Course Preview - 8hr Race

Location: Hardwood Hills

On Saturday, I went out to Hardwood Hills to preride the race course for the upcoming weekend.

The start is the typical fireroad climb from the chalet.  If you are a strong starter / climber, you will enjoy the beginning.  After the start fire road, you mix in and out of single and double track.  One note to everyone, after a climb you usually have a chance to recover either on a flat section of fire road, or single track.

The nice part out of the race course is the majority of the single track is on the trail called "Radical".  A nice section of tight twisty.  During the lap, there was no real major climbs, not to say there were no climbs in general, but the climbs were either short and sweet, or longer but not crazy.

For people racing, there are a few features and bridges that you can go over to cut corners.  I would recommend looking at them on your first lap before tackling them.  One note, all the bridges are fine, go over them and save some time on your lap.

To give an idea on lap times, Senn on a single speed was turning 26min laps, and Tyler in the pouring rain turned a 40min lap.  A good estimation on lap times for people on teams would be 25-35min laps, and solo riders 35-40min average laps.

There is one new section of single track near the end of the lap called "The Bike Zone", which is a new trail.  Picture the beginning trail at Mansfield, switchbacks etc.  It will be interesting to see how everyone handles it for sure.

Below link is the course map.

http://www.pulseracing.ca/pdf/2013fallepic8hourcourse.pdf

Come out and have a pint if you are not racing.
See everyone out there !!!!!!