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06-30-04, 06:46 AM
So, a few of us went down to the mountains of West Virginia for a little 24 hour race (http://grannygear.com/Races/Snowshoe/index.shtml) action. It had been raining earlier in the week and rained all night before the race. To say things were muddy would be an understatement. Imagine trails that are waterlogged then being ridden by hundreds of riders per hour. The mud became thick as peanut butter and then, the roots and rocks, which make up huge portions of the trail, are like they have been smeared with grease. Made the course challenging to say the least.
Race description from Grannygear.com:
Three years of rain soaked courses (add water, makes its own sauce!) combined with the extreme terrain of West Virginia's fifth highest mount have made this event one of the gnarliest and most infamous races in the world--the arena of the hardest of the hard core mountain bikers.
A couple of laps in, when things had really deteriorated, I would estimate that 50% of the riders I passed in the woods were shouldering there bikes and hiking. Pedaling through this stuff was like having someone hold your seatpost to try and prevent you from forward progress. Stuff that was out in the sun began to dry out a bit, but of course this was the least technical part of the trail. Believe it or not though, it was fun. And despite having a teammate who was sick and almost didn't ride, we managed to pull third place in the Single and Rigid category.
A few pics:
Team Sweet Cheeks (http://www.grannygear.com/realtime/public/team.php?team_id=125&action=display) right before the start. Right after this it started raining again. The first lap has a prologue run about 100 yards up a hill, then back down where you grab your bike and ride up the hill to start your lap. Lucky me, I get nominated to do the run.
http://www.singlespeedoutlaw.com/images/snowshoe04/preracelarge.jpg
Race description from Grannygear.com:
Three years of rain soaked courses (add water, makes its own sauce!) combined with the extreme terrain of West Virginia's fifth highest mount have made this event one of the gnarliest and most infamous races in the world--the arena of the hardest of the hard core mountain bikers.
A couple of laps in, when things had really deteriorated, I would estimate that 50% of the riders I passed in the woods were shouldering there bikes and hiking. Pedaling through this stuff was like having someone hold your seatpost to try and prevent you from forward progress. Stuff that was out in the sun began to dry out a bit, but of course this was the least technical part of the trail. Believe it or not though, it was fun. And despite having a teammate who was sick and almost didn't ride, we managed to pull third place in the Single and Rigid category.
A few pics:
Team Sweet Cheeks (http://www.grannygear.com/realtime/public/team.php?team_id=125&action=display) right before the start. Right after this it started raining again. The first lap has a prologue run about 100 yards up a hill, then back down where you grab your bike and ride up the hill to start your lap. Lucky me, I get nominated to do the run.
http://www.singlespeedoutlaw.com/images/snowshoe04/preracelarge.jpg