Costumes, Friends, and Racing
Event: 2nd Annual Triple XXX TrexxxFest Halloween XC Enduro and Xtreme Kids Race
Place: Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, PA
Ridden: October 2014
Click on video to view
This week had us and others dressing up in costume for the TrexxxFest Halloween Enduro race. Sometimes racing is about going hard, sometimes it is all about having fun, sometimes it is about going as hard as you can while having fun wearing a costume. This race was all about the last option.
First off, what is an Enduro? This is a little different than what we usually race. The entire course is ridden by each racer but only certain sections are timed. These are typically the downhill and/or more technical sections. Each timed section is no more than a few miles long; so it means riding really fast for a short period of time; then riding easy during the in between sections to the next timed stage. Check out the blog entry about The Raven Enduro (September 2014) for more Enduro info and examples.
For the TrexxxFest Enduro, each timed stage was between 1.5 and 2.5 miles long. They incorporated flowy descents as well as a little climbing. There were some logovers, berms, and little jumps to keep things interesting. Overall, the Trexler trails have been designed to be fast, flowy, and fun. All three stages started at a central staging area, which made refueling and rehydrating easy- just stop at your vehicle to grab what you need. The end of each stage was part way up a climb but not all the way to the top. Also included in the race was an award for "Best Costume".
The location for the race was within the Trexler Nature Preserve. The Preserve, located within Lehigh County, PA, is a place where people can hike, cycle, ride horses, cross country ski, fish, or just view nature. The 1,108 acre expanse was founded by General Harry Trexler as a way to protect endangered bison and elk at the turn of the 20th century. Today, visitors can glimpse these animals in the natural habitat. The North, South, and Central ranges feature unique landscapes from meadows and hills to hemlock forests and deep ravines. Located in the Central Range is the Lehigh Valley Zoo, a great family adventure. As for mountain biking, there is about 8 to 9 miles of single track trails and the 8.5 mile Border Trail around the preserve. Not all the trails are multiuse, markers indicate which users are permitted on the trails.
As for our race, we looked like superheros but were not quite as fast as who we were portraying. Joël dressed as Superman and I as Wonder Woman. Joël placed 9th in Open Men and I was 4th Open Women. Enduros are not really our thing, we would rather pedal all day for 50 or 100 miles. Despite being a little out of our element, we went with the primary intention to have fun, show some Halloween spirit by dressing up, work on technique and skills, and enjoy the day with friends- and we did all of those things.
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| Pre-ride the day before- just to show the scenery |
- words by Jess
- video by Joël