Friday, February 12, 2010

Want a Sandwich?

Charly Tri has put together a short 50 mile enduro off road race taking place May 9 at Eastwood Park in Rochester. Eastwood is 99% single-track with not one, no not even one, sustained climb. What I mean by that, is there is no 'man-handler', no 'Kato Klimb' and absolutely not even a hint of a 'Shady Lane'. If you are or ever were a mtb'er in MN, you know what those names mean. Anyway, check it out--they are only taking 50 entries. You have to be a RASC member so basically that is your fee. Go HERE. Make sure to check out DA RULES. They are the best ever. I wish all race-rules followed their guidelines.

A little about Eastwood... There used to be a ton of trails made up of single track, climbs, flats, swithbacks, loose rocks--pretty much everything. Then the city decided to turn some of it into a new neighborhood. There still remains a lot of trail, but most of it is tight single track now. Eastwood used to be home to the MN State CycloCross Championship. Not sure why it hasn't returned as it is a great course for that. There have been a few minor races there since then, I think (Star of the North??). In the winter a lot of XC skiing takes place there. As for the Sandwich 50, it should be fun. Not sure I am doing it, but we'll see. Below is a picture from what looks like a CX race--maybe the last time the championship was there. Anyway, the photo shows the only real climb, but I am not sure it that will be included in the Sandwich. Probably. Even so, its very short, easily climbable on an mtb and most cx bikes. I'm not sure how it will feel at about 25 miles...

1 comment:

Charly Tri said...

Mario, we are 1/2 full right now. And no, that hill is not part of the course, up or down. The new singletrack I added last year has the longest climb which is not terribly steep, but relatively long for out there. One section of the course though sends you up 3 consecutive steep small-medium hills. It hurts.