Catching Up With Ken (Ken Hill)

Can you believe we are ready to take on Snowshoe? At times the season felt like it was grinding on, but now it seems like last weekend we were at the opening round and kicking off 2018. The saying that time flies when you are having fun applies, however for so many of you and myself, the work is at a frantic pace and in reality doesn’t end until Ironman. For me, this time of the season is when I am neck deep in trying to tend to my own place in between running every weekend and Snowshoe marks the time of year where I go to a slower schedule. 

However, this isn’t so for many I work with as the Pro Motocross season consumes them as well as the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National that is fast approaching. At times I really do not know how some of them do it, as I know I hit my wall and probably couldn’t keep the schedule like they do. So my hats are off to them and you! My wife and I were discussing how we ever did the race every weekend thing back when our kids raced. I do not know if it is due to us getting older or something else but putting in 70+ hours at a job then tearing around the country to race was just, dare I say, normal! 

Now on to Snowshoe, which has kicked my butt many times. The first few times there the thin air or just the steep terrain wore me out. A few years the weather just beat us up and in between we have had some epic races at a venue that is unlike any other that I know of in this country. The plush accommodations in a surreal setting for a GNCC race all combine to take a knee to what can be a brutal course that truly tests man and machine. From fast sections, to slick roots and hills to those rocks, oh my the rocks! They could literally make this track so insanely tough that just finishing would be a win so it could be worse, or better depending on how much abuse you enjoy! 

This round is home turf for the likes of Adam McGill who really wants a win here and has already called out the McGill Mafia for help on the mountain. If you’ve never been down to Howard's hole when he comes in there, you owe it to yourself to get down there and experience it for yourself. I am pretty sure he could just pull in to that section and his fans would crowd surf his quad to the other side! I have seen them lie down and let themselves be used as traction man times. Ok, so it wasn’t really on purpose but man do the fans really get into it! There are usually one or two mud fleas that stand out every year and I do my best to slither amongst the crowd to sneak a few shots here and there. 

It is always a gamble because it is dark and if the pros take an outside line I may not even see them until they are gone. You can’t just run from one spot to another at this section due to all the people, mud, slick rocks and more so you get the picture. And yes, I can usually coax a few fleas to belly flop into the foulest muck you’ve ever seen! It is all in good fun and I am usually out of there before anyone realizes they made a mistake playing for my cameras. Several others should shine here with Walker Fowler leading the list of racers who have a shot at this coveted win. Brycen Neal as well as Jarrod McClure and of course Chris Borich. Really, any of those who have been finishing in the top 5 have a shot here because one wrong move at the right time could propel someone to a win so it should be exciting to see how this years race goes down. 

The bike side will be what I am most interested to see simply because Trevor Bollinger came on so strong at the Tomahawk that he is cruising in to this round with a full head of steam and confidence. You’d be a fool to count out Kailub Russell but the mountain has its own way and can take down the best of the best so nothing is set in stone. Thad Duvall will be racing on his home state dirt and he is due so we will all find out Sunday how this shindig throws down. The WXC class will be a fun one to keep an eye on as well. Mackenzie Tricker looks to be nearing her peak, or has found something she was missing as she has been on fire the past few rounds. Our champion Tayla Jones will be eager to stomp out a victory here as well and I have not heard if Becca Sheets will be ready to race although she did get the wires taken out of her jaw from a crash a few rounds back. In any event, we will have a winner that is for sure! 

That is about all for me this week as I wrap this up and head outside to get work done in between the storms that have been dumping on us all week. The forecast for this weekend isn’t the best but it is the mountains and things can change every 10 minutes. For anyone thinking the rain will make for a mess than think again, this mountain is wet all the time and you will be muddy regardless of what is coming out of the sky! There are a few after race events you don’t want to miss such as the GNCC graduation ceremony and the concert both taking place on Saturday evening. I hope I have enough time to go get a shower before the graduation deal because I tend to carry some of that famed Howard’s Hole mud on me and it can get stinky! As always, be safe in all that you do and enjoy yourself at this round as it offers so much and may God bless you all. 

Update From the Woods of Snowshoe! (Jared Bolton)

So here comes the moment you’ve all be waiting for! We’ll give a quick run down on what to expect out of this weekend’s Snowshoe GNCC racecourse and as I said in the intro, it’s a good one! Ken mentioned the forecast but the track crew has been here since Monday and the rain we’ve been forecasted to get since then has hardly shown itself. On top of that, what bit it has rained here really has not made an impact on the course, so hopefully we can continue to have that kind of good luck! 

As usual, you will start “in town” on the road by the village. You’ll drop off below the finish line and head out to the east side of the mountain. The first mile is pretty fast with plenty of opportunities for passing and this will lead you out to the over/under bridge. You’ll go under it at the one-mile mark and begin your trek towards Silver Creek, which has a nearly mile long section of rocky, rooted, technical trail before you drop down onto a technical powerline section to the east side two-mile mark. 

There’s another technical section just beyond the two, which will bring you to a fast road before you jump up into the woods into another tough and technical section. This brings you out onto another powerline for just a brief period before you pass the east side three-mile mark and drop into more technical woods. At the end of that section, the quad races and 10AM bike races will spilt off through a section mixed with some technical rocky trail and a little fast section to give you a quick break. The 1PM bikes will turn right and head into some really nice single track out towards the east side four-mile mark. 

That 1PM bike section continues on for just over another mile of tighter trail that is loads of fun to the east side five-mile mark. From there, you’ll pick up a fast section all the way to the east side six-mile mark and tie back into the quad trail in another technical woods section. This will lead you to the bottom of Silver Creek where you’ll pass the eastern seven-mile mark on your way up one of the ski slopes. You’ll head back into a short but very technical and rocky section of woods before you’ll come through the trackside pitting available at Silver Creek. 

From there, you’ll climb up to the top of Silver Creek, passing the eastern eight-mile mark and through a faster section of trail where you’ll pop out into some really cool grass track with an amazing view up at what’s known as the airport. On the other side of the airport, you’ll come to the east-side nine-mile mark and drop down a technical and tough downhill section before you start heading back up the mountain through a fast section. You’ll pass the eastern ten-mile mark on that fast section and come back across the over/under bridge before dropping down the steep downhill into Howard’s Hole at the eastern eleven-mile mark. 

Once you survive Howard’s Hole, you’ll run up the ski slopes past the eastern tweleve-mile mark and through the finish line for the first time. When you head out onto the western loop, you’ll have a long downhill section that the last part of will be very technical. That brings you to a long ski slope section past the western one-mile mark as you work your way to Top of the World. You’ll cross the road by the Top of the World parking area and come to what we’re calling “Devil’s Downhill”. This is a very tough, technical and rocky downhill section that leads you to the western two-mile mark, which is on and old railroad grade.

You’ll head out that old railroad grade before dropping down to a powerline section and onto a different railroad grade before coming to another technical downhill section and out to the western three-mile mark. From there, it’s a mix of some faster and some slow tight trail out towards the western four-mile mark. The 1PM bike races will run the really tough uphill rock garden section just after the western four-mile mark. At the top, they’ll tie into the ATV trail and head out through some twisty trail to the western five-mile mark. 

After that five, you’ll begin your trek back up the mountain. There are a few technical switchback sections that lead you to the western six-mile mark where you’ll pick up a fast section before beginning your next tough climb to the powerline section that brings you to pro pits. You’ll pass the western seven-mile mark just as you enter pro pits and then head around the pits and back to the powerline where you’ll drop onto a paved road for a moment and cross back across the main road at Top of the World. 

That will take you to the western eight-mile mark and into another section of rocky and technical trail all the way back to the finish line. The 1PM bike races, which the total mileage is based off, will see 12.4 miles on the east side of the mountain and nine miles on the west side of the mountain for a grand total of 21.4 miles! The 1PM ATV races will be just a little shorter with 9.4 miles on the east side of the mountain and 8.7 miles on the west side for a grand total of 18.1 miles! 

This year’s Snowshoe course will prove to be one of the best Snowshoe courses we’ve seen in quite some time. There are quite a few fun, technical sections and some fast areas to give you a break before you hit the technical stuff again. Don’t miss out, its going to be a good one!

Snowshoe Event Tees!

Here's a little teaser of this weekend's event t-shirts! Stop by the MotoTee's truck to get your's!