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As mentioned... I highly recommend these Sprints for any woods guys looking to get into off-road racing. Here's my report, can't wait for the next one.. .
From the get-go I was really pumped to hit Thomaston again, it had been 18 years since I had raced down there, did a NETRA Hare Scramble when I moved back north from Florida in ~'89. You can trail ride there legally with a CT reg but I don't have one so haven't visited since. We thought about doing the HS on Sunday but I was more interested in trying out this shorter, race against the clock type format. Really glad I did.
The 2hr drive down went quick, arrived at 9am and had plenty of time before our races started at 11am.
Reg and bike prep
NETRA will let you do a day pass if you're not a member for $25, or if you think you'll do more than 2 events, $45 for a year membership is a better deal. I went the full year member route since I'm planning to do 3 events before the season closes out.
The event was $30 to enter with an additional $15 for a transponder if you don't have one already. Reg was quick and easy, usual form filling and cash handing then they give you a number for the day on a sticker sheet. The stickers are then applied to the left side and rear of your lid and front plate on bike. They also use the LiveLaps.com system which was awesome, you, or someone at home, can track your results live as the day goes on. This was super cool for me since my wife was back home with the kids and could check in on my results and text me how things were going. Super fun aspect. They also have a large monitor by the reg station or you can use a mobile app to check your progress as well.
The rules state that your bike can only bark 96db and must have a spark arrestor... I was arrested but Tim wasn't (stock YZF250) so he talked with a tech inspector beforehand who said as long as your bike isn't super loud, you should be good. He was right, tech was quick and painless. They did a db check but no SA check. After you pass sound, they hook you up with a transponder and program it to your number. The transponder just looks like a round piece of plastic velcro'd to a base that's mounted by adhesive to your front plate.
There was a brief riders meeting at 10:45 to outline the basics then it's go time.
The Sprints
I really, really loved this format. I've done a shitload of hare scrambles in my day and this was the perfect amount of 'racing' for my crusty state of being. There are three 'tests' or loops that you must complete 3x each (9 total laps) within a 1.5hr time frame: 1. Cross test, flowy 'MX' style 2. Enduro test, NE single track and 3. Extreme test, more difficult obstacles but not Erzberg or anything close to it. All three tests were very short distances, no more than 3mi. My fastest lap time was 6m 8s and slowest was 8m 16s so that gives you an idea of how quick these sprints go. (I'm a Novice C-level rider) Jr's ran at 9am, Novice at 11am, Pro at 1:30pm.
The whole scene was very laid back and freeform with the perfect amount of structure. You can pick any test order you want but can't do one test three times in a row, you must shake it up a bit. We chose to do Cross (easiest) first to warm up, then Extreme then Enduro. We kept this pattern throughout the day. There is plenty of time to grab water, food, fix the bike, whatever in between your tests, but we learned that you can't hang out too long or you're really up against the clock later in the day. We just made our last test in before our group was shut down. Too much chit chat with other riders while fueling up after the first three.
To kick off your sprint you head to the start gate for the test you're going to do, each location had specific colored arrows. Red for Cross, blue for Enduro (i think) and green for Extreme. You had to pay special attention to the arrowed trail because Thomaston has it's own directional signage, we were told to completely ignore this. I fucked up a few times following good lines that were part of the reg trail system rather than the course we were to follow. Gotta keep those eyes UP!
Each rider would enter the 'gate', get scanned by race worker with cell phone and another worker would record by pencil on a sheet. After they get you scanned, they tell you how many seconds you have left before dropping the hammer. Most starts left 10sec between riders which gives you a nice gap but also makes it a little tough to chase, you're really in your own head racing the clock. I did better when i could see dust in front of me trying to chase down the rider who left prior. Good times.
Check outs happened the same way, brake up to a 'gate', get scanned, move on. My only complaint was with the check out, if you gained on a few guys, you were in line for a few seconds waiting to be checked out. Not a huge deal, but you knew the clock was running so it made you think, faahhk.
Terrain
Each loop was super fun to ride, all three were arrowed really well and provided a great mix.
The Cross test was mostly dry, dusty, whooped out, high grass switchbacks with some tighter switchbacks in the woods. Very little rock but the rock that was included was all completely round babyheadsThe JR group gave the first report and said it was 'fast' so that gives you an idea of how flowy it was. I had a blast in this section and focused on catching Tim for the sessions where he went first. Cool to mix it up with a buddy and take turns chasing. The deeper whoops ate me alive when you couldn't see which ones were gnarly and which were more mellow. Almost whiskey'd hardcore a few times. Man that's not a good time. hahaa!
The Enduro test was typical NE woods and the longest of the three loops. We actually found the Enduro loop to be harder than that Extreme just because it was longer and there were some elevation changes with rock and nice obstacle twists. Coming back down in elevation towards the end of the loop def got my hands and arms pumping up. One of my loops I was trying to get by this guy in the lower switchbacks, kept saying I need to jet by somehow but there was zero room in that section without stuffing him. I knew a big, loose rock climb was coming up and figured he'd fuck up so as soon as we rounded the left-hander at the bottom of the hill I juiced it and went further left off line. What a shit show. hahaa. Couldn't see the rocks under the high grass so it was a serious bronco ride up the hill which then went left again up larger rocks ... didn't lose it and made the pass so it worked out but fuck that was a nut buster. The Beta is a fucking goat. Tim was behind us and said by the time he got to that section the guy had spun all the way around and was heading back down. Any real tough sections were marked by XX signs so if you saw those, you knew to prepare.
The Extreme test was a really fun loop. Short, technical and just great trail. No clue why it was labeled Extreme because none of it was hard. Technical, yes, but the Enduro loop felt more difficult to us. Had the usual mix of roots, rocks, small climbs but it went by super fast. It was waaaaay out the end of the access road which I'm pretty sure is where I did the hare scramble years back. More tech out that way.
All in all, had a really great day. Weather was mint, peeps were cool, course awesome and no wrecks. Ended up taking 5th out of 16 in Novice 30+, 14th out of 35 in Novice Overall and 22nd out of 59 Overall. Pretty happy with that.
Hitting the JDay Sprint 9/17 then NETRA Sprint 10/29... you woods guys should join. Perfect way to get in the mix without doing the longer race styles. I have helmet cam footage I need to go through but I'll most likely post for Tim's buddy to scope trail conditions. I'll link here as well.
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Originally Posted by scottieducati
