Boone XC race report

Race data

I tend to be wordy in my posts. Writing my experiences on the bike down is my way of decompression. I'll try to be a bit more brief on these two races considering they were sandwiched in between two of my bigger events for the year which unfortunately for you, the reader, I'll be delving into full detail for.

The Boone XC race is one of my more interesting races on a yearly basis. Running full tilt on this course for multiple laps in a row is a surefire way to find yourself knee deep in pain. Add in the singlespeed factor for this year and I had no clue what to expect. I knew I'd be lining up against a number of guys I respect for speed and ability and hoped I could hang with them given the limited amount of short course racing I'd done up to this point. We had a pretty small group for the start which made it a bit easier to get a fair spot into the woods after our usual out and back on the grass field below the ski hill. I hit the woods sitting around 10th or a shade better with a few experts leading the charge and a few others from the comp class stacked in as well. The comp guys aren't in my class, but I consider them direct competition as it's the class I'd be racing if I hadn't determined earlier that I wanted to stick to the singlespeed class. I have a feeling next year, we may all be lumped into one group anyway.

We're off:

The first climb into the singletrack is always a soul crusher as you wind up and up twisting until you're about 2/3 to the top of the ski hill before diving back to the bottom again. We started out at a hard but relatively manageable pace in the first part of the course. Watching Kyle (also on SS) snake by a few riders and making his way towards the front, I marked him as much as possible. In my mind (and a few others I'm sure), he's without a doubt one of the fastest guys lap for lap at Boone. I stayed close on his wheel through the first half of the lap before catching an opening when he spun on a root. I tried to take advantage of putting a couple guys between us and opening a gap, but it took a lot out of me in the process. As we hit the line for lap 1 I had maybe a 20-30 second gap on him as I took off for lap two.

Nearing the base of the powerline cut on lap 2 Kyle was holding tight on my wheel as I started slowing down on the flat sections to hopefully conserve some energy and recover from hammering out lap 1. He asked for the pass and I gladly let him go to run my own pace. As soon as he was out of site, it was a done deal and he went on to take the comp class win by a pretty fair margin. I should mention that he also rides singlespeed so in reality, he took both wins. Good thing its not scored that way though! Lap 2 was pretty uneventful other than the constant kick in the nuts that Boone provides free of charge with each race entry. I did find myself walking a few of the steeper hills at this point with my legs screaming for a break.

Rolling:

By the time I rolled into lap 3 I was about ready for this thing to be done with. I did my best to put in a hard effort again, but cramps were starting to close in every time I tried really upping the effort. I was still walking some sections and felt like I was barely trudging along. I guess it was a real welcoming to the rigors of racing with 1 gear. I felt like I must be losing huge amounts of time both to Kyle in front of me and the rest of the pack behind me. I never did get passed though and managed to hang on for 1st singlespeed and what would've been 2nd in the comp class by about 5 minutes back of Kyle.

All told, I was really happy with my gearing selection, race effort, and finishing spot. Given that I hadn't been really focused on XC efforts, it was definitely nice to have a solid race.

IMBCS #8 Mullet Classic race report

The last IMBCS race of the season fell in October which mostly would put a period on a rather long seeming season for me. I'd like to say I finally found my groove by the end of the season, but that wouldn't be reality.

IMBCS #8 at Ahquabi State park was renamed the Mullet Classic for this year. The course was roughly the same as previous years with the addition of some very freshly cut "singletrack" areas. I use the term singletrack loosely because I'm not exactly sure what that stuff was other than soul sucking, soft, and alternately rough as all get out. The race called for an expert class length of 5 laps roughly equaling 40 miles and making this our own local version of the famed Fat Tire 40 held in Chequamegon, WI. The race was semi mass start but broken up in waves to give a little space for the 150+ racers at this years event. Turnout was spectacular to say the least.

The experts lined up to start first. We sat around for a couple minutes contemplating the pain about to be bestowed upon as with a fast, hilly, and rough course laid out.

The whistle blew and we were off like a shot. I actually felt pretty decent at the start of the race, which hasn't been the case for most of the season. We hit the first few climbs with some fast flats in between and I let the fast guys go as my legs were still warming up. I was going to try to roll this race like last year and slowly up my effort over each lap since that led me to a win previously. As I got about halfway into the lap, I started catching the tail end of the lead group and passed a few guys. Soon enough I was sitting roughly in 4th overall. Barring a major catastrophe, there wasn't any way I'd catch the front 3 as all are in another league from me in regards to strength and speed. I kept pushing and realized I was going too hard to sustain that level of effort, so I backed it down just a shade.

The new and extremely rough sections followed up by a series of painful climbs right before the finish had me a little ragged by the time 1 lap was down. Lap 2 found me backing it down even more, but I was still maintaining a pretty good pace and holding position within 1 or 2 places. Unfortunately, I could feel things all ready starting to unravel a bit. I kept on it and finished out the lap and hit lap 3. I started to feel that wall creeping up on lap 3 and by the time I hit the finish line at the end of the lap, I knew it was pretty much over. I'd lost a couple more spots and was barely turning the pedals over. By the time I got halfway into the lap, I was spent and decided to pull the plug. It was another DNF for me. I'm not sure what was going on, but the fun factor was completely gone and all I wanted was to be off the bike and resting/recouping. Definitely not a proud moment for me, but its about how the season has gone overall.

Overall, this is a great race and one I'll be back to try and conquer again next year, but I just didn't have it on that day. Due to dogged determination, I managed to finish 4th in the expert series points this year, but the really doesn't reflect the quality of my racing. I felt like I survived in most races and even gave up in two rather than actually racing them like last year. The step from sport to expert class racing was more than I trained for this year. I still couldn't have made it through without help from Rasmussen Bike Shop as my main sponsor. Additional support from Ergon Grips and their killer product definitely kept my hands in good shape this year even if the rest of my body failed a few different times.

IMBCS #4- Summerset shootout race report

The Summerset shootout was my first race last year moving into the Cat 2 (sport) class. I finished pretty respectably in 9th or so overall and 3rd in class. It was my kickoff to what may be the best season I'll ever have. Things would definitely be a bit changed up for this year's installment. Not only would I find myself up in the Cat 1 class doing more laps, due to flooding, all of our laps would be on the northern section of trails which happen to be all of the climbing. 7 laps of the north side was the call for around 20.5 miles of racing with steep, tight, and technical singletrack punctuated with a small road section where the big motors could really crank it up.

As we lined up for the start, the field looked pretty small. I was surrounded by a good number of teammates flying the Rasmussen flag. Fine by me, I thought as it meant I didn't have to contend with as many fist fights getting a good position in the track. I figured with a good sense of the trails, I'd have something of an advantage over the out of towners and I wasn't looking forward to attempting passes on the north side. Someone raised the question to see if all the course reroutes from the beginner and junior races had been pulled. The answer was affirmative so we set ourselves and took off. The opening road section strung out the pack slightly and I headed in about mid pack. The leaders were pulling away just a bit when suddenly I found myself right back among them at the entrance to the first climb. Sure enough, not all the course markings were pulled and one of the leaders had wrapped caution tape and a metal stake up in his drivetrain causing all but a couple to stop.

Downhilling:

We hit the first climb and I felt pretty decent having gotten a fair warmup in. I was chasing Alread's wheel and when he bobbled one of the steepest pitches and had to put a foot down, I road around him. The leader's had checked out by this point and I settled into my pace. Unfortunately, the north side doesn't allow you to recover anywhere on the singletrack. If you're not climbing, you're descending through some fast and rough sections with lots of little tecnhnical challenges that keep you tense. I wrapped up the first lap in a shade over 18 minutes. The lap went pretty well and although it was hot, I felt good. Laps 2 and 3 ripped off pretty equally in time, but by the end of lap 3 I'd been passed by the lead sport rider, Neil, who was absolutely crushing the course.

Still cruising

Running on empty

By the start of lap 4, I was paying a toll for my pacing. I'd been going harder than I thought and my body was most definitely letting me know. My time dropped to over 20 minutes for this lap and I began to wonder if another DNF was on the horizon. I really didn't want that to be on my record, but the demoralizing nature of the course was pounding me into submission quickly. Another lap and another minute slower. By lap 6 I was pretty sure I was last place in the expert field and desparately just trying to finish out. My slowest lap was 6 at just over 25 minutes. I walked pretty much all of the bigger climbs (4ish spots) on this lap. I was feeling pretty low. Lap 7 I got a shade more energy and dropped back into the mid 23 minute range as I only walked 1 or 2 of the climbs. I finished DFL in the expert field, but I finished.

Completely out of gas:

The UGLY side of racing:

I managed to finish 3rd in class because the others in my class DNF'd. At least I made it to a podium spot... I've got to say that my goals and expectations for the year have made a pretty big flip flop. I've gone from thinking I might be a mid pack rider to just hoping I can finish the alotted number of laps and retain my sanity at the end. It's been a huge leap for me this year. I'm definitely going back to the training drawing board come fall/winter, but for now it's hold on and run with it. I appreciate all that my sponsors have done to help me get this far- Rassy's, Ergon, and Oakley, but now I need to get my engine up to snuff.

IMBCS #3 Ingawanis race report

Hopefully this report is a bit more punctual than the last few I've filed on a delayed basis. The IMBC series struck up again this weekend with the Ingawanis race near Waverly. This was my first race back from Colorado last year and one of the more fun races I'd done up to that point. Looking back, its still one of the more fun races I've been to. The terrain is a great mix of flats, rolling terrain, and some definite technical features from rocks, drops, and steeps both up and down. The perfect makings for a race course. I've got a whole other post in mind about my changing expectations for this race season, but suffice it to say, I've seriously downgraded my goals to the following: finish, don't be last, and don't crash. The last one is optional as sometimes its just not in the cards to stay blood free. I managed to meet all of my goals at this race, so I figure it must have been a success.

Maria, Jordan, Kurt, and I gathered together early for a carpool ride up from Des Moines to Waverly. After a few stops along the way we made it in plenty of time for a preride before the beginners were sent on their merry way. Kurt and I tooled along checking out the terrain and all was relatively pedestrian until we hit the small rock garden section. I bobbled, stopped, and unclipped for a pretty slow trot through and wondered if I'd do any better come race time. After that, we rode the rest of the course and found some more areas that would thrill come race time. The lap ended up being a shade under 6 miles with 500' of climbing per lap. With the experts slated for 4 laps, I knew pacing would be key for me.

As we waited around for the line up and start, I began to feel a bit more nervous than usual. My head wasn't really in the right place for racing. That's something a little new for me to deal with. I'm usually pretty fired up and the butterflies are just a fleeting instance before the sensation of being ready to throw down sets in. That wasn't the case today as I was still pretty tepid feeling at the line up. I slotted myself at the back of the pack and when they dropped the flag, I pedaled off in no real hurry. My legs were pretty dead feeling even with the pre-ride as I'd been off the bike for a few days before the race. The starting climb up the gravel road and into the singletrack found me dead last in the men's expert field and having a couple of the stronger ladies slotted in front of me as well in the form of Robin and Sandy from Mercy/Specialized.

The opening downhill woke me up a bit and I worked my way up a couple spots in the first open passing section and was now past 1 lady and 1 guy. So far so good as I had Robin and team mate Jason squarely in my sites. I knew Jason would be pacing well as he had done it with success at Sylvan and passed me after about 4 laps in the race. I figured I could key off of him and mark his pace as something to match. I rode well, but within my limits on all of lap 1 hanging pretty close to the 2 wheels in front of me. Robin offered the pass, but I was pretty content to sit where I was.

Downhilling it:

We came around for lap 2 and I felt pretty decent at this point. I was rolling the downhills pretty well, but the flats were leaving me trailing off the back with a severe lack of power and the uphills were just rolling ok. I had no snap what-so-ever on the flat sections and never could get in the climbing mindset where I was willing to turn myself inside out so I'd just cruise up them rather than hammer. Mid way through lap 2 btoh Robin and Jason opened up a small gap on me and I could close it somewhat at various points, but never got back on their wheels.

My rabbits:

Into lap 3 and I was feeling pretty even. I grabbed a gel as I eased my way up the gravel road opening climb again. I was pretty well alone at this point with both my rabbits out of my line of sight for the most part. I started rolling the downhills with a little more authority and really felt like I nailed the opening combination for the first time. That is until I hit the bottom and had to slam on my brakes to avoid missing the turn. My focus lapsed for a second and I nearly rode straight through the caution tape barrier. All my momentum from the downhill was now gone with the squeeze of a lever and I had to push hard to get back up to speed. I started trying to feel the rhythm of the course at this point and used the flow to help push a bit harder. I little more corner speed and pushing a little harder on the straights seemed to work for me. As the lap progressed I slowly reeled Robin back in. I had one section of rolling terrain along the top of a ridge where I'd really been riding fast and used this to work right back on to her wheel. I finally took the pass about 2/3 through the lap and pushed a bit to open a gap. I could still see Jason rolling along roughly 30 seconds up and had all but given up on catching him.

My turn on the bridge:

Climbing:

Lap 4 was more of the same. I still didn't clean the 1st rock garden as I always bobbled and would unclip somewhere. I nailed the downhills pretty well and just turned the pedals over on the uphills. As we wound our way to the last 1/4 mile or so of trail, I saw Jason up ahead and he appeared to be walking. I blew it off and figured he was just standing to crank up a hill. Then I got to the final clearing about 150 yards until the finish and could see him slowly jogging his bike along with some sort of mechanical. Hoping to snag one more spot, I sprinted it out with him to the finish. I'd like to say my sprint was strong enough to outrun a guy pushing his bike, but alas, Jason bested me across the line by a scant couple of seconds. All in all a fun way to end a pretty good couple hours on the bike.

Digging for the sprint:

Mid sprint:

Beat by a guy with no chain:

I looked at my numbers post race on the garmin and everything looked consistent until the last lap. It appears I dropped off a full minute, but that doesn't seem right as it sure didn't feel like I was that much slower in any section. I averaged towards the bottom of my zone 4 heart rate with a 170 bpm, and we rode 23.6 miles and 2100' of climbing. I had my pacing down pretty well, but in retrospect, it was a shade too mellow. I'm not sure if that was something I did intentionally or more of a response to how I was feeling at the start. I barely peaked into zone 5 the whole time which means I rode really consistently for output and effort. I was tired and my legs were plenty sore at the end, but I wasn't nearly as dead as I've felt in previous races.

Pics from here

IMBCS #1 Sylvan Island Stampede most of a race report

Back to mountain bike racing for the season. A bit less than 24 hours after my inauspicious debut as a hopeful expert class racer and my body is still reeling a bit from the pounding it took. The Quad Cities trail crew put together a pretty first class race with a huge turnout and festival like atmosphere. I'm beginning to figure out why they call the race the "stampede" as I feel like I've been run over by a herd of pissed off cattle after racing there. First off thanks to Rasmussen bike shop and Ergon for sponsoring the mountain bike team this year. Also, a huge thanks to teammate Brad Kramer for playing bottle boy and doing hand-ups for several of us.

7 laps was the magic number for the expert class racers equaling roughly 28 miles of rough, tight, and twisty singletrack with a few short sections of flat limestone path connecting sections of race course. Judging from my pre-ride of the course, I was guesstimating roughly a 2.5 hour finish time for me and 2 hours for the leaders meaning I would most likely be getting lapped. While this wasn't necessarily what I wanted for a race experience, I came to appreciate the fact that everyone finishing on the same lap, meant that most likely I'd only be riding 6 laps. The course over there is no joke for race pace laps. I think it would be insanely fun just to go ride and play on, but the layout and roughness of the tread combined to destroy my upper body and core in a few short laps. The twistiness of the course left me feeling like I'd been riding in a blender and barely able to remember which lap I was even on.

Looking sharp early on

I'm still confused on exactly what lap I was on when I pulled the plug (note: I was halfway done with lap 6). Since I started racing 2 years ago, I haven't had a DNF. I was pretty proud of that accomplishment as I felt like I'd dragged myself through some pretty dark spots while racing. That all ended yesterday and while I'm a bit disappointed, I'm not overly concerned with it as I think I gave up for the right reason. I wasn't having fun anymore. I love to compete and that's why I like to race. Even if I'm hurting and feeling bad, I typically know that I've got someone behind or in front of me that I am still racing against and they're probably in similar shape. When I gave up yesterday, I couldn't say whether or not I still had anyone behind me. I know that I had very little chance of catching anyone in front of me and soldiering to the end would have done nothing but prove I'm too stubborn to realize when I should pack it in.

Splash down:

I "think" I was in the midst of lap 5, but it could have been lap 4 as I'm a bit fuzzy on when I got passed by the leaders. I do know that I crashed twice and it was the second fall that cemented my decision to drop. My gear worked pretty much flawlessly considering the amount of trail hazards we all were riding on with the sharp rocks, steel, concrete, and brick scrap. I felt pretty good on the opening 2 laps and was riding around mid pack for those laps. I definitely went out too hard though and quickly ended up in survival mode versus race mode. I think the lead group of single speeders that started 2 minutes back didn't start to pass me until early in lap 4. My technical skills for handling were definitely doing well for the most part. I didn't have any real problems hanging with the wheels in mid pack and could have probably pulled away with an opportunity to pass, however once we hit the open stretches, my mind refused to put in the effort required to make something as I was all ready at redline and knew there wouldn't be any areas to recover and I didn't want to mess up anyone else's day with poor judgement on my part.

Looking beat down:

In hindsight, my undoing was mostly lack of experience. I turned myself inside out on the first 2 laps trying to maintain or build on my mid-pack position. This worked for me in sport class where most racing lasted 1.5 hours or less and I could finish out the race. But here, I averaged bottom of zone 5 for over 40 minutes before realizing I was destroying any hopes of finishing and started backing down my efforts. Too little too late ended up being the outcome as my laps went 20:47, 20:32, 21:26, 23:19, and 24:48. I wasn't the first one out by any means, but it still stings a bit knowing I had the ability to finish the race in me, but gave up on it. I'm hoping to carry that fire into Bonebender this weekend and with some smart pacing, vastly improve my finishing position.

Final carnage:

Photo credits: Angy Snoop

IMBCS #10 Lake Manawa race report

The race season is nearing its end. As I type this, we have one solitary race left to savor until the 2010 season fires back up. However, that's skipping ahead a week. This weekend left me headed over to the wilds of Council Bluffs to race at Lake Manawa for what is somewhat deemed as a border battle between the Iowegians and the Nebraskanites. I wanted/needed to do well in this race. Never having been to any Nebraska races or this venue, I had to base my anticipations on hearsay and a few old race reports. Seeing as how Cam tends to have some pretty epic battles over there and a few other friends have reported some really strong riders out that way, I knew I'd be in for a pretty hard fought day if I was going to finish well.

The course recon info I gathered ranged from very Denman's like, to sandy, to technical with very limited passing. All of this had me primed for not knowing what to expect and as such, I drove myself about half batty during the week trying to figure out how to race it. Nate and I car pooled over to the race leaving enough time to hang out a bit and still get a full recon lap in. We took off with Cam and Julie to get the lines figured out. Cam does what he does and motored away for the most part even during warm up as I tried to hang on as best I could and not start breaking out any real effort that I'd need later on. By the end of the first section he was pretty much gone and I just wound my way along on my own. On the back section of trail I had my worst run in of the day catching my left shoulder pretty hard on a narrow section between 2 large trees. At least this was the recon lap.

As time wound down, we worked our way to the line. Different from the Iowa races I've been in, they started each category in a wave based on open or age group so you were only racing guys in your class at the very start. I liked this aspect of it as it really pushed me to go hard right off the bat as I could see exactly how much work I had to do to finish where I wanted. 11 of us towed the line for the open class which I found odd considering the +35 and +45 age groups seemed to have much larger contingencies. The starter rang the siren and we were off to a sprint for the singletrack entrance a scant quarter of a mile down a paved park road. The start to the singletrack was cordoned off by 4x4 posts spaced 3-4' apart making for some interesting lines as everyone was flying through them. I was sitting 3rd wheel as we came up on the posts and the 2 guys in front sat up slightly so I followed suit. That wasn't the smartest move as I got pushed back 2 more spots to 5th wheel by a couple guys who stayed on the gas. Starting off the first lap I had 3 Nebraskans and an Iowa guy leading the charge in front of me.

Neal (the Iowa guy) was sitting directly in front of me and staying hard on the wheel immediately in front of him. They'd both hammer the open straights and pull me slightly until we'd hit more technical sections where I could latch right back on. This lasted for about a mile and we could see the first two guys opening a decent gap over us. The guy in front of Neal took a few bad lines slowing us down, but we were in a pretty bad area to pass. At the next logover Neal decided it was now or never and took a faster yet higher risk line straight over the log in lieu of just to the right which was only a couple inches tall versus 6-8" tall. I was hot on his heels going straight as well. Neal didn't stick the landing. Or more accurately stuck the landing a bit to well and burped the air out of his tire which was slightly cocked and went ass over appetite. I somehow managed to avoid him while making a quick check to make sure he wasn't dying on the trail as I tailed it up to 4th place.

I knew we'd be hitting a few more open sections where passing would be possible so I sat on the wheel of 3rd place until I could punch it again. I stuck the pass and as we hit more technical areas I opened a gap slowly. The first 2 riders were basically out of site at this point and we were only half way through lap 1 of 3. I kept the wick turned up and figured I would either catch someone or end up being caught if I tried to mellow out my pace any. As luck would have it (for me), near the end of lap 1 I could see another rider up in front of me. I pushed a bit harder, caught him in the twisties, and tailed him through the start/finish area. I sat in on his wheel for the first part of the open section on lap 2 drafting and catching my breath before cranking on it one more time and passing him just before we hit the maze of trees again.

The pass stuck and I was sitting in 2nd place halfway into the race. The 1st place rider was nowhere in site so I stuck to my plan of keeping the hammer down lest I be caught from behind. As I worked into the back section on lap 2 I passed an expert rider on a Superfly singlespeed that was slowly working his way down an open section. I never looked back, but when we hit the twisty section, I could tell I had someone closing in. He was gaining quickly on me so I tried upping my pace in the tight areas. That didn't go quite as planned as I now started pushing beyond my pay level of skill and nearly went down twice. I ushered him back by so as to hopefully grab his wheel and keep myself upright in the process. About a hundred yards later, he laid it down on a slick leaf covered corner and I went right back by. Ahh well, at least I tried to show some good camaraderie.

Lap 3 started with Mr. singlespeed right back on my butt and passing me into the open area. I hopped on his wheel for a draft as he pulled us along at over 20 mph. Sweet! As soon as we hit the tech sections he opened the gap and never looked back again. Thanks for the ride. I was riding well at this point and put together a quick game plan in my head. I pushed the open easy sections as hard as I could and I dialed back the tech areas just enough to make sure I wasn't going to bite it. I couldn't see anyone too close behind me so I thought I was pretty safely in 2nd at this point. I held my game plan together through to the finish and latched onto my placing permanently. As I looked back, a scant 20 seconds back came 3rd place so I definitely needed to keep that hard pace I'd been pushing.

Those Nebraska boys can definitely ride. A full clean race is what I attribute to hold onto my placing. I know the 3rd and 4th place riders each had at least one fall apiece where I only came close a few times. The first place rider had over a minute on me. All in all, I was pretty ecstatic as I went into the race hoping for a top 5 finish and came out much better.

As far as the course goes, the first 2 laps were a bit wet, but by the 3rd lap it had dried pretty nicely. I was running more cautious by then though so it really didn't give me much of a boost. Overall, I liked the course and it seemed to suit my skill set. I wasn't the fastest on the open hammer sections, but I had enough technical skill and strength to close it up on the tight, twisty areas. The overall feel was a lot like Denman's in that you could really use the flow if you knew the trail well enough, but the open sections would allow for some fast riding if you needed to hammer and go as well. I didn't find passing too difficult as long as you played your cards right. If you were gassed going into the open sections, it would be difficult to pass, but otherwise you could find a spot pretty easy as long as you weren't in the woods.

I know there were a few photographers on hand so I'll try to find some pictures to post.

IMBCS #9 Science Center TT & #5 Sycamore TT race reports

After the 24 hour race, I've got to say, I think the euphoria of doing well left me a bit of post race hangover. I took a day off the bike and then blew my plans for easing back into things with Renegade Cross practice that Tuesday night. My legs still felt pretty dead and the addition of running and jumping didn't do much to help that fact. Add in a bee sting on the sweet part of my inner thigh and I wasn't feeling much love that week. I pulled it back together though and got a few recovery miles in and was feeling much better about things by the end of the week. Saturday morning rolled around and I went out for some gravel miles to get the legs back under me. Sedore pretty much showed us his ass as he hit it hard right off the bat and put a gap in that we couldn't pull back.

On Saturday afternoon, some friends came in town for the races and we met up at Sycamore to get a feel for the ruts since I hadn't ridden there since 2000 and he'd never ridden it. We quickly realized, that we weren't missing much by not having ridden it. The scenery is great, but the complete lack of disregard for the trails from the motorized users was appalling with the ruts and leftover mud bogs. We rode down to the trestle bridge and back. On the way back, we punched it up from fish camp to the parking lot and figured the TT times would be in the 8-10 minute range at the most. After that it was time for a bit of grillin' and chillin' back at our casa.

We all rolled out to the science center trails early enough on Sunday to take our sweet time and get a lap in before the race. I really didn't need a lap considering I ride the trails all the time, but I figured a good warm up was in order. That's about the time Ryan announced a bit of a shakeup in the race. We'd be running both Hillside and Rollercoaster in a backwards format and doing 2 consecutive laps. That certainly was going to make things interesting as I don't think I've ever done Hillside fully in reverse. As fate would have it though, I'd ridden part of Hillside and Rollercoaster in revers just a couple weeks earlier, so I at least had a partial clue on the flow.

Keith and I took off on a recon lap and my legs weren't feeling the greatest right off the bat. I slowed a bit and decided to get more spinning in as they warmed up. Slowly they worked around and by the time we were done with Hillside, I felt pretty decent and it was close to starting time. We headed off to the line and were greeted with a bit of a clusterfuck. People were missing their start times left and right by not being ready to roll at the prescribed time and the timers in a moment of indecision decided to pull the next racers into the open slots and send them out to keep the show rolling along as quickly as possible. This works great in theory, but when you're hand timing everything, trying to recount minutes forward and back without a specific minute reference of when the rider took off becomes very difficult.

Soon enough I was at the line and felt pretty decent. I hammered the short pavement section and flew into the singletrack. I was a bit jacked up at this point and really screwed up the short first section of Hillside with bad line choices and trying to run it too fast. In all it didn't cost me much time, but really drilled it into my brain that I needed to work on being smooth and the speed would follow. Sure enough, I got my flow going and halfway through Hillside I passed my first minute man in the form of Sumpter. He was a bit surprised I had caught up that quickly (as was I), but he pulled and let me pass with nary a second lost.

Looking good, but screwing up the first section:

I passed a few others as I worked my way into Rollercoaster. By this time Cam was hot on my tail and I gave him a quick line around me as we headed towards the creek crossing. Shortly after that, I felt one more rider closing in on my. Jed was tearing up the course in hot pursuit of Cam. I offered him a pass before the gnarly climb up to the meadow, but with him on a single speed, he couldn't partake until we'd gone about halfway through the meadow section. We both rolled back down to the start finish going all out, but his single speed let me latch back on as we hit the pavement for the last time. As soon as we hit the climb to the singletrack though, he was gone. I screwed up the start section again this time, just not as badly as the first time through. After that, it was hustle and flow through the remainder of the 2nd lap. I hammered it down to the finish line and awaited my time.

2nd lap finding some flow:

Back to the timing issue. I had mistakenly turned off my timer at the start of my 1st lap and didn't notice until I had completed one lap of Hillside. I turned it back on at that point and timed out the rest of my race. I wasn't sure of my time, but based on how long it took me on my 2nd lap through Hillside, I should have been right at a high 36 to low 37 minute time. Results had me listed at a 38:10 which was definitely off by my calculations. The missing man formation had come to roost for the unlucky souls that were trying to figure final times. Things were finally straightened out though and I managed a 37:10 for the 2 laps which put me in 2nd place for my class.

We had a couple hours to kill before the afternoon TT through Sycamore which was rescheduled from earlier in the year. In all, I liked the format of doing both races in 1 day as it helped pull more people in from outside the area and the 2 for 1 pricing played into that as well. Not to mention the fact that the afternoon TT would be very short due to unplanned construction in the middle of the trail.

We all lined up by number again, but due to people missing from the morning, the timers would again have their hands full in the final calculations. At least this time, they knew it going in and were a lot better prepared to compare start and finish times. Sumpter was once again ahead of me on his single speed and we joked on the line that I'd be hunting him down. He took off like a shot as I waited my turn. I hit the trail with everything I had left. I just about shot through the first sandy corner and cost myself a few precious seconds as I skidded almost to a stop to get back on line with the trail. After that, things flowed pretty well. I did cut a little too close to the inside on the tree that had fallen across the trail. I was treated to a nice rap on the helmet and a spot of road rash on my back as they both made decent contact. After that, it was a game of keeping my heart crammed back down my throat as I indeed tried to hunt Scott down.

Burning all the matches:

The finish line was at the end of a decent straightaway that you could sprint down. Of course, less than 50 yards past the finish line was a drop into the creek, so it made for an exciting sprint to full lock up the brakes end to the TT. Scott stayed out in front as I only managed to close the gap to around 15 seconds back in the short span. Overall I squeaked a 9:28 for the TT which garnered me a 1st in class. Definitely a productive day for racing on my end. CITA threw a pretty nice bash at the end with free beer and a goody box that we all mauled like a bunch of wild animals as soon as the top racers had their pick of the litter.

Mauling the prize chest:

In all, I've got to say I really enjoyed the TT's. I tried my hand at the science center TT last year as one of my few races and didn't enjoy it nearly as much. Of course, I think that may have been in large part due to my complete and utter lack of training or riding of any sort at that point of the summer. With my time and focus on the bike this year, things have definitely been going well for me. A couple more races in the series, some fun "racing", and possibly a cross race or two and I'll be pretty well spent for the year.

Thanks to Angy and Justin for the pics.

IMBCS #8 Seven Oaks Rec (Boone)

I'm finding myself to be a bit of a hypocrite lately in that come Monday morning I'm constantly scanning blogs waiting to hear how everyone else's races went and to see their analysis of how they fared on the trail. All the while, I keep putting off writing up my own report. Such is life I guess. Hopefully I'll be able to keep a bit more on top of that. Without further adieu and no more gilding of the lilly, I present you with my race report and my humblest of apologies for delaying my write up.

I raced the beginner's course at Boone last year. I won't lie, it kicked my ass 3 ways from Sunday on the BEGINNER loop. It was my first foray into mountain bike racing and most definitely a trial by fire. I tried to erase the pain from my mind by not even bothering to ride a full lap there last year and waiting until early July before I completed that task. All told, I had 4 full laps of the course under my belt going into the race this year. I was far from dialed in given the technical and challenging terrain, but I have had a pretty good run coming in thus far with this being my 4th race of the year.

This is how I looked last year:

I also was going into this race with a completely untested bike. After an unfortunate incident with baby blue, I had made a huge leap up by going to the Superfly which is a full carbon rig. All the parts were swapped over from my Paragon and I re-cabled the bike as well. I had put 40 pave trail miles on the day before with everything working well and did a short warm up as well, but I knew in the back of my head, something would happen before race end.

The Superfly:

I hit a short warm up on some of this years beginners loop and was rolling pretty well. I popped my tire pressure down a shade more and waited for the line up to begin. The start was to head out to the 2nd ski lift, pull a 180 around it and then jump onto the track laid out on the grass as we wound our way back to the entrance to the single track. Here, as much as anywhere, I knew the better your spot going into the track, the better you'd come out at the end. I've got a whole post dedicated to how much my start abilities need work, but I'll save that for another time. Let's just say for now that they are "lacking" a bit. I somehow weaseled my way in about 10th wheel +/- as we wound our way to the woods. Amazingly, everyone was polite and just stayed in line through the grassy areas. I'm surprised there weren't fistfights trying to get into the track first.

Sure enough, the traffic jamb started instantly inside the track. We'd hammer the flats and then pack ourselves in like sardines up the climbs and switchbacks. The biggest trick was trying to keep my own flow going while not running over the guy in front of me and being mindful that I didn't want to screw the guy behind me either if I went down. As such we walked some switchbacks and had issues in other areas that I knew to be relatively "easy". I had a big oops at the G-drop where the guy stalling out in front of me pushed me off line and into the stump that sits to the inside of the lowest line. I hopped off, let 1 guy by, and shoved my way back in line. After that, things went so-so for a bit as I worked to catch up to another train of guys. The next bad spot was a messed up switchback where I had to unclip, take a sideways hop, and partially landed my foot on the guy behind me's wheel. I felt bad about that and made sure to apologize after the race even though it wasn't anyone's fault and just part of racing.

Somewhere after the first couple of climbs, my chain started making noise. I knew nothing good was going to come of that and just hoped it would hold itself together for the race. I soon found out what the noises meant. I couldn't get into my 32 cog out back and was skipping horribly about halfway through the cassette. I would drop down to my baby ring up front to try and get the right climbing gear and then hop back and forth trying to find a gear in back that the chain would stay in. Soon enough, the problem worsened and spread to the front derailleur. It alternated between dropping my chain from the middle ring to the baby ring on rough descents to skipping halfway between the two rings on the climbs forcing me to play a careful game of guess where the chain in lined up now and jamb the shifters as quick as I could to hopefully slide back into one ring or the other.

Somewhere in the woods:

About 3/4 of the way through the lap, I finally had passed most of the traffic I was dealing with and started settling into a flow. Most of the technical climbs were behind me and with traffic, I'd walked a number of them, but had only let a couple people past and passed a few as well so I figured I was still sitting about 10th wheel. Before I knew it, the first lap was done and I was hauling the mail down the back of the pond towards the start/finish line.

Flying downhill:

As I crossed the grassy area, I spun my shift adjuster all the way out trying to get as much tension on the cable as possible. I figured it was my only chance at getting anywhere near being able to shift normally for the second lap. Luckily, my plan worked to a certain extent and I could shift somewhat better through the rear gears as I started lap two. By now I had only a couple guys in my sites as I entered the woods and wasn't in any real danger of running over them too quickly. As the lap wore on, I still felt pretty good, but my knees were starting to ache from climbing in too big of a gear since I still couldn't shift to the combo I really wanted. At one point, I came past Jim Logan walking a hill which I found to be pretty odd considering how well he'd been riding and usually kicking my butt.

I came around and kept moving on this lap. With traffic pretty much gone, I was able to clear a lot more of the trail this time through. However, my lap 1 effort was catching up and I wasn't holding the best lines and subsequently couldn't clean some of the areas. As I passed a few more riders that the course was having it's way with, I noted Jim had hopped back up to my wheel. I knew he probably wasn't going to be there for long. As I tired further, my bad line choice about snakebit me. On a fast downhill right hand sweeper, I went out too wide. I got into the loose soil next to the built up edge of the trail and saw the tire start to slide and turn out from under me. I pitched forward and knew I was headed over the bars. At the last second, something caught, the bike squirted around and I was back on my seat scarcely believing what had just happened. At this point, I think Jim knew he'd better get around me quick or risk becoming a part of the carnage.

Sure enough, he was ready to go and I pointed him by as we rounded behind the paintball field. A few more turns and he was all ready out of site. The rest of the lap was relatively uneventful, but I could feel the pounding my back was taking as I hammered the roots at speed. I kept up the pace on the downhills and really felt pretty good about them as I finished things out. One more sprint down the pond dam and I rounded the corner to home. 3rd place in the sport open class with a 7th place overall out of 42 starters. I was pretty happy with that finish and am looking forward to more laps during the 24 hour race.

I think there's a bike in there somewhere:

Special thanks to Angy for shooting pics at all of these races and giving me something worthwhile for you to look at !

IMBCS #2 Ingawanis Race Report

IMBCS #2 was originally supposed to happen much earlier in the season. Due to some torrential rains this spring, the course was pretty well washed out the week before the race. I'd heard good things about this course after last year's race and was looking forward to the challenge. The north side was supposed to be full of a lot of good climbing while the south end had more fast and flowy singletrack with some good climbing still in the mix. The north side was closed out due to logging this year leaving us entirely on the south side.

I picked up Kurt and his girlfriend Mindy to do a bit of ride sharing considering we were a 2.5 hour drive away from the race. We got up there in plenty of time to relax, do a recon lap, and get ready to race. After my recon lap, I knew the race would be fun, but also fast and painful. Just 1 day back from Colorado, I wasn't sure how my legs would react, but I was ready to put them to the test. Passing would be tough for at least a good chunk of this course so the holeshot was again going to probably be a deciding factor.

I knew Keith would be hitting it hard trying to get into the woods first and I should do what I could to hang on his wheel since he's been riding hard this year. We lined up and I was sitting nicely on the front row again. I'm not sure if there's a specific consideration on where you line up, but I haven't had anyone chastise me yet for lining up towards the front. We started out on the gravel road with a shallow climb and about a 1/4 mile to string things out before diving into the woods. Once the starter pistol went off, we were hammering. Sure enough, Keith got his holeshot, sliding sideways onto the camp entrance road and hammering up to the woods. I wasn't too far back sitting about 4th wheel until the last 100 or so yards before we hit the woods. I let up just a little and 3 or 4 people shot past putting me back a bit further than I wanted.

Early in lap 1:

The train got moving pretty quickly with 5 of us bunched up while the first 3 shot off the front. I knew it was going to be a hard chase to run any of those guys down and was chomping at the bit to get some passing done. My legs were all ready running me into the red, but I still felt good since it was lap 1. At the open section I couldn't really get my speed up enough to pass anyone, but knew there was another opening coming soon. We were hauling the mail up the climbs. I remember noticing the dirt seemingly shooting out from under the rear tire of the guy in front of me as he powered the climbs. Even more than that, I was actually holding his wheel up the climbs.

Powering the rock climb on lap 1 or 2:

In the 2nd open section, I put the hammer down as most of the guys sat up just a shade to grab a drink. It was getting toasty back in the woods even though the temps were relatively low. I ended up leading the train at this point and just pushed myself really deep into the red trying to open any type of gap. Most of that lap is a blur as I was pretty well cross-eyed with effort pouring everything I had out. I managed to open a gap on a few of the chasers, but still had some guys pretty hot on my wheel as we hit lap 2.

On lap 2 I knew I had to back down or blow up completely. I finally started downing some liquids and let a couple guys by so as to not hold them back. I think I passed another rider or two at this point as well. Looking at it now, it seems for the most part that after lap 1, you're pretty well set into where you're going to finish out within a spot or two unless something drastic happens. I wonder if this holds true for most people? I spent the rest of lap 2 in recovery mode trying to keep the pace high, but hopefully rest up from the pain of lap 1. By the end of the lap, I'd at least consumed enough liquid and paced it out that I could turn the screws back up on the effort for the final lap.

Flying down the g-out:

Lap 3 I was ready to hit it hard again. I didn't have anyone immediately around me, but could catch glimpses of people both in front and behind. Slowly, I started to real another rider in. I finally caught his wheel and rode it for just a bit as I recovered from the effort. I passed him only to realize it was a 60+ expert racer so no real advancement in my own class. I put the pressure back on the pedals and did my best to use the 3 total laps I had under my belt to work the lines and let loose on the downhills. My Colorado trip was at least repaying me through more aggressive downhilling as I was able to really roll through here.

I focused mostly on keeping my tempo even along with my heart rate on lap 3 since I didn't seem to be in any danger of catching or be caught. I made sure to clean all of the loose sandy corners that were threatening on every lap to catch someone unaware. For the final time I had to ride the rough new section of trail for the finish and then I was done. I finished out 7th in the sport open class. I was pretty happy with the effort and result.

Nearing the end:

Finish time:

Looking back, post race, I think I gave up a position or two by letting too many riders get by as we neared the entrance to the woods. A little more effort getting to the woods probably would have made for a little less effort in the woods. I still need to think more about it being ok to get passed rather than having to do the passing. I'm sure that will come as I can better assess my overall fitness and skill level in comparison to other riders in my class.

IMBCS #7 Mob the Quab

The 7th race of the season for the IMBCS and 2nd year at Lake Ahquabi promised to be another fun race. A few tweaks to last years course would ensure that we'd all get our fill of climbing on this fast double track course. One tweak was a mass start of all classes at noon rather than the typical staggered start. The other main change was the start/finish area being moved to the main lodge with a final lap only hill climb to the finish line guaranteed to leave you gasping for air.

With a large turnout of people and a mass start, the doubletrack start was packed with people. A few people hollered for me to make my way forward in the starting grid which was pretty cool as I had been slotted about halfway back. Now I found myself somewhere in the top 10-20 starters. We were off and dumped straight onto the first section of grass with an off comber left hander. More than a few people went down last year on the grassy off camber sections so I was pretty cautious running through here, but still started passing a few people. Only a few tenths of a mile into the race, we hit our first climb which was grassy and rough. I put a few more people behind me as I kept a steady pace up the climb trying to get my legs warmed up.

Descending the back of the hill I was on the tail of a few more people and starting passing again as the trail flattened out. Only a mile or two into the race and the pack had started to string out pretty well in front of me with the experts leaving us in the dust for the most part. My legs were feeling pretty good at this point and I kept my output pretty steady. Slowly I rolled up on a couple of single speeders in the form of Sedore and Allread who were putting out a pretty good effort on a not quite single speed friendly course. I figured the strength of these two would be good to mark and stayed on their wheels for half of the first lap.

As we hit the final hilly section before the screaming blacktop descent Sedore gapped off the back leaving Jason and I to work together. I was feeling pretty good at this point and took the lead going into lap two. Jason gapped off as well at this point and I was pretty much alone from then on. I think I may have passed another person or two on this lap, but I mostly concentrated on bringing my effort up slightly from lap 1 without putting myself into the red yet. I knew there had to be some guys chasing me down and wasn't going to give in without a fight if I had a choice.

Lap two was down and I was well hydrated and not feeling the heat to any real extent yet. I knew the climbs on lap 3 would be getting tougher for everyone so I planned on hitting them as hard as I could and turn the screws a bit tighter overall for this lap. Towards the end of lap 2 I could start seeing another rider in front of me, but didn't catch him until the first climb of lap 3. I reeled him mostly in on the climb and then completed the pass after the descent. He stayed on my wheel for a fair amount of time, but I gapped him on the next climb as I was still feeling pretty fresh at that point.

As we crossed the dam for the last time, I had one more ride in my sites. As we worked through the campsite, I caught up to Chris Maharry and tailed him through the next section or two. He let me by and then stayed on my wheel. Determined to put on a show for him I slid my front tire out going down a grassy off camber section. I guess I forgot my lesson from last year! Luckily I was able to gather it back under me and only shaved a little speed off in the process. Chris gave the proper atta boy for making the save and off we went. I began to think he might be permanently attached to my wheel as he tailed me through most of the 3rd lap. I even managed one more front tire wash out as we turned at the bottom of the railroad tie climb. I gathered it back up one final time and motored on without further incident.

I hit the blacktop climb for the final time and did the same as the previous laps where I dieseled up the climb without standing. I finally dropped my follower and never looked back. With the end of the race closing in, I couldn't see anyone in front of me and it looked relatively clear behind me from what I'd see earlier in the lap. Knowing there were still plenty of chasers, I kept my pace up on the hills and looked forward to one more flier down the blacktop before hitting the finish climb. Amazingly I stayed alone and out in front as I rolled to the base of the climb to the finish. I powered my way up to a hearty round of clapping and cheering from all the spectators and a few fellow racers.

After I caught my breath for a second I looked around to only see 2 other racers at the finish. That surely couldn't be right. I was pretty sure I was riding a top 10 or maybe even top 5 race, but not near the podium. Sure enough, I was 3rd overall across the line and with the other two being a single speeder and in the 45+ category, I snagged my first win in the sport open class. I was about beside myself happiness as it sank in. I managed to play all of my strengths just right and execute the plan I had in my head to perfection. What a great day for Rassy's as the team ended up with a large contingent of guys in black taking wins and placing during the race.

IMBCS #7 Lake Ahquabi "Mob the Quab"

Sunday rolled around too damn early as I was still trying to recoup from a bit of a late night at the Knoxville Nationals. Actually, it was a really early night for that particular venue considering I was home and in bed by 12:30. In any case, Sunday was forecast to be a near perfect day for a race. A high of around 80, sunny, and perfect. For once the forecasters were right. It was a perfect day for a race.

I loaded my plethora of gear as I prefer to go prepared for anything rather than nothing. I rolled in and was signed up and ready for my pre-ride by 10:45. I got just a bit of flack signing up for the beginner's class again. I was really torn about what to sign up for as I wanted to ride more than a lap, but at the same time I wasn't ready to step up to the big kid's table and ride with the sport guys. I'm sure I could have held my own and finished just fine, but the reality is, I'm a beginner, so why not enjoy the only time I'll ever be classed as such. I headed out with my buddy Keith for the pre-ride.

Almost as soon as the pedals started turning, I knew it was going to be a struggle to get any kind of power out of my legs. Granted, I hadn't chased down an gels or anything other than a Clif bar for breakfast, but still, a severe lack of training does not make a bike racer. As Keith rode pretty effortlessly along, I bungeed back and forth keeping contact with him, but working a little harder than I wanted to just to keep up. There were a couple new climbs that we hadn't done on the Wednesday ride since the course hadn't been marked and a section of ups and downs in the last mile that were surely going to suck some power out of you right at the end. The best addition though was the screaming asphalt downhill at the very end that shot you out towards the finish line near 30 mph.

The pre-ride was done, the other classes were off and one of our group of beginners (2 ladies and 3 guys) made a bet for the first person to pass a sport rider would earn themselves a quick $5. Then we were off 2 minutes down from the sport riders and 7 minutes behind the experts. I hit the trail in 3rd place just trying to keep my head in the game early and not go out too hard. The leader was new to strictly mountain biking, but was an adventure racer. He had some strength and speed on the flat easy terrain, but myself and Kurt passed him pretty handily on the first rough downhill. The downhills were definitely rough as evidenced by the amount of water bottles distributed along the side of the trail.

A couple miles into the lap I slowly passed Kurt and he latched onto my wheel as I'd been riding his since the start. Considering he beat me last week, I was wondering if I'd have enough gas to stay in front. I slowly eked out a gap on the second big climb of the day which was a steep gravel and shale covered climb that was fun for at least one lap. I kept pushing my pace since I knew he wasn't far behind and tried to stay mindful of my heart rate. While I didn't spend as much time above 190 this race as in Boone, I still kept it hovering in the mid 180's for the entire lap.

The double track was nice and flowy allowing for passing with ease. A simple "on your left" was really all that was needed to pass people. Only one slight miscue found me digging myself out of the bushes. Strangely enough, it was on an easy spot. I went to cross a gravel wash at the bottom of the railroad tie hill and my front tire washed out sending me through the boundary tape and into the bushes. I jumped back up trying not to lose much time, but now I was at the bottom of a hill with no momentum so only one thing to do and that was run up the hill. I used to think I would be faster running some spots than riding, but now I'm not quite so sure as it really sucked running that hill. Now we hit the quick hitting ups and downs on the course as we'd climb part way up the hill before descending almost to lake level before turning right back up. A few of these and then we climbed to the top of the park to hit the screaming descent on the asphalt trail that was almost as rough as the doubletrack. I let out a big whoop all the way down the hill as I was having a blast and crossed the line first in the beginner's category.

While I was happy with the result, I got just a minor bit of flack for running as a beginner after all was said and done. I guess as Brian said, I may have taken to it like a duck to water, but in all the fact is, I've been riding bikes for a year and a half, and mountain bikes for 8 months. Now I'm not sure if it smarted that they got passed by a beginner that had a 2 minute start deficit (hey it was easy for me to go all out since I only had 1 lap to run) or what, but it's not like I'm out there scoring money for placing in the beginners class. Shoot, at Boone we didn't even have prizes, but I still had a great time. We all have to start somewhere, but I guess I don't see what's so wrong with keeping myself in check for a couple races and gaining some more skills so I don't run into issues when I move up. Personally, I'd rather not fall off my bike and hold someone else up or worse yet, have someone get hurt because of a bad move on my part.

What do you in the blog reading world think? Should I stay beginner for another race or two (all that's left if I can even make it to the races) or should I move up to sport now just to say I did it?

Ahquabi pre-ride

Hopefully I'm not giving away any trade secrets for the upcoming race weekend, but Brian and I went down to pre-ride the trails at Ahquabi last night. He had ridden down there a number of times so I let him be my indian scout. Add in that work was dragging me down and I needed to turn some pedals in anger and all was good.

We didn't hit the course until close to 7 and since there were no markings really up yet, we just had the base description to go by on figuring out where the course might go. Since we parked up top, we got to hit a wickedly fun little descent that has railroad ties laid across it to form "steps". It's also covered with fine gravel and a wash down one side to add some interest. Once we hit the bottom loop around the lake it was awesome wide double track with small little rollers up and down. Across the first bridge is a nice little steep power climb that isn't too technical other than just being steep. I rolled slowly up it the first lap and didn't have too many issues. There are a couple mudholes of no real concern on the back part of the course. Just enough to flip some stuff up on you at speed. On the back side there are a couple of really fun little descents as well. Once we got to the campground, we weren't sure where the trail was going to go as there is supposed to be some looping around the catch basins. We rode that area, but nothing of much consequence was up there.

For the second lap I wanted to up the pace and see what kind of flow I could get going. The wide paths really inspire some fast riding, but there are a few turns that you could easily get in over your head due to various washes and sandy spots. about the most technical thing you have to worry about is washes and ruts sporadically spread through the course. Other than that it's a fast fast track. Sure, it's not true singletrack in the middle of the woods, but it's definitely fun in it's own way.

There are a couple miscellaneous climbs that could be thrown in depending on the final routing, but still nothing like what I experienced on the beginner portion of Boone. Unless it happens to rain which would change things up pretty good, I'd hope for expert at 4 laps, sport 3 laps, and 2 laps for us beginners. Hopefully I'll see a few of you on Sunday.