Racers will start on the Meramec Ironworks gravel path and spin ridiculously fast and downhill for the first quarter mile. No Le Mans start here. This is a bike race, not a 5k. Just about the time you get sick of the 150rpm grind, you'll negotiate some sketchy, loose corners and then head straight up a short gravel climb and then into the SSingletrack. Pump the rollers and rail the berms before starting a long, ssnaky, rocky descent through Tornado Alley. Be careful on the rocks...you don't want to puncture this early in the race.
Soon things flatten out into some fast hardpack. Bring your cornering skills because you need to know how to make your bike stick to the ground if you are gonna do well here. Next you will fly into the first mile-long technical loop. Here the turns get tighter and the trees closer...and then WHA-BAM!! A super steep climb up to what we call 'Good ol' Rocky Top.' Bomb down the other side and into some ssuper ssweet trail that will make you think you are in the beautiful pine forests of Arkansas. A gradual climb will finish off the first technical loop.
Back to more fast hardpack, interspersed with little nuggets of rock and dry creek crossings. Again, cornering sskills and ssmooth riding will benefit you here. Focus your eyes further ahead and you'll hold a better line through every corner. Watch out for the dips and creek crossings...they've been armored but you never know how slick those rocks might be. You will wind your way around to a solid rock creek crossing and then start climb #2. It's not a long one, but it's kinda loose and you won't have much momentum to start with either. Once at the top, get ready to have perma-grin installed on your face.
The forest turns from oak to pine trees and the trail turns from better to best. You'll fly into our newest section: the J.C. Masterpiece, or 3/4 of a mile of the flowing-est pine tree trail anywhere. This is the definition of BUFF. It's gradually uphill but you'll be having so much fun railing corners and pumping over rollers that you won't notice. There's even a dirt/log jump where you can get more air than God.
Exiting the pine trees you'll enter the area we call 'Glade Runner,' where you will traverse two 150-ft long sstretches of Moab-like sslickrock. Watch out for cactus! Next you'll re-enter the pine forest briefly for some techy ledgy riding with some tricky off-camber corners to keep you on your toes. Then a short climb will bring you to an asphalt bike path crossing, and you will be over half done with your lap at this point.
Catch your breath and carve some corners as you head slightly downhill towards the Rock Bluff overlook. You won't have time to enjoy the view as the trail ssweeps you back uphill and into more contour-ssurfing benchcut that leads to the ssecond mile-long technical loop called 'UpperCut'. This one starts out nice but gets naughty in a hurry. If the flagstone rock garden doesn't rattle your teeth out, you'll be chewing on your stem as you climb out of the deep valley below the rock bluffs. A few more rollers, creek crossings, and a wooden bridge crossing complete your second technical loop. Your reward is more pine tree riding!
You are in the home sstretch now. Most of the rest of the lap is buff, blazing pine tree trail. You can push the limits of traction on every corner and pump the dips and rollers in between. You'll encounter one more ssurprise rock garden, and then a ssweeping descent that leads to the ssingletrack merging with the asphalt bike path. Here you will want to eat and drink all you can, and get ready to take a feed on the upcoming climb. The bike path gradually ascends through one sswitchback, and then a quick 90-degree corner will have you pointed uphill towards the start/finish line. Total course length is ~7 miles. Rinse and Repeat as desired...
