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July 9, Sunday, parking and registration at Rockerville (10 miles south of Rapid City on Hwy 16), 8:30 am to 9:15 am, race starts at 9:30 am. Beginner 3.5 mile loop, Sport 8 mile loop, Expert 12 miles, and Pros go 18 miles. All classes start by climbing up the dirt road towards the church camp, then left onto the meadow singletrack. Course will be fully marked (orange/black arrows) July 3. See www.acmebicycles.com

Under 18, and beginners race for free. Bring the kids.

 

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Tim,

Will the course be marked by 9:00 am on the 3rd?

Looks like I may try to ride tomorrow morning and if the course is up, I might as well do my own pre ride!

Jason

 

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Yup, all materials.

Course is marked. I've gotta add some signage, and trim some grass to make junctions a bit more obvious, but the main Expert Loop is all marked. Start is up Storm Mt Road (gravel road to the Church Camp) just under a mile, hang a left (you'll see the orange arrows) and go up the meadow trail just under 1/2 mile, at this point Expert/Pro go right and climb, Beginner and Sport continue straight to the downhill. Cross the main road (beginners are done at this point, Pro,Expert, and Sport continue across road) again at the bottom, follow the arrows, and do the loop all the way through Church Camp like normal, descend into the bottom of **** Hollow, and climb up, follow the arrows, and over the hill and you'll end up climbing up the Meadow Trail again. Sport goes straight at the top of the Meadow Trail to the downhill finish, Expert and Pro go right to climb again. Experts are finished at the gravel road after the downhill. Pros do another loop out through **** Hollow etc. Clear as mud. But it is marked. You oughta be racing Expert distance, Jason, maybe even Pro! just not that long.

 

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Tim,

Thanks for the details! I'm hoping to ride the course today! If things work out, I planned on riding in the expert class. Not in good enough shape yet to try and keep up with the pro class!

Ashley wants to due the Mystic Race, which is also sunday morning, so we are trying to figure something out!

 

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Bump! Coming up July 9

July 9, Sunday, parking and registration at Rockerville (10 miles south of Rapid City on Hwy 16), 8:30 am to 9:15 am, race starts at 9:30 am. Beginner 3.5 mile loop, Sport 8 mile loop, Expert 12 miles, and Pros go 18 miles. All classes start by climbing up the dirt road towards the church camp, then left onto the meadow singletrack. Course is fully marked (orange/black arrows), start at junction of Silver Mt Road (paved) and Storm Mt Road (dirt). See www.acmebicycles.com

Under 18, and beginners race for free. Bring the kids.

 

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Report and Results!

The weatherman called for high temperatures in the upper 90s for the day, but a bonus overcast sky and a reasonable and on time start of 9:30 meant only upper 70s for todays Storm Mountain Bicycle Contest. Nearly 40 riders and a bevy of spectators had an enjoyable morning. Well marked courses, cheap $10 entry and cool calm weather were very much appreciated.

Four little riders set out for the arduous 3 mile beginner loop, and all four made their beaming parents proud. No DNFs in the 12 year and under category, these kids have spunk! At the Sport level, riders from far and exotic locales such as Paris, France and even the Twin Cities in MN, enjoyed a couple hours of cruising on the grassy fast single track trails. Experts cranked up the distance and added a challenging rocky climb to make for a few lead changes and a fair number of mechanical bike problems to repair trailside, flat tires being the most common. A dozen riders tackled the Expert with alacrity and times ranging from under two hours to two and a half hours of effort. Bravo!

Surprisingly, the Pro class (do we have anyone in SD getting money to ride a bike?) was as large as the expert class. A significant distance increase kept the Pros out on the course long enough to get a taste of that heat promised by the evil weatherman. All those rugged miles and the rising temps did exact a toll on a few of the Pros, but DNFs were well earned. Luckily a cold can of refreshment was on ice for each and every rider. Special thanks to Butch for sweeping the course to be certain no one was left behind.

Thanks to the Gaslight Restaraunt for hosting the food/beer/movie and fun post ride, Storm Mt Church Camp for the land access, BHMBA for insurance and working with land managers to make trails like this exist, USFS for all the trees and dirt and rocks, Yellow Jersey Construction, Courtesy Subaru, and the numerous volunteers that made the ride happen.

It is a fine loop to ride and the area trails will be used again just next week (July 16) for the much coveted Black Hills Single Speed Championships! The SS Championships will indeed be open for riding by riders with gears from Beginner to Pro, once more, but only a single gear bike rider can take the official title, see you there!

www.bhmba.org
www.acmebicycles.com

Beginners, under 12 Boys: Beginner under 12 Girls
1 Evan Geiger 1 Gabby Zanto
2 Noah Geiger
3 Sam "Blue" Gustin

Sport Men: Sport Women
1 Paul Lovestrand 1'10" 1 Bobbie Schauer 2'02"
2 Chad Meyer 1'20" 2 Catherine Mateu 2'44"
3 Drew Doshier (16yrs) 1'36"

Expert Men Expert Women
1 Corey Kennnedy 1'45" 1 Cherrie Martenson 1'51"
2 Kelly Halter 1'48" 2 Joey Knutson 2'05"
3 Kip Holscher 1'50"
4 Joe Schmid 1'56"
5 Jason Perret 2'01"
6 Mitch S (sorry) 2'04"
7 Chris Farrar 2'06"
8 Nate Ritterbusch 2'09"
9 Ken Palmer 2'18"
10 Rusty Wienk 2'33"

Pro Men: Pro Women:
1 Phil Busching 2'13" 1 Nancy Busching 2'57"
2 John Rehorst 2'20"
3 Chad Carpenter (SS) 2'25
4 Wayne Zanto (SS) 2'26
5 Tyler Johnson 2'39
6 Duane Martenson 2'40"
7 Ted Jones 3'00'
8 Eli Olson 3'01"
9 05 BHSS Champ Butch 3'07"

DNFs know who they are, and don't need razzed about it. Good work to all who rode, breaking off a major part of your drivetrain is certainly reason enough to have to walk it in!

Some pictures hosted here:

http://www.bhmba.org/Events/EventsBHCA007R.htm