Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!!! Dirt lovin' good times ahead.
These folks were kind enough to give myself and Ryan a heads up a couple weeks ago. We had a conference call with the series' promoter and we could hear the excitement in his voice.
In 2009 Heartland Racing Series took a necessary break from racing to build an inner-city mtb park (props) and to rekindle the race promotion fire. In 2010 they are back with a vengeance. In their absence the racing scene was scattered with different series, etc. The series' promoters took it upon themselves to seek out individual race promoters to see if they would buy into their idea of a state-wide series (which also would include Kansas). Like Psycowpath, each event has it's own promoter. Thus, the Federation of Dirt was born and for us, more racing only a few hours away. They race on Sundays too, so if a race falls on a Psycowpath weekend, you hard cores can do both. They're also planning to have short track dirt crits and in the future, downhill runs at the new Swope Park.
Ryan and I and many of you have raced down there many times and it always has been a great experience. Their absence from the race calendar was felt and I'm stoked they're back big time.
Yes, there are a ton of races and they are doing that on purpose. They're testing out events in 2010 and most likely will have a more scaled-down version in 2011. Their hope is to garner enough attention to host a national event. With all the momentum down there with Tour of Missouri and CX nats, I wouldn't be surprised.
So, sorry for the long post. I'm obviously excited to see these guys back on the calendar. RF and I will hit many of these. Keep an ear to ground for R&R road trip for details.
3 comments:
SHORT BUS!
free beer still?
I guess the schedule has pros and cons, I've done a lot of these races so I feel obligated to comment, (shocker?)
The eastern series is generally too long of a drive, although I've raced
Castlewood and would say that if your willing to make the 7-8 hour drive to St. Louis for this race you won't be disappointed.
As for the Western League XC races: The Lawrence River Trails are really fun and super fast, think of a flatter version of Manawa (I'm serious).
Wilson Lake, KS. - I've never been, but Cameron Chambers told me this was a really fun place and worth the trip.
Krug Park - I've raced here once, and I really liked the trails, in fact I've gone there just to ride when I was in the area, it is really a cool place and these guys did a great job building the trails, I won't miss this one.
Warsaw, MO - never heard of it. Cramp Alexander. - ditto,
Crocodile Rock -Perry Lake State Park - very fun, just don't follow McNeill or you'll miss your warm up, and have to start the race cold.
Arkansas City, KS -never heard of this one.
Swope Park. - I got to ride here last fall, this place is very cool don't miss it.
Here in lies the biggest let down(s).
Endurance League
Smithville Lake. - This is a fun course, but I have very little interest in any form of endurance racing.
Dirty Kanza 200 [DK200]. I guess if your into a 200 mile gravel road ride go for it, not for me.
Crowder State Park, for me by far the biggest disappointment on the schedule, I love to race here more than just about any place I've ever been, this is a course ideally made for XC, the fact that they won't be having one again this year is a big bummer.
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