May 25 Over the Hump Course Finalized
May 25 has been on our radar for a long time, and we can’t wait to get kicked off for next week’s race: Tuesday, May 25, race starts at 6:00pm (Rider meeting 5:30pm)
There’s some great course features, new single track, Thanks to our hard working volunteers, and as the water drops we’ll have even more course options to vary the course through the season.
Many have been asking, “What’s the course look like?” Along with the single track, the ingenuity of Irvine Lake has creatively created the new, most talked about trail feature: a one-way floating water bridge to start the season.
Here’s a brief course description, and though not exhaustive (and may change from week to week in length, laps or included features), is a quick idea of what to expect when you come out to the race course.
As you arrive, remember there’s a $2 parking fee / car entering Irvine Lake this year, so pack a couple bills.
Like last year, we’ll start off for the first mile down the fire road headed East up the broken asphalt climb, and then wind down the fire road to a steep descent towards the lake. A hard off-camber right (careful or you’ll swim as the water’s higher at the beginning of the season than later last year) takes you to a single track climb for a 1/4 mile and then quickly swings right for a truck trail climb.
Added this year (some of our previous single track is under water for now), we’ll climb up to the road take a left and head down the hill over gravel and asphalt rejoining the first fire road and back toward the staging area.
At the staging area, the real adventure begins…bank left and cross the floating bridge. Keep your sea legs under you for 500 feet and bank left on the fire road for some land-loving pedaling, up the bank and through our S-turn section on the hill. That will take you down toward the beach on truck trail, headed for the new 1/4 mile of single track that cuts through the cottonwoods and a of along the edge of the lake.
After you exit the single track you’ll head right, through the fence and race back in, on flat ground and back for another lap. Only danger for beginners is you may wish you added another lap…for the first race the distance/elevation stats are:
- Course distance: 3.76miles (may vary from week to week)
- Elevation gain per lap: approx 380+ feet Vertical
- Beginner & Junior Course: 2 laps (approx 7.52 miles, 760+ vertical)
- Sport Course: 3 laps (approx 11.28 miles, 1,140+ vertical)
- Expert & Pro Course: 4 laps (approx 15.04 miles, 1,520+ vertical)
Looking forward to a great season!
See you Tuesday at the races- John, Matt and the OTH Team.
3 Comments
Looking forward to Tuesday. This gonna be fun!
Looking forward to seeing the course full of riders, the air filled with dust, the sounds of crowd cheers, hoots and hollers, the dirt dribbled with sweat droplets and the smell of the BBQ at the end of it! Never been….. but that’s how I’m imagining it to be on race day for me 😉 am I even close????
MMMMM! I can smell it already, minus the dust boogers! Cool summer evening, sitting next to the lake, a bunch of friends, families and other riders hanging with a cool low-key vibe; lots of excitement and stiff competition during the race, then back to a killer spot to hang with family and friends. It’s going to be a full field of racers and a ton of fun. We can’t wait!