TMBRA Mountain Bike Race: Piney Hills Classic

The TMBRA Piney Hills Classic in northern Lousiana was great! It was held at Lincoln Parish Park in Ruston and I heard from many accounts that this is one of the best courses in the country. It did not disappoint! Rick was right about the monster downhills! I maxed 35mph on one of them and caught air on almost all of them...the next to last one almost caused me to yard sale. The trail is well maintained, technical, and unique--along with the heart-stopping downhills they had one switchback section that was actually fun and great scenery with ponds and lakes right along the course. Weather was perfect at mid-70s at my race time.

Classes were smaller than usual, probably because of the remoteness of the location--my class is usually the largest at an average of 30 and yesterday there were half that. I felt good for the most part and didn't crash, which is remarkable. I started my final kick after the last downhill and was able to pass one guy but had nothing left after that and came in 4th, missing 3rd by 3 seconds. I was very happy with that--it also vaulted me to 4th in the overall series standings. There were a few adventure racers from other teams and they recognized HART, so it was a good way to spread recognition.

Summary: if you're ever in Northern Lousiana, definitely do this trail!