Final Prep for Chickasaw Trace

The Chickasaw Trace Classic, my first mountain bike race of the season, is twelve days away. Generally, most people like to open the season with a smaller regional event to ease back into the groove and sharpen skills before things get serious. I should be so lucky. I have the “good fortune” of facing the season with a national calendar event right out of the box. It would be an understatement to say I don’t feel ready, but I have to play with the cards I’m dealt. With this in mind, I’m going directly to the Whirlpool trails straight from work to get in as many miles as possible before I start tapering. It’s not as if I expect to gain any fitness in the remaining days before the race but more a desperate attempt to keep what I have, sharpen handling skills, and hopefully avoid a total thumping at the hands of some Lance Armstrong wannabe.

The Chickasaw racecourse is running a little differently this year than in years past. The first noticeable change is the absence of the “big down hill” shortly after the start. I suppose this is due to negative feedback from last year’s event when torrential rains made that down hill section extremely dangerous, resulting is several accidents and a few trips to the hospital for some participants. The race will now travel through an open field; I know nothing about, before reaching single-track at the Woodland trail. It then hits the Trail of Tears and the Blackhills Trail (both a bit rough). A slight twist here is the inclusion of a small section of the Blackhills trail not used in past races, so this warrants a preride. The course then enters the Creek Trail, River Trail and Ravine Loop Trail before reconnecting with a section of the Woodland Trail again. Racers then come out on what looks like a gravel road and grassy area to the finish. This year’s race promises to be crazy fast if the conditions are dry. Get your sprint legs ready.