the Eel
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- Sep 23, 2000
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At the rider's meeting on Sunday morning one of the course organizers (Curtis ?) pointed out that this was gonna be a full-on timekeeper. Last year's SweetHeart really was - the difference between 1st and 5th came down to seconds - and most riders dropped very few points. However, this year's event was no timekeeper ! Once you hit the third check all you could do was ride as fast as possible and hold on. Many speeds were in the 30's and there were even some in the 40's ! It was also pretty long as the club races go - about 57 miles for the Novices - around 70 miles for the upper level classes. Many of the riders couldn't get all the lines from the route sheet into their computers - there were that many speed changes - but once you got behind it really didn't matter. Everyone was saying it was more like a desert race than an enduro. The layout was one loop of about 18 miles repeated several times.
There was some rain on Saturday night so there wasn't much dust. The start was just off the main access road to El Mirage. Straight in from the road and then right away there was a right-hander up a very silty and rutted uphill - a little rocky but not too bad if you got a decent run-up. I did see a few guys get hung up here. Then there were some steep hardpack rollers and then another real rocky and silty uphill. Again - this one nailed a few people. After that you did some blasting through sandy flats and washes - whoops here and there and a few road crossings. There were two or three more uphills but none were as bad as the first two. One big rocky downhill back toward camp. The course wasn't that technical but it definitely beat you up and the high speeds made it tough.
Old 'n' Stealthy showed up but I saw him for only a few seconds. He came up to me right as we were in the start chute.
O'n'S - did you ride the loop ?
Great course. The results should be up soon so stay tuned.
There was some rain on Saturday night so there wasn't much dust. The start was just off the main access road to El Mirage. Straight in from the road and then right away there was a right-hander up a very silty and rutted uphill - a little rocky but not too bad if you got a decent run-up. I did see a few guys get hung up here. Then there were some steep hardpack rollers and then another real rocky and silty uphill. Again - this one nailed a few people. After that you did some blasting through sandy flats and washes - whoops here and there and a few road crossings. There were two or three more uphills but none were as bad as the first two. One big rocky downhill back toward camp. The course wasn't that technical but it definitely beat you up and the high speeds made it tough.
Old 'n' Stealthy showed up but I saw him for only a few seconds. He came up to me right as we were in the start chute.
O'n'S - did you ride the loop ?
Great course. The results should be up soon so stay tuned.