WVMBA #4

Story by Kirk Morrison

I drove down to the Race Around the Bend at North Bend State Park near Harrisville, WV. This was mountain bike event #5 in the WVMBA 15 race series.

While the drive was long (200 miles, 3.5 hours each way), the weather was great with temps around 70F, sunny skies and a nice breeze.

This was my first time to North Bend SP. It was a real treat to find such well designed Mtb trails … fast but challenging.  I was a bit concerned that the course would have lots of mud since we had 2 days of rain at the end of the preceding week. I was pleased to find that the trails were in great shape (fast, wet & tacky) with only a few muddy spots.

The course started with a loop through a freshly mowed hayfield before we entered the tight single track. The course was fairly fast with a number of steep, lengthy climbs and a few rock gardens. The most interesting part of the ride was at the beginning of a rock garden section where the course traveled between two boulders with a third cube-shaped boulder (that had fallen from the adjacent cliff) wedged overhead to create a short tunnel. Very cool. Too bad I didn’t have more time to stop and admire it !

The organization for this race was outstanding with over 20 course marshals (wearing bright green shirts) out on the course to help keep us all on track.

Results were available (immediately after finishing) on the flat screen monitor near the finish line.

I entered the Masters 45+ Sport race and ended up finishing in 6th place. After checking my result, I headed over to down a wonderful plate of spaghetti before heading for home.

Excellent organization, friendly volunteers, highly recommended !

Results link:
http://www.iplayoutside.com/Events/?eid=2012/06/13903r.html

While there were a few photographers on the course, no pics have been posted yet. I’ll forward pics later if I find them.