Check the Xterra forums, http://www.xterraplanet.com/community/forums/forum/ , you might find some information on the course.

---

Shawn
TORRE Consulting Services, LLC
http://www.TORREcs.com

I've done this race twice, but both times were prior to 2006. I guess I would describe it as being a lot of singletrack (that can get congested), that is also somewhat technical.

did it in 2005, narrow and not super technical as in not much low speed stuff but fast, narrow winding, off-camber, narrow trees, fast, bumpy, tricky hair-pins that go straight into granny gear mini climbs and you should work on your swim prior as passing on that course is a pain in the ass.

hoping to be there this year!

I wish you hadn't made that swimming comment as I haven't been allowed to swim for a month since damaging my shoulder in my last XC race! What is the bike course surface like? I understand it can rain at the drop of a hat there but since I will only be travelling with just the one set of wheels....

---

"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS

hmm, well the course is over a lot of different terrain...

-gravel bike paths
-slick rock section (very very short)
-rough rocky sections (short)
-road sections (just a few)
-dirt sections...

The weather was nice when we were there so the trails were pretty nice, not dry and dusty but not slushy or muddy. Preriding the dirt was hard enough so that on off camber corners, etc the trail held together pretty well and you could probably have run a pretty small knob tire which would also be nice for the faster gravel and road sections. But by race day, meaning after lots of people preriding and the sport race and tearing up the trails the dirt trails were a lot looser and in some of the off-camber corners were pretty loose and a bigger knob was a nice thing to have. Anyways, I'd stay away from slicks but you could probably go with a smaller but more aggressive knob (remember this is 2 year old data:) to take advantage of the hardpack, gravel, and road sections.

But then like you mentioned sometimes it rains a lot. And then sometimes the swim gets cancelled, or shortened, or there are obstacles like rocks, it's kinda exciting:)

Cheers, Tai. Sounds like I will use my Crossmarks.

---

"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS

crossmarks sound perfect, i'll probably run Specialized Fasttrax or possibly pick up crossmarks as well. looking for a 1.9" tire or something as when I put a 2.2 on my stan's olympics without the rim sidewalls they look like a 2.4" or something. I guess the extra air volume is supposed to be nice but they look huge...

I have found the crossmarks to be a good match with the ZTR rims although I have to pay special attention to pressures to avoid "burps".

---

"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS