A great day for a mountain bike race.
188 racers rolled out to christen the new race course on the East side of the Franklin mountains.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Coyote Course Recon Ride
Even though the trails are in my backyard, I really haven't yet had a chance to ride or get familiar with them.
I eventually figured out how to use the Garmin to follow the uploaded course track. (My first time using this feature.) There are a lot of junctions, and more times than not I would choose the wrong way. My Garmin would quickly tell me I was off course, and I would get back on track.
The course is good. It is much less bang bang chunky than the west side. Less of the hard limestone and more red crumbly granite.
There are still some chunky places and tricky spots to get one's attention. As with all courses, pre-riding is a good idea.
There are some short loose pack scramble up climbs - which folks may want to consider in choosing their tires.
Lots and lots of singletrack with some up down twist down up twist down g-out up cruise twist down etc. Sort of like the Robledos but with more flow.
The part I rode kind of reminded me of the Chupadera Crossing route in Socorro a few years back.
I finally got through the first, mostly singletrack portion and got to "Scenic Drive" heading north.
After some climbing - Fwheeh! Chain break! I pulled out the multi-tool to do a fix and to my horror discovered I packed the Alien withOUT the chainbreak tool. I was able to mostly coast downhill on dirt road back out to the parking lot.
I'll have to get back out again and finish up the ride.
Oh yeah, there's plenty of climbing on first part of the course.
Fun challenging course. A nice change up!
I eventually figured out how to use the Garmin to follow the uploaded course track. (My first time using this feature.) There are a lot of junctions, and more times than not I would choose the wrong way. My Garmin would quickly tell me I was off course, and I would get back on track.
The course is good. It is much less bang bang chunky than the west side. Less of the hard limestone and more red crumbly granite.
There are still some chunky places and tricky spots to get one's attention. As with all courses, pre-riding is a good idea.
There are some short loose pack scramble up climbs - which folks may want to consider in choosing their tires.
Lots and lots of singletrack with some up down twist down up twist down g-out up cruise twist down etc. Sort of like the Robledos but with more flow.
The part I rode kind of reminded me of the Chupadera Crossing route in Socorro a few years back.
I finally got through the first, mostly singletrack portion and got to "Scenic Drive" heading north.
After some climbing - Fwheeh! Chain break! I pulled out the multi-tool to do a fix and to my horror discovered I packed the Alien withOUT the chainbreak tool. I was able to mostly coast downhill on dirt road back out to the parking lot.
I'll have to get back out again and finish up the ride.
Oh yeah, there's plenty of climbing on first part of the course.
Fun challenging course. A nice change up!
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