First, a bit of drama. France
Park is a county park located near Logansport, Indiana. It is a unique course
as it has a mixture of single track, dirt and gravel double track, and some
grassy lanes. The course also goes through a dried quarry which would remind me
of riding through a desert out west if I had ever actually ridden such a
desert. The course also skirts the edge of cliff bordering another, water filled
quarry, complete with 50 feet drop down to the water’s surface. A map of the course is here. I’ve raced France Park
twice and enjoyed the variety both times.
But, in the week prior to the
race the internets, specifically the HMBA forums and DINO Facebook page, were
all a flutter with reports of massive trail damage due to a dirt bike/ATV race
held at the park the weekend before. There were various reports of the extent of
the destruction (one person even said 90% of the trails were destroyed)
although the race director thought the trails would be ok by race time. With no
pre-ride, the trail conditions would be a wildcard for the race.
My goal for the race itself was
to stay with the other two 30-39ers with whom I have been racing with all
season. The top rider Mike, had won our age group every race, but I was hoping
I could stay within attacking distance this race. Besides trying to ensure top
three podium finishes, I have been paying closer attention to the overall
standings. These are dominated at the top by a group of very fast 19-29ers, but
I was hoping I could crack the top ten. The race started and the myself and the
other two 30-39ers referenced above got away from the main pack. The pace was
hard, but I was within a few bike lengths of 2nd place and still had
1st in sight, although barely.
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| At the start, looking all serious. Photo: Beth Bragg |
As for the course, there were
admittedly some rough sections. Several areas were very rough from the ATV race
and there were numerous broken roots and rocks which had been kicked up as
well. But overall, it was not as bad as I had expected, or as had been hyped
online. Lots of the actual singletrack had not been touched, or if it had,
looked just as it has in past years. There were locations where new ATV tracks had
been cut through the woods rather willy nilly, but not much one can do about
that.
As for the race, the first lap
was uneventful. Near the end of the first lap you come upon a creek crossing.
Getting into the creek is easy. Getting out not so much as there is an
insurmountable (well for me) rock ledge that requires a dismount.
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| Foregoing the plank bridge since the creek is all of 2 inches deep. Photo: Eric Lewis |
I passed the second place rider before the
creek and following my remount, looked to see if he was behind me so we could
possibly work together to catch first place. He was not, and I spotted first place
well ahead (maybe 20 seconds) on a flat field stretch which ran near the main
park road. I took off in pursuit. I
started the second lap in second and handled the single and double track ok.
What had been a difficult and very steep descent in this section of the course
had been removed and replaced with a nice bench cut descent. The only problem
was the family I encountered sauntering along the trail. Not the best idea during
a race.
Following the descent the course
hit a long dirt double track section which parallels the southern boundary of
the park, and which leads into a grass field. I spotted first still well ahead
of me. I pushed hard and got on his wheel in the field section. This wasn’t to
last long as once we reentered the woods and trail we hit a new technical climb
which had been built over the winter. This climb replaced a straight up hike a
bike (about 60 feet up) which was an energy drainer in previous years. I had no
idea about what to expect with the new climb, but had seen this video made by
the race director:
Doesn’t seem so bad. A log skinny
followed by lots of rocks. No big deal. Well it sort of was. The log skinny was
actually a foot and a half off the
ground and was bordered by numerous pointy rocks. First place attempted the
skinny but had to stop, as did I. We then hiked/rode through a long section of
loose rocky terrain, before hitting dirt for the last section of the
climb. The good news: No flats from the
rocks. The bad new: First place got a bit of a gap which he maintained going
into the remainder of the lap. A pre-ride would have helped with that section.
I continued to chase until near
the end in a section called “Biker’s Ridge.” This is a steep uphill which I
have never been able to climb all the way, usually making it half or ¾ of the way up. First
place had to walk it too and I restarted on his wheel. As we neared the creek
crossing I thought he was getting a bit fatigued, and called out a pass and he
let me by. I got across the creek and pushed hard for the remainder of the
course and ended with a first in my age group and 6th overall.
Overall, the race went very well.
I had a plan which worked well and there were no mishaps or mechanicals. The final DINO race (where has this year
gone?!?) is a week from this Sunday at Southwestway Park in Indianapolis. The
SWW course has changed a bit from last year since HMBA is building new trails.
One addition will be reversing a technical hiking trail climb from last year.
Instead, we will be descending on this trail! Consider my mind blown.
Following this past Sunday’s
race, I am top ten in Cat 3 series points, and I still get to drop the lowest
point race (North Vernon) following Southwestway, assuming I do better than 17th
overall. There is no reason to stay in
Cat 3, so I anticipate moving up to Cat 2 at the end of the year. A couple of
the fast 19-29ers referenced earlier have been forced to move up to Cat 2 for
the SWW race. I’m anxious to see how they fare against the longer races and the
riders.
Great job! See you at SWW
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