Island Lake Challenge Preview

 Next up for me is the Island Lake Challenge Mountain bike race in Brighton. This will be the first time leaving the area for a race this season. Here are my thoughts on the course and how I hope to do.

The course on Strava shows just under 6 miles with 368ft of climbing. Sport will do 3 laps, so looking at around 17 miles total with about 1100 feet of climbing. Not terrible in the grand scheme of things. Yankee had nearly that amount of climbing in 11 miles. Custer was close to the same distance with the same elevation gain, so they are comparable. After my last ride at Owasippe, I am glad its pretty flat. lol

Out of the gate is a wide paved trail. This is a short blast of about .2 miles before hanging a left into the singletrack. I would love to crush the start and recover on this little downhill to the actual finish line. That is my plan at the moment.

Once you cross the finish line it is a wider section until you cross the bridge. Shortly after the bridge is where the first climb is located. From the video I have been watching it looks like a short but steep climb. Make it to the top first and you are in great shape. I would love to be leading here, but I will take being in the top 3 and being in the lead group. 

Here you are rewarded with shady singletrack as you roll along the Huron River. It seems to be pretty fast and flat with a few rollers, but nothing terrible. Keep the focus and keep the hammer down.

There is a grinder of climb around 1.5 miles in. Just have to maintain pace and keep going. The sign you are getting close is a bridge with a turn on it. Should be interesting at speed. lol. But you find the bridge, curve to the left...and get met with the climb. Looks like it starts innocent enough and gradually builds to a 15% grade with some roots. Stays that way for a bit before flattening out. Get over the climb and keep going, getting a bit of recovery.

Making your way back to the East, the trail seems pretty quiet. A smaller climb, and areas wide enough to pass. Turning south, you have another road style section with a wide bridge. This is a great place to gather your thoughts as the lap is halfway over. The trail kicks back to the West and follows the South side of the river. This section looks like a great place to hammer down, or get some needed recovery. 

The next portion seems pretty chill. Just what I would describe as normal mountain biking. As you approach around a mile to go there is a notable climb. Not super long, but steep enough to make you aware. After a while there is another grinder before things flatten out again. Basically you just paid for the rest of the trail with the climbs. 

Things here get tight and twisty. You cross a road and make a hard right into this twisty section. Handling skills will be important in this section. Smooth lines, not choppy and jerky. This is how you go fast through here. Keep your eyes down the trail and make sure you are set up for each corner. 

Cross the last section of pavement and you are basically downhill to the finish line. If you have someone trying to pass, stay full gas and hold them off. There is not really any room for passing, so you can hold your position. Take a drink, you have a few more laps to do. 

Overall this looks like a fun trail. Nothing too challenging. Wide singletrack with plenty of spaces for passing. The overall distance and elevation seem to be in my wheelhouse. The notable climbs are spread out enough that there is recovery time between them. Should be fun.

My goal time? Well, that is a tough one. I am going for another podium, so based on the times from the last two years I will need to be pretty quick. looking at sub 27 min lap times. That is flying. I looked at where my friends have fared on this circuit...and I am honestly hoping to break 30 minutes per lap. That likely won't be good enough for a podium. I am hoping maybe the distance is off and that it shows longer than what it actually will be. That gives me hope that I can rip off sub 28 min laps and be competitive. All I can do is my best and hope its good enough. Looking at finishing times of riders that have raced in previous years, and comparing to our Yankee finishes....I might be ok. Its really hard to say. All I can do is go go go and hope for the best. 

If I can finish in the top 5, and the leader of the series isn't here, I will have enough points to overtake 1st place in the series. All I know is I will give everything I have and will see what happens.

Lets get it!