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Sundays weather looks great to take care of a little trail work.  But were not gonna be doing any.  Sunday will be a vacation day for us.  We’ll have plenty of good days this summer to work on the trail. We’ll be meeting in the campground at the top of the hill for a little ride.  First wave will leave at 7am.    I’ll be sure we are back at the campground at 8 and again at 9 just in case a few of you show up late.  Remember, we’ll be leaving from the top of the ski hill, NOT the bottom by the lodge.  If you have any questions leave a comment, otherwise I’ll see you Sunday.

Today’s race at Seven Oaks did not go exactly as planned. Perfect trail conditions at sunup, yielded to greasy slime as rain showers passed over the course two hours prior to the start. Having canceled one race already this spring we decided to move forward with the race. At the pre-race meeting we let the racers decide how they wanted to proceed. We offered up a shortened mud friendly course, they chose to shorten the race distance to 2 and 4 hrs. Not knowing for sure what to expect twelve racers decided to toe the line and brave the mud. Bikes did get muddy, but for the most part we were told the course rode OK considering the conditions. I’d like to offer a big thanks to all the racers that made the trip over to Seven Oaks today. Whether you raced or not, you showed an interest and that’s what will help keep these events happening in the future. Second I need to thank the volunteers. No race worth riding in is ever a one person show. Julie, Ron, Troy and Andy are the ones that made this race happen. Now on to the numbers and a few race photos:

4hr

1st Andrew Carney 16laps

2nd Mike Johnson 15laps

3rd Bruce Reese 9laps

4th Kyle Williams 2laps

DFL Robin Williams 2laps

2hr

1st Taylor Webb 8laps

2nd David MacRunnel 7laps

3rd Chris Congdon 7laps

4th Jim Pratt 6laps

5th Jeff Pratt 6laps

6th Marty Garcia 5laps

7th Bret Zimmerman 1lap

Your eventual winner Andrew Carney

Followed closely by Mike Johnson

Robin riding where her husband won’t

Andrew pounding out one more lap

Taylor bringing home the 2 hour victory

Sorry ladies, but he’s taken!

Andrew finishing the race in style!

See you next time!

.

Just received report from Kyle, he is up at Seven Oaks and had this to say…

As of 10:30am course is tacky to dry and all bridges are intact - the course will be perfect for race day!

See you tomorrow!

The course for this weekends 3and6 had a rough night.  There were reports of 3 plus inches of rain Tuesday night in Boone county, but I’m not worried, were still looking!  No rain is the forcast for the rest of the week.  Temps well be in the 60’s and the course will be tacky fast.  Should make for a great day of racing.  I’ll be poasting again Friday am with an update on the tread condition.

Also, it sounds like a few of us will be camping out Friday night.   All are welcome.

Registration opens 8am.  Racing starts at 10.  We’ll see you there.

1. The weather looks good for the weekend but stay tuned to sevenoaksmtb.com for the latest updates.

2. Registration opens Saturday at 8am.

3. Entry fees are as follows: Solo 3 $35, Solo 6 $35, Team 6 $50 per team.

4. %50 of entry fees will be payed out to each class. Amount and depth of payout well depend on the numbers of racers.

5. All three races will start at 10am.

6. All three races will start at the top of the ski hill. Once at seven oaks(http://www.sevenoaksrec.com/directions.html) continue past the ski lodge on the gravel road to the top of the ski hill and take a left.

7. Contrary to previous posts, the race will be run in the usual direction.

8. You need to bring your own food and water to the event. There will be fresh fruit available but your still gonna need to pack a lunch.

9. This is a grassroots training race so the swag table will consist of what fresh fruit is left over.

10. Cam will probably win.

11. If you have any questions you can contact me at Ksedore@toyotadm.com

I’ll see you there!

While I was off to Decorah for the TT, Ron spent his Sunday repairing bridges. The word from the trail is wet, wet, wet! The ground is just too saturated to drain properly I guess. With more rain in the forecast for later this week lets hope we don’t see any precipitation next week at all. We need a solid week of drying before the 3and6. Cross your fingers!

This is the little mower that could.

Found by a curb on garbage day 6 years ago this spring, this little mower is one of the unsung heroes of Seven Oaks. We’ve never done an ounce of maintenance on this gem and it’s never failed to start. Insert gas, prime and start. Every time every year. It’s made most of the trail we all ride on, so be sure to thank it next time you see it rusting by the side of the trail. And yes, it started today on the 9th pull.

Sorry to all about the cancleation of Saterdays festivites. Mother nature decided it wasen’t in the cards I guess. Most of the dates are full till sometime in July so were concedring rescheudling the races for a Friday night. Let me know what you all think.

On a happier note the trails are in realively good shape this year. With the trail drying and temps climbing Uncle Kurt and I took a stroll around the course today. We found the usual clutter on the trail. Lots of sticks, leaves, a low hanging branch or two, and a few trees down. The trees have been cleared and the sticks kicked to the side now we just need to move a little dirt around in a few spots and the trail will be ready to go for the season.

Here’s a photo recap of the day:

Sweet single track almost ready to ride.

After a little foraging we found a few rocks to fill in a wet spot.

A little snack from atop the BIG Bridge.

Cyclocross hill is still there.

The Corner of Doom is still there too. Kurt can’t figure it out. I have trouble with it too. If anyone has an idea or suggestions on how to fix this corner please speak up.

Before

After

At Seven Oaks we like our streams to go under our bridges, not around.

A new log bridge from late last fall.

Kurt’s kind of a poser.

Thanks to Uncle Kurt for giving up rideing today to help clean up the trail with me. Thats one of the hardest parts of trail mantanince, giving up a great trainig day to work. Oh well, it’s gotta be done. I’d say that if the rain hold off this Monday an Tuesday the trail should be ready to ride by Wednesday. Keep in mind the 3and6 is coming up the two weeks.

Thanks for your interest.

I hate canceling races!  But I hate riding in mud more and I’m sure you all feel the same way.  So, were going to postpone this weekends race till a date later this spring or early summer.  I didn’t want to give up till i saw the trail with my own eyes and after the trip to Seven Oaks I have no choice.  The gravel road we were going to use for part of the course was on the edge of not being passable in a 4×4, so bikes would be out of the question.  All open dates are being examined and a reschedule will be made soon.  Thanks to all the showed interest in the race and i hope to see you all on May 10th for the 3and6.

Don’t let todays rain scare you.  I think we’ll still be OK for Saturdays race.   The storms see to be taking a southeasterly route.  If the rain hold off for most off Friday and we get a little wind you may find the course in perfect racing condition.  I’ll be at the course most of the day tomorrow cleaning up a bit and prepping for Saturdays.  I’ll make sure to keep you all posted on course conditions.  Stay tuned!