Monday, August 29, 2011

Sept 17-18th Trail Duathlon and Cyclocross Events course info!

Well, the Enchanted Forest Trail Fest weekend is set for Sept 17th-18th with a trail duathlon and cyclocross events and clinics for all levels and abilities! Proceeds from the event will benefit Los Alamos trail restoration efforts! There will be free camping at the venue (no hookups) and hotel discounts in Red River for participants! Check out registration, schedule and more details on the flyer on the Southwest Nordic Ski Club's homepage under Club News and Upcoming Events front and center.
Below is some info on the actual courses for the Trail Du and Cyclocross events courtesy of Clay:

After the mountain bike race in Red River on Saturday, Nina and I, and a couple of the Get Out! team juniors all went up to the Enchanted Forest trails to scope out the best possible course options. As of now, the trails are beautifully soggy, green and a bit muddy in places -- perfect conditions for a cyclocross and trail duathlon. Except for the altitude, it felt more like we were in Oregon or New Enland. Come Sept. 17-18, the trails will probably have had time to dry up just enough to make for a perfect weekend of trail events.


I can say that I believe we've come up with the best course for the cyclocross event, and the duathlon course is still being figured out with many more little sections of fun and scenic single track still being discovered. We found some nice terrain that will allow the advantage of real cross bikes to be maximized. The course is a blend of some more buffed out double-track "access" road, a short, steep natural run-up right where specators and campers will be, and a lot of rolling/twisty Oregon/New England-like woods that will be quick and fun. We tried to avoid too much steep grinding, or gnarly descents that favor mountain bikes. It'll be a real traditional cyclocross course that both racers and spectators will enjoy.

For those of you who went up to RR for the mountain bike race and got your butt kicked by that crazy (for lack of a better way to phrase it...) course, you might want to consider this event. Trail Du course will be a lot more flowing terrain with a mix of wooded double and single track with only short climbs and fun descents. This is the case for both the run and the bike. These are going be some fun events.

The cyclocross camp is going to feature several accomplished 'crossers giving instruction. If you're looking to improve your cross skills, come up and take advantage of this opportunity.