Karl’s Kaleidoscope race takes place way down in south
western Virginia in Hungry Mother State Park. It’s just outside the town of Marion
VA and is a short drive out of town on a crooked road.
I headed down after work on Friday afternoon not knowing if
I would hit much traffic on the 4hr drive out 64 and down 81. Luckily there
were no snags and I got to my Hotel just after 10pm. I settled in with a couple
of beers, plenty of water, and studied maps of the race course while Avatar
played on the TV to keep me company.
In the morning it was surprisingly cold and I really had to
be careful not to spill my coffee as I fought off involuntary shivers while
outside walking back to my room. I ate a quick waffle and got suited up, adding
my spring cold gear to the mix.
Arriving at race check in, it was clear this was a small
grass roots race, with a very modest amount of people showing up, maybe 30 or
40. However, there was no lack of talent and super fast racers. There was also
no lack of swag as the race packet was full of goodies and plenty more could be
grabbed from sample bins. I talked with Quadsworth about his recent Cohutta 100
victory and said ‘hi’ to other fast folks from the Shenandoah valley.
After a chilly warm up, we lined up at the start and soon
took off on the groomed trails in Hungry Mother park. The morning scenery was
awesome as our train of racers skirted the lake covered in a mist of clearing fog.
Soon we made some turns and headed into rhododendron flanked trails that rolled
up and down the hillsides surrounding the lake.
Shooting down and around the bench cut and off camber
corners covered in a fine loose scree kept me on my toes, and moderate rolling
climbs got the heart rate up. I kept ebbing and flowing to the pace of the
riders in front of me as we played cat and mouse, zooming around the park.
Next up was a series of road and gravel sections that led to
an intermediate piece of single track that connected us to the mountain lollipop
section of the course. The trail in this section was wet from the week’s previous rain
filtering down the mountain side and there were many creek crossing. I felt
just like I was riding familiar sections of trails from Pisgah. Pretty wet and
muddy, but familiar and fun. After popping out of that trail section, I hammered
away on more gravel road and fueled up for the big climb.
Ascending the mountain proved much more pleasant than I had
anticipated and It felt good to be rolling the long moderate climb in the
big ring. Near the top the fire road started to yield to trail and the descent
was soon to follow.
Initially the trail was hard to even see as the descent
began, but luckily some sheriff’s tape marked the way. It must have been a crime scene
because I was ready to murder the descent.
The top portion of the downhill had lots of gnarly rock
sections and a few surprise chutes of trail that were a little exposed on the
left. Soon, this gave way to fast and obviously water chewed sections of
trail lined in purple flowering rhododendron. Fast and beautiful.
Nearing the bottom, I took a right fork and dispatched a series of
fire road connectors to more single track that now had a Pennsylvania feel. Before
I knew it, I was rolling on the paved road back into Hungry Mother park and was
soon crossing the finish. Lots of great food, good beer, and fun swapping
stories and talking riding with a bunch of cool mountain bikers.
Cheers!
