The McDowell Senoran Challenge was an event, an event like no other event I have done. It was advertised as a 20 mile "challenge". Not a race, not a time trial...ok? So preriding the course the day before revealed this challenge was not on traditional mountain bike trails or even road but on motocross trails.
Motocross trails translates into; Whoop followed by whoops followed by whoops, berm, sand pit, whoops whoops whoops, doubles you could triple if your were traveling more than 7 miles per hour...whoop, berm, rock, whoop sand....you get the point.
There were no climbs really except one short steep one up and impossible grade of slickrock which was cool. The endless traction and low gearing made it feel like I was defying physics as I rode up it.
Arriving at the "challenge" the disorganization was evident. this was a charity "challenge" by the way and organized by volunteers who obviously did not have experience organizing events. This was just to aid a good cause while competing for fun.
I quickly learned this was a time trial format and there would also be runners and hikers on the trail.
We were off and after passing a handful of guys I was all alone for the remainder of the event. The course was unlike anything I have ever competed on in my life but fun for sure. Not often I get to use my pump track and berm skills during a race...er challenge!
About halfway through I made a wrong turn at a 5 way intersection and lost several minutes while I backtracked back to the trail.
Sprinting down the dirt road to the finish I was weaving in and out of runners and trying to warn them as much as possible that I was coming fast, it was a mess.
Luckily there were no collisions and I finished in second place overall so it was a good day indeed. I received a cool trophy made of a rock and some permanent marker writing and drawing on it, simple but cool and again...unusual.
What a weird weekend.
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