GNCC Racing: What goes into selecting a GNCC venue, and how far in advance do you begin planning each course? 

GNCC Track Crew: Due to the size of GNCC events, one of the biggest things in selecting a new venue is ensuring there is not only good parking, but feasible ingress and egress. You really must have space for large rigs to get in, parked and back out at the end of the weekend. 

As for the racecourse, we’re fortunate that GNCC racers are a gnarly bunch and we can make a racecourse work on lots of various terrain. Now, with that said, you still have to make sure the terrain lays where you can put in a good course that works for everyone, and be able to have access to the racecourse for towing, safety, media, etc. 

We look for somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 acres, with somewhere close to 100 acres for parking, pits, start and finish line areas, which is usually a good bit more than what a typical local race utilizes, so it can be difficult to find the perfect piece of property. Thankfully we work with some great landowners and organizations who welcome us with open arms.

When laying out a track, how do you balance making it challenging for pro riders while still rideable for amateurs and youth classes? 

This is always a lot of work as what is considered “difficult” by some, can be considered easy by others. However, we have things down to a pretty good science to where we tend to know going in, what is going to work and what isn’t going to work. Obviously, things can change between our visits to a piece of property, and on occasion we have to re-work some areas that we’ve used for numerous years. Other times it can be just as easy as us realizing that if we’re struggling with getting through a section while scouting trail, it’s probably not a good idea. 

Of course, there are always those sections the PM races utilize that the Youth and AM races do not. Sometimes these sections are a little more technical and challenging, or other times they might just be additional mileage to increase the overall course length of the PM race and lengthen their lap times to hit that mark we kind of strive for.

What are the biggest obstacles you face during race week—weather, terrain changes, logistics? 

Weather can always be a huge challenge, and we’ve been through it all. There have been times where it’s been absolutely beautiful all week long leading into the event, then we get hit with heavy rains that turn the races into the full blown mudfests that people either love or hate. Now, on the flip side of that, we’ve seen rain all week long that has made it pretty miserable to work in, then clean up and have a fantastic weekend with really great conditions.

Outside of the weather, a lot can change at some of these properties from year to year. While some of these venues only host us each year, some have other racing events or are open to the public, or they may just acquire and occasionally lose some sections of property. All of this can influence things while we’re piecing together the race weekend. There might be times where we’ve tried things one year, and maybe they worked out just fine, and for some reason or another we’re not able to do them the next year due to various factors. Whether it’s just been too wet, or maybe there has been a bit of logging, or other activity since we were last there, it seems like there’s always some hurdles to overcome that require some extra work we may not have been expecting.

How do you determine mileage, trail flow, and key passing sections when designing a course?

We’ve kind of learned over the years that each race through a GNCC weekend tends to have a milage range that works really well for them and can get them as close as possible to that sweet spot on the race length. For example, a Youth ATV course seems to work best around 5 miles in length, while the bikes need a little extra right at 6 miles.

The PM ATVs seem to be able to hit that magic number somewhere around 11 miles, and the PM bikes seem to do best when they’re close to 13 miles. Now, this all can change based on just how fast or slow the course is, but in general these seem to be the course lengths that work best for them to get as close as possible to their respective race lengths. 

Passing opportunities can be difficult as some spots that are wide enough for bikes to pass each other, may not be enough for ATVs to pass. On the flip side of that, if it’s wide enough for ATVs to easily pass then it might be kind of fast for the bikes. So, we try to find a happy medium where the ATVs might have some option lines to do some passing so the bikes aren’t trying to run completely wide open.

Safety is always a priority—what specific measures does the track crew take to reduce risk while maintaining the rugged GNCC character? 

We’ve made some great strides over the years in getting even better at this. Places that are rough will get some dozer work done before the race weekend to try to minimize some of the bigger bumps that may develop over the weekend. Also, little things like making sure any limbs that need cut are cut flush against the tree is a big help.

On top of this, we’ve made some efforts to slow things down over the last few years and keep the speeds a little lower when possible. We all like going fast at times but finding the happy medium to cater to everyone also helps to keep the courses a little safer. 

Then on top of all of this, just simply using smart course layouts is huge. When you’re out on a GNCC course, it may feel like you’re miles from civilization but in actuality you’re never all that far from an access point. On occasion, you may find yourself broken down in a spot that we may have to wait until the race is over to get you out, but this is usually done just because it might be too difficult to access with racers still coming. However, if you were there and hurt, the crew will absolutely make it work even it means holding the oncoming racers.

We’ve also gotten better with our maps over the last few years and have designated Medic Meet points across the properties. You may see some of the small signs that say “Medic Meet A” (or B, C, etc.) when you’re roaming around a GNCC event, and we’ve created this so when a situation arises, the track crew can have the medics come to these pre-designated locations and guide them to the accident site from there.        

How do you adapt the course if heavy rain or extreme conditions hit before or during race weekend? 

GNCC courses are ever-evolving animals and when heavy rains are a threat, we usually already know where some of the trouble spots might be. If there’s a threat of heavy rain on the race weekend, we’ll usually plan ahead for this and try to avoid certain areas from the get-go. Unfortunately, sometimes things happen that are unexpected or things just deteriorate worse than we expected.

We usually have a Plan B (and sometimes a Plan C or Plan D) ready to go when conditions are deteriorating, and a lot of times the course layouts we utilize allow us to make a lot of changes on the fly as quick as possible. There are also times where we’ll just trying to get through day 1 with the ATVs, and work to make changes for the bikes that will keep their course as rideable as possible. 

Overall, you can plan all you want but sometimes you just have to be smart and ready to go as quick as possible. Nobody wants to ruin their race sitting on the side of a hill in the mud, and we don’t want to see that either!  

Are there any sections you intentionally design to become “signature” or memorable parts of a particular round?

We would definitely venture to say that we never really set out to make things this way, as it’s usually a little bit more exciting when these things happen naturally or through legendary stories. Obviously, there are some special sections created from time to time, but the goal here is never really to intentionally create a signature section but instead give something a little bit different. 

Usually, the most legendary spots develop on their own. Howard’s Hole is probably the most infamous GNC obstacle around today, alongside Ironman Hill, and nobody ever really set out to make Howard’s Hole the legend it has become. 

Now, we do like to create some fun and memorable names that serve as landmarks for our crew, racers and fans alike but that can be a whole other story!

What’s something fans and racers might not realize about the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes before the green flag drops?

We’ve said for years that these course markings don’t put themselves up! Between the arrows, the tape, the string lines, signage, all of it, there is a good bit that needs to be put up by hand leading into the event, and the stuff that goes in the woods is usually just done by 5 to 6 of us in the week leading into the event. The things you see in the pits and parking areas is done by a team led by Griff Cotter, and those guys work similar time frame with a similar sized crew, so working together we’re able to put together the majority GNCC event with just a dozen or so crew members until late in the week when both crews grow in size with extra help. 

At an average GNCC event, we may start working on Monday afternoon, hit it hard Tuesday through Thursday and be ready to go by Friday. This is a lot of man hours in a fairly short period of time, but we’ve got some incredibly hard-working folks with us who are passionate about what we do. This helps to make the workdays a little more fun, and the camaraderie we have is second to none!