words by Steph Vetterly photos by Tom Macconnell
Given the state of the pandemic , an event loving entitled " COVID Crusher 2.0 " seems rather appropriate . And with the pandemic still in full force , more and more people are wanting to do something : ride , spectate , anything to get out of the house .
On February 13th , the South East Extreme Riders club saw a record 180 rider turnout at the season opener at Hollytree Off-Road Park . The course used many of the same obstacles and " famous " spectator sections for the Gold / Silver line , sections such as Nico ' s Vally and Copperhead Creek . More trail-time was added , doubling the overall course from 4 miles last year , but don ' t be concerned - there were still plenty of sections of rocky creek beds with very slick , deep ruts throughout the course .
All four classes ( Gold , Silver , Bronze , Iron ) rode a similar main course , with three splits where the Bronze and Iron classes were allowed some breathing time by directing them through slightly scaled-down the difficulty . Riders had a three-hour time limit to complete the course , and despite the challenging conditions , almost half of all competitors made at least one full lap , with 75 % of the total
VOL . 6 ISSUE 3 - MARCH 2021 // PAGE 91