Cranky Monkey MTB Series Race#1 - Wakefield

I wrote this the day after the race but forgot to post it.

The Cranky Monkey is a three race series of MTB in the Washington, DC area (USA Cycling D20) promoted by EX2 Adventures. The first race of the series was this past Sunday, July 26, 2009, at Wakefield Park in No. Va. Wakefield Park has some very non-technical single-track trails including some paved road sections as well as some gravel road. There is very little climbing to speak of so I would say it is somewhat rolling with no major climbs. I am signed up for the Sport 45+ series so my race started at ~9:49 a.m.

Given that it is 2009, it wouldn’t be a MTB race if there wasn’t rain the day/night before the race or during the race. This race was no exception. There was even an e-mail by the promoter advising racers to check the race website in the morning to see if the race was cancelled. In the morning the race website said that the trails were a little wet but that the race was on. Cool!!! The race start is on a gravel road that climbs up a short steep hill to the paved park road which takes you to the “bowl.” The bowl is a 2-2.5 mile single track section of the park with quite a few log obstacles but nothing too difficult. However, it was still rather wet with a slick .25” layer of mud on top in some places. Of course about a quarter-mile into this section I leaned into a turn and my front wheel slipped out and down I went. It seemed like 10 – 12 guys went by me while I picked myself up and got back onto the trail. I decided right then I would take it easy in this section. The “power-line” area and “berms” area of the trail seem to have more sandy soil and were hard and fast so you were able to ride normal there. Anyway, the rest of the race was fun. I looked forward to the climbs especially the powerline climb and the switchback climb up the berms. I ended up 18 out of 24 in the Sport 45+ group. On to Fountainhead!