Mile High Weekend

Get your mind out of the gutter. Of course I’m talking about riding my bike in the mountains. This mountain ride with be a first for me though: a race at Beech Mountain, NC. I’ve never ridden there, let alone raced. There is a ski resort there, but I won’t be doing any of that crazy downhill shit. I’ll be doing another cross country race in the Southern Classic Series, which is one of several races in the Magic Cycles American Mountain Bike Challenge Weekend.



I don’t really know shit about the course, except what I found on the website:


Cross Country course is 5 miles of rolling, rooty, tight single track, with one short section on gravel road and another under the power lines, all between 4,900 and 5,300 feet elevation, with no sustained climbs – this is NOT the old ski area course.

Cross-country course distances subject to change contingent on riding conditions – regardless of distance, target winning times are 1 hour for Cat 3, 1:30 for Cat 2, and 2 hours for Cat 1.


My class is supposed to do two laps (I think), so that must mean it’s pretty tough. You know, with a target winning time of 1 hour (or 1:30 since I’m not sure if we are doing the Cat 2 or Cat 3 distance.)


There is a shitload of information on the website, but I’m still a little confused. I do know what time I start, so I’ll have to leave my house at around 6:30 a.m. Sunday morning to get there in time for packet pickup, warm ups, wiping my ass, and whatever else I need to do. Shit, I just hope I can find the place. This kind of race fits nicely with how I like to do things though: on the fly. I’ll hopefully be there when the race starts, and ride until it’s over. Simple enough.


I’ll probably do my usual, starting out hot and then falling back fast. The elevation is a bit of a concern, since the race takes place at around 5000 feet. That may not sound bad to those of you that live in the “real” mountains, but for a former Florida boy it feels like I’m about to tackle Mount Everest. Oh joy. I guess that means I probably shouldn’t stay up all night on Saturday drinking beer. I may have to abstain from my hoppy treats until after the race. Damn it.