Penn Cycle / Buck Hill Thurs. Races

[dennis porter]

The Penn Cycle Thursday night races start Tonight May 15th and run throughout the summer. You can check out the schedule on penncycle.com. The course changes every week to keep things different. These races are low key and just plain fun. Great for all abilities from training to people who want to try racing. Come on out and spread the word.
Dennis.

[SickBoy]

Will you be registering as "Crabby Dennis Ass" again this year? ;-)

[gopherhockey]

Here is a link to the race flyer:

http://penncycle.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=426

[gopherhockey]

I did my first Patrol last night at the Buck Hill race. What a great time that was! Not to mention how nice the trail was.

I admit I never had ridden there before, although I helped a little in the re-construction this spring.

What surprised me about it was how much nice singletrack there was in and among the trees both on the north and south sides of the hill. When I think about a race at a ski hill I wondered why anyone would want to climb up and down a bare hill, but this is nothing at all like that.

It was fun to see some of the people I know out there competing too.. Dennis was even out there ripping up the trail on his singlespeed.

The race was a lot of fun. If anyone hasn't raced before but has thought about doing it - this would be the way to go. It seemed more laid back, while still having the competition thing. If anything else, register yourself just so you can ride the great trail they have at Buck - it would be well worth it!

We'll run a feature on the Thursday night buck races soon... and we'll post a link to the results on our race feature pages as well.

[UP_boy]

How long is the race course at Buck Hill?

[gopherhockey]

It varies from day to day I believe in both direction and distance, but last night it was about 3 miles from what I was told.

I believe the advanced men did 4 laps, the others did 2.

[Trevize1138]

Man, I remember racing there back in the day. I think last time I raced was '97! :shocked:

I know the trail's changed a bit since then (like no more Don's Descent) but have there been any other major changes to it? It's always had lots of twisty singletrack. I remember people complaining about it "People actually like racing on that?" and, my favorite "It's not a test of who's faster, just who can corner faster!" Like, DUH!

[SickBoy]

Buck is an interesting animal. Last night's course was quite a bit shorter than the Spring Cup course but definitely still enough to get the legs and lungs burning.

When I first raced there (about '97 as well, I think) IIRC it was a lot harder than it is now. Particularly, I remember that climb where you would come off the pavement and turn back up into the woods and go back to the top and that was hard. H-A-R-D hard.

Don's descent was fun, but they shaved the top off the lip at the end in 98 I think. I don't really miss it, I think there were a lot of emergency-room crashes there.

[gopherhockey]

Originally posted by Trevize1138


I know the trail's changed a bit since then (like no more Don's Descent) but have there been any other major changes to it?

MORC was in there with the Dingo equipment and re-routed some of the areas that were really rutted out. I can't compare with what was there before, but I think the new sections that were done are a big improvement just by looking at the trails that were closed down.

[Trevize1138]

Originally posted by SickBoy

When I first raced there (about '97 as well, I think) IIRC it was a lot harder than it is now. Particularly, I remember that climb where you would come off the pavement and turn back up into the woods and go back to the top and that was hard. H-A-R-D hard.

Oof! Yeah, that climb wasn't the most desireable. I do remember that by the end of the summer of '96 I was in super good shape and I used that climb to my advantage greatly! I passed up a good 20 riders right off the bat and had the endurance to keep it and get 8th in the recreational class (back when it was just recreational and expert).


Don's descent was fun, but they shaved the top off the lip at the end in 98 I think. I don't really miss it, I think there were a lot of emergency-room crashes there.

Ooh! That's gotta hurt! Yeah, Don's was a popular spot for spectators to watch the spectacular jumps and crashes after people got up to 40+ bombing down that damn thing. I always played it really conservative and did my best to keep both wheels as close the the ground as possible.

I'm gonna have to try a race or two this year and see how I like it. It might not be as stressful as it used to be. I just get a bit of a knot in my stomach thinking about racing sometimes. :sick:

[SPR]

Buck Hill has certainly evolved over the years. Anybody remember racing the late 80's early 90's when they had the Tour de Bump?
I started doing the Penn Thursday night series when they first started sometime around '94. They were always fun and provided a good training session. I still try to do 1 or 2 of their races each summer. It's always interesting to see what course they decide on for the night. Remember those huge sandy droputs they used?:shocked:
But what is always cool is the SWAG they hand out after the races. (Do they still do this?) You have to be present to win or you get "burned".
This years Spring Cup race was fun and MORC did a great job on the new trails.:banana:

[dennis porter]

Let's kick it up a notch!!!!!! The race on June 5th will be SUPERHERO night!! That's right, just wear your favorite SUPERHERO costume. Perhaps you can fly there, or swim, or zap yourself there, or "SHAZAAM" your there. Be sure to register at the Halls of Justice by 6:15pm. Spread the word, the more the merrier.
Its a bird. Its a plane. Its.....
Dennis.

[KleinCrazy]

Dennis,

I figured it out tonight, however for everyone else, how do we get information on if the Penn races are canceled due to weather?

[gopherhockey]

I too got an email via the Bike Patrol.. but how are people being notified otherwise? I don't see anything on the Penn Cycle web site about it.

Of course I updated the MORC site as soon as I found out... always updated with the most recent news, but sometimes we have to rely on others...

For all those interested and other than staying tuned here, I'm with James - how do we find out?

[dennis porter]

I'll talk with the people involved at Penn Cycle and see how they would like to put out notices.
Dennis.

[dennis porter]

Here's how to find out if any of the Thursday night races are canceled due to weather. You can call the Bloomington Penn Cycle at 952-888-1427 or they will also try to post a notice on the forums page. They usually make the call by 4pm. I know that sounds kind of late but Buck Hill dries out so quickly if it stops raining an hour before the race, then the race is on.
Dennis.

[dennis porter]

By the way Thursday June 12th is Hawaiian shirt night. They might even have some Island music playing. See you there!
Aloha, Dennis.

[gopherhockey]

Last night was fun.. but the course was a killer! Was it just me, or did it seem to go up and down Buck Hill like a thousand times last night... uuuuugggggg.

You guys on your singlespeed bikes last night are HARD CORE man.. thats all I have to say!

Now if we can get less people wearing those green Penn jerseys - are there really like 40 guys on a team or something?

Maybe we need a MORC race team... huh? Hmmmm... I better get those jerseys ordered.

[dennis porter]

Thursday the 19th is 80's Rocker night so, wear your Mullet and Quiet Riot concert t-shirt.
Vince Neil

[grizzly adam]

Originally posted by gopherhockey
Last night was fun.. but the course was a killer! Was it just me, or did it seem to go up and down Buck Hill like a thousand times last night... uuuuugggggg.

It was kinda brutal, but really there were only two climbs. The one to get all the way to the top and then the climb on the backside to get you past the watertower again. After that it wasn't so bad.

How about that one section with all the roots and the low tree?! That tripped me up more than once.:hit:

I can't wait for 80's Rocker night! Saweet!

[gopherhockey]

Originally posted by grizzly adam


How about that one section with all the roots and the low tree?! That tripped me up more than once.:hit:



The guy I was on patrol with hit that one really hard - I was lucky to be in the back so he could warn me about via the sound of tree echoing off helmet. ;)

Buck is a great time... I hope more people will come out and participate.

[KleinCrazy]

Hey,

I knew what was coming and since I was flogging the singlespeed I was looking for the smoothest line through the roots.

Then all of a sudden my head is ringing, my visor is ripped off my helmet, my Patrol radio is hanging by its mic, and "Somebody" behind me is laughing. :mad:

I'll admit it, this is not the first time I have done this. Did it in front of an unknown female rider audience on Oh Sh!t at The Farm last year. :embarass:

[grizzly adam]

Originally posted by KleinCrazy
.....on Oh Sh!t at The Farm last year. :embarass:

I realize this is off-topic here, but I thought that hill was closed a couple years back? Are we thinking of the same hill or are you still disoriented from the tree attack?;)

[KleinCrazy]

Nope,

The hill they closed was Oh Sh!t 2 I believe, htey both had thier bottoms right by the old creek crossing by the class 5 trail.

I might have 1 and 2 reversed

Who know.

[grizzly adam]

so where is Oh Sh*t 1?

oh ya and to keep it somewhat on topic, what are people wearing to the 80's rock night at Buck this week?!

my wife suggested that I wear her Duran Duran shirt, but I think all the Rock guys would beat me up. :crazy:

[KleinCrazy]

Oh Sh!t 1, what I now call just plain ol' Oh Sh!t is the nasty little climb out from the Class 5 gravel trail on the east side of the area.

They addeda new little bit of singletrack leading up to it so that you don't ahve to do the stream crossing any more.

I gets progressivly steeper, has a nice big root right near the top, about 3 feet in front of a nasty tight ( trees on both sides) left hand turn over another root at the top before it levels out. then after about 40 feet of semi flat you have this next to impossible left hand 170 degree uphill switchback like corner with almost no room to turn on.

Smacked the tree right before the first root as I had my head down and was pushing hard to try and keep the momentum needed to clear the root and the root/corner.

Buck topic. I was thinking Parachute Pants and a white tank top. :confused: