Several days of steady rain heading into our race weekend and the forecast was looking bleak. Getting our team all the way up to Hayward is huge undertaking, but CAMBA's legendary singletrack make it worth the effort. The proper trail system up there handles water exceptionally well, but we knew the wide open start/finish area and team pitzones were going to be a mudfest. The team settled in at the newly opened ROAM Basecamp, conveniently positioned on the CAMBA trail network, and the smell of fall was in the air.
The official pre-ride was cancelled for Saturday, so the team headed out on the fire roads for a chance to 'spin out' a long day of travel. A sampling of the local singletrack revealed rideable conditions and a short spin quickly turned into a singletrack epic. Lost in the flow of the amazing terrain and seeking out trail candy, we finally headed back into camp as the sun was dropping behind the trees, ready for another excellent meal from our support team.
On race day, the singletrack sections of our course were in prime condition, but the wide open Birkie Trail portions and start/finish area were sometimes tough to find traction on (or as Stephan would say, Gription™). There were many mud-splattered Hounds rolling across the the finish line, still managing to smile after a grueling effort.
Our season of firsts continued at the Awards ceremony as Liam won his first race and managed to grab the series Leader's jersey - the Hounds have had the JV jersey on lockdown since the first race, with three different riders trading it back and forth. In the Freshman race, Isak won (again) and maintained his overall lead in the series... a lead he's also had from the beginning of the season. Special congratulations as well to Jack H. for nabbing his first ever podium spot in the JV race.
Hayward is definitely an undertaking for our support crew, so extra thanks again to all of our volunteers, coaches and parents for pulling it off without a hitch. See below for the detailed race results and photos from the event...
