Oak Cliff Nature Preserve, DORBA Fall Series Race 2012 – The 2012 Fall race series is upon us and starts this sunday August 5th. I took some time over the weekend to check out the trail and grab some trail footage.
Virtual Pre-Ride of Oak Cliff Nature Preserve (OCNP)
This race will be following the trail backwards. Over the last several weeks the trail has been reversed so you are going the opposite way. I really felt that the backwards trail had a better flow and not as many places where a racer pile-up is likely to happen.
The dirt is very hardpacked with a lot of dust on top so a fast running tire that handles sand or dust well is highly preferred over knobby tires. It is a very tight and twisty course and any climbs are short lived and very punchy. The exact type of climb that tends to cause pileups or traffic jams of riders walking their bikes. There are 3 climbs on this course that will provide a small challenge, they are found at 12:15, 17:35 and 35:28 in the video above.
All three climbs are very doable, but they have a lot of loose dirt and dust on them making it difficult to find traction. Keep a moderate cadence and a neutral body position to make it up these climbs.
There is also an short uphill climb that leads in to an odd off-camber tree gate at 20:28.
The start of the race will be going down the streets and through a neighborhood for approximately 1 mile.
Race Start Times & Distances
Cat 3 – 9:00am – 8 miles
Cat 2 – 10:30am – 16 miles (2 laps)
Cat 1 – 1:00pm - 24 miles (3 laps)
Analysis & What To Expect
OCNP is a great race course and a regular site in the fall series. The road start will help to break up the fields into a single file order before they get into the singletrack. I would expect a fast race with winners at under 40 minutes per lap. In Cat’s 3 & 2 there will likely be some traffic jamming up the climbs, but overall it should be a very smooth race.
To register for the race, head over to the race page on DORBA.org.
Enjoy the race and say hi if you see me.
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