure Tour

Where: Century City Shopping Center and Marketplace (Court No. 4, adjacent to J. Crew)

When: Friday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; and Sunday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

If you’ve seen the Raid Gauloises, Eco-Challenge or any other endurance race on television and wondered what it would be like to compete in such a grueling event, going head to head with Mother Nature and the elements, here’s your chance.

The Discovery Channel, which televised last year’s Eco-Challenge, a 10-day, 300-mile race through harsh, unforgiving terrain in Morocco, has put together a tour that is making its L.A. stop this weekend. It is free to the public.

Among the things visitors will experience is sitting on a mountain bike while watching a 14-foot screen and experiencing the same bumps and turns the Eco-Challenge competitors did.

Two competitors from last year’s race, Rebecca Rusch and Paul Romero, will be on hand to demonstrate techniques, sign autographs and answer questions. Rusch began adventure racing two years ago and won her first race, an Eco-Challenge qualifier, which earned her a berth in the 1997 Eco-Challenge in Australia. She has since been in 11 endurance races, earning medals in eight. Romero is a paramedic and ski and snowboarding instructor who finished eighth in the 1998 Eco-Challenge.

“Discovery Channel is about exploration and adventure and this family-oriented tour brings those concepts to life for participants by offering them a hands-on, competitive experience,” said David Karp of Discovery’s themed entertainment division.