The Pro GRT entered Tahoe this week on the slopes of Northstar. Trails there are somewhat rocky and have that fine dust in most corners that when pushed hard enough will give way to the harder ground below. This dust also hides sharp rocks and a number of riders crossed the line with flat tires.
Boondocks was the trail being raced on. It has it share of turns, rocks and smaller jumps as it winds down the moutainside. Fast times for the day were in the low 4 minute range and being at decent elevation around 7000 feet, conditioning could make a difference.
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Riders started out facing straight down the mountain and faded left over scattered rocks, drops and smaller jumps into the trees. The trail is slightly off-camber and wound it's way back and forth a few times before riders came to the first big feature. It is a rock about 5 feet tall that sends riders onto pavers that feed into a washed out right hander. People are given the option of a go around or just send the drop. SOme of the faster riders were going out about 15 feet off of it.
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After the drop the trail continues left through over rocks and some turns. Once through the turn riders go between two boulders. The next feature of note is a large boulder that sends riders down a wooden ramp. There were two routes here and although the boulder was funner to ride it makes you enter the trail again at a harsh 90 degree angle. The faster way to go was the alternate route that turned right before the boulder and fed riders into an s-turn and allow a bunsh more exit speed.
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Again riders are fed left along Boondocks over soft soil and rock. It fades right and opens up a bit sending you over a small rock section. Once through that the trail goes through some turns and across one that is built out of wood. The trail is wide here and offers many line choices. Here the trail heads right and opens to full fireroad width. I happened to grab an image of Mikey Haderer here as it turns out they would not allow him to race for points because he had only one practice run in.
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Once riders left this section the return to the tress and hit a few jumps they are smaller and most riders stayed low over these. Here Boondocks crooses another trail and riders are sent between two trees with a paver take-off. Once you drop between the trees it is almost entirely turns and high speed pedalling to the finish. At the finish there were two wooden ramps the one on the left was about ten feet high and launched riders into the sky while the other kept you low and was about half as tall. You heard amny a bike rub the rear tire when hitting the large sender on the way up the ramp.
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Overall the Northstar Pro GRT offered riders a very fun course. It was not the most technical but had a few sections to give riders pause while still allowing amateurs and pro riders alike the exact same course to race. Turnout was lower than expected but two other events were happening the same weekend. We will post results once they become available and with also proved a link to images shot at the event later this week.