EVANMAC-@aol.com
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The weather in Baker City was in the 40s, windy and grey...last week. Last
weekend, it was clear, sunny, and temps were in the 90s. All those warnings you
hear about wearing sunscreen and drinking enough water, they were meant for
days like yesterday.
Unlike last year's event, Virtue Flat was a dust bowl. And just like every
day at Virtue Flat, there were thorns everywhere. Many riders had flatted before
the race even began. (Myself included; I found a thorn in my front tire just
as the announcer asked everyone to gather at the start. With help from my
fiance Christine who located a floor pump, we had a new tube in and inflated in
about a minute. She rocks.) Oh yeah, the dust. It was so thick at the start that
you could not even see the trail. And unless you were at the front it did not
get any better for the first mile, when the pack started to thin out.
The first two miles or so are all double track, all uphill. Beyond that is a
flat section of single track that rolls along until you hit the "bobsled," a
section that runs along a ravine for a good mile. It feels like something out
of Star Wars, like the pod racing scene. Many of the turns put you a couple
feet up the ravine walls. It's a kick.
After the bobsled are another couple miles of flat to uphill double track
that lead to the two worst climbs. The first is short but moderately steep,
thankfully followed by a fun descent that will put experienced riders in the 40mph
range rather quickly. This immediately puts you into the second climb, which
is a granny gear grind at 4mph. Faster to hop off and run, 'cross style.
Descending from the crest puts you into a hard off-camber right turn on nice,
rounded rocks that test anyone's cornering skill, and then shoots you down an even
steeper drop.
From there it is up and down, up and down on the monster motocross
rollercoaster whoop-de-dos, with little whoops on the way up and down each one. The last
one is so steep many riders overshoot the turn at the bottom. Then slowly
back up, up, up for another couple miles on double track. The last part of the
loop is another twisty descent back to the staging area, ending with a rather
straight (but not smooth) run to the finish. In all a little more than 10 miles.
My first lap took a little over 50 minutes. Second lap took longer, and felt
much longer than that.
Tons of people flatted on the course. No major accidents that I am aware of.
Plenty of camaraderie. I think about 120 people showed up. The course could
have handled many more. Many thanks go out to local rider Kim Mehaffy for
coordinating the event locally, and to the series for returning to Baker City.
-Evan MacKenzie
"We fear the cold and the things we do not understand. But most of all we
fear the doings of the heedless ones among ourselves."
......AN INUIT SHAMAN, quoted by an early Arctic explorer (As published in
William H. Calvin's, "The River that Flows Uphill", 1986)
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<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><HTML><FONT SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">The weather in Baker City was in the 40s, windy and grey...last week. Last weekend, it was clear, sunny, and temps were in the 90s. All those warnings you hear about wearing sunscreen and drinking enough water, they were meant for days like yesterday.<BR>
<BR>
Unlike last year's event, Virtue Flat was a dust bowl. And just like every day at Virtue Flat, there were thorns everywhere. Many riders had flatted before the race even began. (Myself included; I found a thorn in my front tire just as the announcer asked everyone to gather at the start. With help from my fiance Christine who located a floor pump, we had a new tube in and inflated in about a minute. She rocks.) Oh yeah, the dust. It was so thick at the start that you could not even see the trail. And unless you were at the front it did not get any better for the first mile, when the pack started to thin out.<BR>
<BR>
The first two miles or so are all double track, all uphill. Beyond that is a flat section of single track that rolls along until you hit the "bobsled," a section that runs along a ravine for a good mile. It feels like something out of Star Wars, like the pod racing scene. Many of the turns put you a couple feet up the ravine walls. It's a kick.<BR>
<BR>
After the bobsled are another couple miles of flat to uphill double track that lead to the two worst climbs. The first is short but moderately steep, thankfully followed by a fun descent that will put experienced riders in the 40mph range rather quickly. This immediately puts you into the second climb, which is a granny gear grind at 4mph. Faster to hop off and run, 'cross style. Descending from the crest puts you into a hard off-camber right turn on nice, rounded rocks that test anyone's cornering skill, and then shoots you down an even steeper drop. <BR>
<BR>
From there it is up and down, up and down on the monster motocross rollercoaster whoop-de-dos, with little whoops on the way up and down each one. The last one is so steep many riders overshoot the turn at the bottom. Then slowly back up, up, up for another couple miles on double track. The last part of the loop is another twisty descent back to the staging area, ending with a rather straight (but not smooth) run to the finish. In all a little more than 10 miles. My first lap took a little over 50 minutes. Second lap took longer, and felt much longer than that.<BR>
<BR>
Tons of people flatted on the course. No major accidents that I am aware of. Plenty of camaraderie. I think about 120 people showed up. The course could have handled many more. Many thanks go out to local rider Kim Mehaffy for coordinating the event locally, and to the series for returning to Baker City.<BR>
<BR>
-Evan MacKenzie<BR>
<BR>
"We fear the cold and the things we do not understand. But most of all we fear the doings of the heedless ones among ourselves."<BR>
......AN INUIT SHAMAN, quoted by an early Arctic explorer (As published in William H. Calvin's, "The River that Flows Uphill", 1986)<BR>
<BR>
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