Midweek MTB Race #2 Race Report

Midweek MTB Race Series – Race #2

Corner Canyon (Draper, UT)

May 6, 2014

Steve Warner

This was my first race of the season and was held at Corner Canyon in Draper, Utah. Corner Canyon is where I do 90% of my training, so this race was on my home turf. The weather forecast showed a 30-50% chance or rain from about 3:00pm on that afternoon, so I spent the lead up to the race following the weather and the Facebook/Twitter feed from Midweek MTB to make sure the race was happening.

I arrived at Corner Canyon a few minutes before 6:00pm. I checked in at registration and warmed up for a few minutes. The rain held off, so we lined up at 6:30 and they started the race by categories. Pro Men went first and so on. I race Sport Men 35+, which is by far the largest group (60 riders).

The start was fast as usual and I tried to slide quickly into a pace I new I could sustain. The first mile was on a dirt road allowing for the pack of riders to space out. There was a bottleneck when the course narrowed to single track, but it wasn’t too bad. Once on the single track it was about 5 straight miles of climbing up to the top of Corner Canyon. The course followed the standard approach up Corner Canyon until we reached the fire road. Things started to space out at this point and I was able to find a good position with 3 or 4 riders that seemed my equal. We rode together all the way up to the top of the Canyon via Canyon Hollow Connector, Potato Hill Trail, and Ann’s Trail, about a 1500 feet climb.

At the top, we immediately connected to Rush Trail, which is a downhill only trail specifically designed for DH enthusiasts loaded with jumps, berms, table tops, s-curves, etc. I was able to separate myself from the pack of riders I was with on the downhill sections. It was a fast decent with a few sketchy moments. The 10 mile course ended with the Creek View Trail and then a dash to the finish line. It was an incredibly fun course and event.

I ended up placing 44^th out of 60 riders in the Sport 35+ category. Overall, it is a good start to a new season with lots of racing still to come.

Special thanks to Serfas (tires and shorts), Stan’s(sealant), and ProGold (chain lube).