Single Track Sunday
Place: Greenbrier State Park, Boonsboro, MD for the Greenbrier Challenge
Ridden: May 2014
Greenbrier State Park was the location for the Greenbrier Challenge; a race that included a four hour endurance/marathon and XC race, with Joël and I racing the endurance. Overall, Greenbrier is a nice park; camping, swimming, showers, and some fun trails to ride. A huge crew of Giant Northeast riders made the journey to this race, and a fun day was had by all.
The course had a little bit of everything that all mountain bike courses should include; rocks, roots, mud, and hills to go both up and down. Each lap was about 5.7 miles, with the start/finish area along side a beautiful lake. This made for a great spectator area and was also where the "feed zone" was located. All day people were gathered there watching the race and cheering on riders.
The course started off with a decent climb on some gravel double track, a great way to break up the field. Then it was a fast and fun descent that lead into some rocky sections. The rock garden at the bottom of the hill was probably my favorite part of the course; spectators were gathered there cheering and it felt great to clear it every time and give them something to cheer about. After this the course included some gigantic mud puddles and a creek crossing which made for soggy shoes and dirty bikes. After all the fun in the mud came the toughest climb on the course. It had lots of loose rocks, slippery leaves, and multiple water bars to maneuver over. Many people (including myself and even Joël later in the race) were walking parts of this climb. As a reward after this climb, there was a fast and flowy section (which was a good place to eat and drink) and then some more downhill. Stationed at the bottom of this downhill were some park rangers directing cyclists. They were great support, cheering and yelling to every rider going through. Now, came the final climb. A technically challenging climb that weaved its way to the top. It was on this climb I saved a toad's life. The poor little guy was in the middle of the trail and would definitely have gotten squashed by a bike tire. I stopped and removed him from the trail, I hope he stayed off the course for the rest of the day. The remainder of the course included some great technical descents and singe track through some rocky and muddy sections until coming out of the trail at the dam and then back through the start/finish area by the lake.
The mud and muck made for some unhappy bikes but overall our bikes performed well. My Giant Contact Switch dropper seatpost was an asset for the rock gardens and descents. The 27.5 wheels gave just the right amount of traction and made for efficient accelerating and climbing. And despite all the mud the Sram XX1 shifting kept working well.
And for results; I was second and Joël was fourth. Overall the riders from Giant Northeast had good rides, everyone having fun in the wet and mud and some others earning podium spots as well. Hanging out in the team tent afterwards and sharing race stories made for some relaxing and fun times before heading home.
- video by Joël
- words by Jess
- lots of petting for Cliff