Well, ignorant of the predicted heat today, Dave Marsden and I headed up to Maskethine Lake to check out next Saturdays race course. We got there about 11:15 and enjoyed 1 lap of over cast skies before the sun came out in full force and baked us the next 4 laps. The course was marked backwards for Sundays adventure race so we tried the trail both ways, and both were good. It appears that the Norfolk guys have raked most of the wooded South sections since our last visit which really helps with traction and vision of the trail surface. There is also more dirt trail than there was 3 weeks ago and more mowing has been done, (could still use another swath or two though out in the open grass lands.) Anyway, the first couple of laps were as last time quite fun, then when I picked the pace up a little the profusion of bumps and new rough trail caught up with me and I found myself cursing under my breath every time I smacked a deep hole or protruding mound that litter a good portion of this trail. Nobodys fault just new trail blues. Nonetheless, if you have a full suspension rig USE IT next saturday, you will enjoy the race more and be much faster over the uneven ground! Aaron Grady is going to be hard to beat on this course riding his suspendered Anthem.
After riding Maskethine a second time I still maintain that this is the ultimate single speed course. I found that I only used 3 gears to cover the entire trail and Dave just used 1 on his geared bike. Only downside for using a single is that apart from T-bones dual boinger, every other single speeder and hard tail guy is going to get beat up. Furthermore I think that any masochist that races a fully rigid (Dale) will deserve complimentary shots of Morephine in the pits after finishing. Once again, heavy rain right before this race would be very welcome in softening up and maturing the course.
One final note: most all of the road work from Scribner on up has now been completed so the journey up is much quicker and smoother and will accentuate the contrasting ultra rough conditions you will encounter on 2 wheels once you get to Maskethine Lake.
Saturday, August 4
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Great report Doug. I couldnt have said it better myself. This course reminds me of tranquility in the early days. I think once this cource get seasoned a bit, and the curves get a little banked it will be faster.
I stayed in 32 x 20 for the most part on my NRS. It was hard to get any speed due to the tight turns. Once i got up to speed, I would have to haul in on the brakes for the next 180 degree turn. The technical section was fun, but not too tough. All in all, this should be a fun and different race. With the tight turns this will be more of a bike handlers race,rather than a sprinters race. good luck to all.
Dave
In contrast to yesterdays bone shakers extraveganza I opted to give my body a break and went to Manawa for 5 laps. What an absolute blast. Glass smooth well maintained trails. Amazing what a few years of use will do for a trail system. Hats off to the people responsible for the upkeep on Manawa... the course is way too fun!
I tried 32x20 and 32x18 while we were out there last time. I never really seemed to get enough speed on the 32x18 (however, we took the first lap pretty easy) but the 32x20 (pushing closer to race pace) frustrated me on the few sections were I spent a long time at max revs. I'd say 32x19 would be a good gear (on a 26" bike) but I am probably going to go with 32x18 for the race. Going faster and race adrenaline should push me up to the right pace for the 32x18...at least I hope so.
I'll try to do a hot lap before the beginner race on saturday to see how the 32x18 feels.
DMars... your 32x20 was on a 26 or a 29'er? I was thinking the NRS was 26.
you are right, the NRS is a 26.
Post a Comment