Wild and Wonderful, WV...
Henry Clay 30k
This race has been around for a long time and I've always heard good things about it. I like the hard races. If you are going to race on smooth, flat dirt, you might as well be road racing. And you might as well be shaving your legs while you're at it. Few, if any, shaved legs over here in WV.
I crashed at Greg's condo in Canaan Saturday night and got in a nice cold and rainy ride in the primordial green jungles of the Monongahela National Forest. The forest up here, some 3000 ft up is like no other place I have been. A green carpet of moss and fern cover the trail everywhere, constantly damp. Truly unique and I'll always remember it as the magic carpet ride. It's like riding on a sponge. The rhododendron and mountain laurel line the trails and reach out to grab you with their wet paws. With daylight disappearing and a misty fog rolling in, I couldn't help thinking of running across a giant T-Rex out for his evening hunt. Stomping through this Jurassic playground searching for a tasty morsel clad in lycra, picking his teeth afterward with a piece of steel tubing ripped from my machine. Definitely one of the coolest rides I have done. Sunday morning we loaded up with oatmeal, bananas and coffee and headed North to Coopers Rock State Forest.
The race started with a mass start up the park road for about 2 miles and then ducked into some tough, fast singletrack. I didn't get a good start and was bogged down by some slower traffic. By the time I broke free, we were 30 minutes into the race. Time to crank it up as I see lots of open trail in front, littered with roots, rocks and lost water bottles that were jarred from bikes. I ran up every climb and bombed down every descent, passing riders, not knowing who was in my class. Just go, go, go, like a monkey with his ass on fire searching for a puddle. The final climb up to the finish was a monster and Pete and I climbed it together. Nick Waite, the winning pro, came by us like we were standing still. His 30k took the same amount of time as my 20k. 1:34. Good enough for 10th place....again.
This race has been around for a long time and I've always heard good things about it. I like the hard races. If you are going to race on smooth, flat dirt, you might as well be road racing. And you might as well be shaving your legs while you're at it. Few, if any, shaved legs over here in WV.
I crashed at Greg's condo in Canaan Saturday night and got in a nice cold and rainy ride in the primordial green jungles of the Monongahela National Forest. The forest up here, some 3000 ft up is like no other place I have been. A green carpet of moss and fern cover the trail everywhere, constantly damp. Truly unique and I'll always remember it as the magic carpet ride. It's like riding on a sponge. The rhododendron and mountain laurel line the trails and reach out to grab you with their wet paws. With daylight disappearing and a misty fog rolling in, I couldn't help thinking of running across a giant T-Rex out for his evening hunt. Stomping through this Jurassic playground searching for a tasty morsel clad in lycra, picking his teeth afterward with a piece of steel tubing ripped from my machine. Definitely one of the coolest rides I have done. Sunday morning we loaded up with oatmeal, bananas and coffee and headed North to Coopers Rock State Forest.
The race started with a mass start up the park road for about 2 miles and then ducked into some tough, fast singletrack. I didn't get a good start and was bogged down by some slower traffic. By the time I broke free, we were 30 minutes into the race. Time to crank it up as I see lots of open trail in front, littered with roots, rocks and lost water bottles that were jarred from bikes. I ran up every climb and bombed down every descent, passing riders, not knowing who was in my class. Just go, go, go, like a monkey with his ass on fire searching for a puddle. The final climb up to the finish was a monster and Pete and I climbed it together. Nick Waite, the winning pro, came by us like we were standing still. His 30k took the same amount of time as my 20k. 1:34. Good enough for 10th place....again.
posted by Steve at 2:36 PM
1 Comments:
Wow, it is really great to see people bring interest of cycling and west virginia to such great light as you! I go to West Virginia Wesleyan College, and commute, ride for health benefits, but have debated on going somewhat serious about road biking... You give me inspiration!
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