neatly through the dense forest where a heavy cover of fallen leaves from the previous seasons makes the moderately rock-strewn ground more surprising in the early laps of the morning ’ s vintage race . Continued traffic made the obstacles more visible in later races , and the SPER crew did a great job of marking the most difficult rock areas with orange paint and appropriate signage not only in this section , but throughout the course . After fully exploring the flat area behind the pile , the trail began to take full advantage of the excellent variety in elevation , nooks and crannies , and unique terrain ascending the mound of spoils .
Since we are all bound by the laws of physics , once up on the plateau
above , we gotta get down somehow . The trail descended through a narrow rocky crevasse where it is best to take your time to negotiate sanely and safely . An exclamation point was found at the bottom where a temporary bridge was positioned to cross an eroded portion of the trail and several SPER course workers were present to ensure safe passage . Not long after the descent the riders were headed through a sweeping right turn on a bank of coal and destined for a return trip through the creek and grass track area before entering the woods to the south side of the starting area . Here another excellent section of single track was laid out on some loamy terrain with more roots than rocks . At one point , the trail runs just
VOL . 7 ISSUE 7- JULY 2022 // PAGE 151