Jennifer Dilworth Hynes — mtbchk

Youth Unlimited (YU) is a group home for at-risk youth in Sophia, NC, just outside of High Point.  It is an old farm, with several open fields and a bunch of wooded areas on 155 acres.  You would think there wouldn’t be any mountains there, but it is definitely a “rolling-hills” kind of area, similar to and close to (almost part of) the Uwharries.  The trails were built over the last 6 years primarily by the youth living there, the staff and other local resources.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, since the trails are normally closed to the public to protect the privacy of the clientele. 

We arrived at the trails around noon on Saturday for the preride.  As we’re driving down the long gravel road to the complex, I’m getting nervous.  There are definitely some steep hills and rocks here!  There is a nice (large) creek running through the middle of the land.  From the driveway, you can see trails diving up and down the hills and across the creek.

Once we got going on the trails, I knew this would be a fun race.  The first half of the course is all short steep climbs.  Plenty of granny gear grunts, and several fun rock gardens, quick turns and roots.  It seems like it’s either all up or down.  There’s really nowhere to take a break or catch your breath.

After you cross the creek, the trail levels out a little, with some flowy sections and several large log pyramids.  The trail winds around a bit, comes in and out of the woods a few times, and then turns up another large hill.  At this point, the trail splits.  The beginner trail goes to the left and the rest goes right.  This section is called “Stag”.

Stag begins with a sharp turn to the left and then a very steep climb to the top.  It’s not a short climb, and I don’t actually know anyone who made it to the top without walking.  They said they had to build it that way because it’s very close to the property line.  At the top, you can catch some good breezes.  From there, it’s seven very steep, sharp switchbacks to the bottom.  I only rode the first few during the preride.  They were very loose and sketchy.

After Stag, the trail heads back across the creek, along the main field where we parked, dives down another fun hill and straight up the other side and around the field again to the finish.  Overall, this is the most technical trail we’ve raced in the last few years.

So, Sunday’s race was hot.  Madonna was there again, but she didn’t preride and was depending on me to tell her what to expect.  Off the starting line, I was second into the singletrack behind a 40+ woman, and in front of Madonna, with the rest following.  I yelled back to Madonna that I didn’t want her right behind me because I didn’t want to hold her up.  She responds with, “I’ll just follow you for the first lap to learn the course, then I’ll pass.”  I stayed ahead of her for the first ~4 miles, missed a downshift in a quick-turning rooted climb, and let her by.  I stayed behind her from there, calling out all the upcoming obstacles (aren’t I nice?).  Madonna kept asking if we were getting close to Stag, and I kept saying, “You’ll know it when you see it.” At one point, I could see Beth von I. behind us, so I said, let’s lose her.  We did.  Sometimes it’s nice to be working together with your teammates!

Then we hit Stag. I yell, “THIS IS IT!”  By halfway up the hill, we were both walking.  At the top, I jump back on, ride the short flat part and start down the switchbacks.  The downhill is steep, and you can see people on the switchbacks below.  All I saw was Madonna’s head traversing back and forth.  Oh my gosh, she’s riding it.  I rode the first four switchbacks, hit the really loose steep one, and bailed.  Of course, this is where the photographer was.  DOH.  I walked it to the bottom.  I finished the first lap a couple of seconds behind.

At the beginning of the second lap, I started to fade.  Madonna put a bigger gap on me and I struggled through the climbs.  At one point, an expert warming up passed me and reminded me that everyone else probably felt as bad as I did.  I passed John Harvey sitting on the side of the trail.  He says, “My strategy has changed.  It WAS to go fast.  Now, I just want to finish the race”.  I could relate.

Once I realized that I was fading back because I was bonking, I got back to my senses and started downing the Hammergel in the flask I had on my stem.  Within just a few minutes, I felt much better and I picked up the pace.  I started gaining on Madonna.  I caught her when we hit “Stag” again.  Again, we both walked up the steep hill, and again she rode down the whole thing while I only did the first four of seven switchbacks.  I yell, “you’re my hero!”

From then until the end of the race, I could see her, but I couldn’t catch her.  She finished first, about two minutes ahead, and I was second.  It was another great race for the Divas, since Cathi had already gotten first place in the beginner’s race earlier.

This was by far one of the most fun XC races I’ve done.  The course is a blast.  It’s challenging, both technically and physically.  I left all I had on the trail. 

Next week’s Tsali race will be a drastic change from YU - smooth, fast, and flowy.  It’s a “roadie course”, with very little technical challenge.  It’s also the biggest non-NMBS race in the series, with huge groups on the starting line.   Spinning, anyone?