Single Track Sunday
Event: Middle Mountain Momma XXC race
Place: Douthat State Park, Millboro, VA
Ridden: May 2015
Click on video to play
Nothing like getting out of work
on a Saturday afternoon, driving to Virginia, sleeping in the van at a rest
stop, doing a 40 mile race on Sunday, and then driving home. That sums up our
weekend trip to Millboro, VA for the Middle Mountain Momma race.
Middle Mountain Momma is a race
put on by Mountain Bike Virginia and is part of the Virginia Off Road Series (VORS). The
race takes place in Douthat State Park within the George Washington State
Forest. Junior, XC, and XXC
(marathon/endurance) races take place all at the same time.
A traditional family park for 75
years, Douthat is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for the
role its design played in the development of parks nationwide. Amid some of
Virginia's most breathtaking mountain scenery, visitors enjoy stream fishing, a lake stocked with trout, a
sandy swimming beach, boat rentals, a gift shop and camp store,
cabins, and more than 43 miles of hiking, mountain biking and bridle trails.
Plus, there are playgrounds, an amphitheater, picnic areas, tent and trailer
camping, and a restaurant overlooking the lake. The park also has cabins and
lodges.
The Middle Mountain Momma course provides
mass-quantities of singletrack--and--it's almost entirely unduplicated
trail. Much of the single track is
benchcut into the side of the mountain- pretty hairy at times to be on and know
that one wrong move and it’s a long roll to the bottom. The trails are lined
with blueberry bushes and rhododendron.
The course essentially climbs the mountain for a few miles and then descends
for a few miles….and then repeats this multiple times. The climbs are slow and
steady with a few hike-a-bike sections and the descents and fast- seat post
down, elbows out, and send it. The course was well marked, challenging, and it
felt rewarding to finish it. Total climbing 7000 feet in 41 miles!
I finished 2nd and
Joël was within the top ten. Both of us
were happy with our races- thank goodness for those crazy downhills, they gave
us the chance to catch-up to and pass people.
A busy weekend but a fun
adventure. We rode a new place, met new
people, and enjoyed the Virginia mountains for the weekend.
- words by Jess
- video by Joël