Conquering Mann Hill: DINO Southwestway Race Report

Kind of a belated race report, but the DINO season came to an end on August 26 with the race at Southwestway Park in Indianapolis. The Hoosier Mountain Bike Association started building mountain bike trails at Southwestway two years ago with a initial three mile trial which consists of tight and technical singletrack and a long flat levy section and a gravel road climb. Unfortunately, administrative delays have prevented further construction. As a result, the 6.1 mile DINO race loop used a combination of the singletrack, horse trails, hiking trails, and a ¾ mile gravel road section at the start.

I got off to a good start and was in third place on the gravel road section. I think the speed in this section was a little muted, as the dry conditions made the corners a bit hazardous. On several of the turns I could feel my rear tire wanting to slide out which caused me to cut back on the speed.  

Start of the Cat 3 30-39 wave. I'm directly below the "T" in the Start sign. Photo courtesy of Beth Bragg

I was still in third heading into the singletrack, but things began to fall apart when we came to a double log crossing about ½ mile into the MTB trail. I have quite a history with this feature. Riding clockwise, I have only cleared it a handful of times, and have something of a mental block on crossing both logs. Typically I get over the first log, and screw up on the second. The race however was counter clockwise through this section. When I pre-rode the course last week I managed to clear both logs several times. Sure enough, my lack of confidence on this obstacle reared its head and I cleared the first log, but screwed up the second. Five riders quickly passed me up. One mile in, and already I was back in the second half of the 30-39 field with limited passing options in the tight singletrack which lay ahead. 

I caught up to a group of two riders but lost them when another 30-39er they were behind bobbled in a rooty section and allowed them to get by, while I got in behind the rider who bobbled, who was a but slow in regaining speed. The single track ended and the course took a gravel hiking trail down a hill to a long levy section followed by the horse trails. This turned out to be one of the turning points for me. I accelerated on the levee and passed one rider, and then caught up to a group of two riders, including a singlespeed rider, just as we entered the horse trail, which was essentially wide singletrack. The singlespeeder passed the other rider and I followed and we quickly dropped him. The single speeder was keep a great pace so I stuck with him for the remainder of the horse trail. However, next came the climb up Mann Hill. 

Mann Hill is the tallest hill in Marion County and tops out at about 825ft. The climb starts along a old washed out gravel road which climbs up from the river bottoms to the the lower part of the hill, takes a hard left, and then another left onto a steep hiking trail peppered with roots. The climb was kicking my, and everyone else’s, collective asses. I am in decent shape for climbing, and using my bar ends to great effect, I managed to work my way up the hill without stopping while passing several riders (I had no idea their age groups) along the way. There were a huge number of cheering spectators along the climb which helped create a great race atmosphere.

Fighting my way up Mann Hill. Not as many spectators in this section. Photo courtesy of Beth Bragg. 

I was wasted at the top and went through the descent in a haze. Unfortunately during the descent, and the last leg of hiking trail around the back of Mann Hill, I got caught by another rider who I knew was in my age group. 

The second lap went fairly well. I kept the rider who passed me on the backside of Mann Hill in my sights, although I screwed up on damn double log crossing again. I got within about 50 feet of the rider who passed me and as soon as we hit the initial gravel climb up Mann Hill I took off. Making the left turn onto the hiking trail to the “summit,” I risked a glance back and saw no sign of him, or any other rider. I was feeling good about the climb but just before the top I bobbled on a root and came to a screeching halt, which meant it was time for some hike a bike. I pushed the bike the remaining forty feet and still saw no one behind, except for some junior riders walking up the hill. I attacked the descent and the back side of Mann, but no one was chasing. I came into the finish at 1:00:44. By my count I was somewhere around fourth or fifth in my age group, which was where I finished the last two races. As it turns out, I did a bit better and came in second in the 30-39ers, my best age group finish of the season, and 18^th overall.

Wrapping up the DINO season at Southwestway Park. Photo courtesy of Beth Bragg.

I was very pleased with my performance, except for the log crossings.  Too bad I waited this long to finally make a podium, but the last three races I did in the series were all decent, with all three being top twenty overall finishes, and 5^th, 4^th, and 2^nd, place finishes in my age group. In the Cat 3 series standings I ended up 17^th based on my five races. In the DINO series the top five times will be used to calculate the final series standings. I made sure I did exactly five races, so I think my lousy performance at Winona in May really hurt me. Next year, I think I will skip Winona. While a fun course to ride, I didn’t enjoy the race too much, and would have preferred to have raced at Versailles or French Lick.

A Strava file for one lap of the race may be found here. This is not one of my tracks, but still allows you to see the elevation for the Mann Hill climb. Looks like the climb starts at 656 ft and tops out at 825 ft for about 169 feet of elevation gain. Not a bad climb for Marion County Indiana.

In other news, in a moment of questionable sanity, I signed up for 24 Hours of DINO solo six hour race next Saturday, September 8. This race takes place at Versailles and commences at noon. The most laps in the six hour time period wins. I’m not sure my endurance is up to the task, but I mainly want to see if I can get four laps in before the event ends. I handled the Sub 9 Death March just fine back in March and I think my fitness is good. We’ll see how all that plays out.  

Edit: Here is one more photo from Southwestway, with my freakishly long fingers: