The trail that has it all...rocks, roots, ghosts, and porno

After driving forever (we were stuck in Toronto commuter traffic for hours), we arrived at the Summer Solstice venue to pre-ride the course. The singletrack is hard packed, and really twisty. Like Lumberjack, there are lot of trees on this course. Overall, I like the trail. I just wish that it had a few really long climbs. Instead, it just has short steep climbs that you have to power up.

Studying the course map with Scott...

and practicing lines with Jason.

The best part of this race is that there is no Lemans start. That makes my day. We are going to do some sort of short lap before the start, but I still expect it to be bumper to bumper for the first lap. Right now, there are over 2,000 people registered. Granted, most of the people are on teams so everyone won't be on the trail at the same time but still....that's a lot of racers trying to hit the singletrack first.

The worst thing about this race are the rumors floating around that a ghost wanders around the course at night. I read an article in the race packet about a man who was part of a four-person team here a few years back. Apparently, he saw an old lady standing on the side of the trail during his night lap. It wouldn't be that odd, except that she was wearing a vintage dress, drinking tea, and HE COULD SEE THROUGH HER!!! The article went on to report that the man was so freaked out that he finished his lap, hopped into his car, and left without informing his own team.

Apparently, a few more racers have seen her since. I mentioned it to someone at registration, and they nodded their head and said "Oh yeah, and there is a witch too. Have you heard about the Albion witch?" Whaaaat???? I just walked away without asking anymore questions. I have enough of an imagination in broad daylight. It gets out of control in the dark. Now I'm going to be jumping every time I hear a tree branch snap.

Another eerie thing about the trail is the "RV" graveyard. We found a clearing on our pre-ride today that housed a bunch of old campers and RV's. Ted and Jason stopped to investigate today and naturally I followed.
It was a little freaky, especially when the guys started trying on the clothing that they found inside. They even found some "questionable magazines." It was pretty funny to seem them flipping through the pages while wearing clothing that was probably infested with lice. I finally decided to leave them and pre-ride the rest of the course on my own!

I could write a whole chapter just on Ted and Jason...but I'll just post some pics instead!




The race starts at noon tomorrow and there is a lot of competition here. I can't wait to get it under-way so that I can stop being nervous. Granted, I always get nervous, but I've been unusually nervous this time. My stomach has been hurting for a week, and I'm getting sick of it.

Wish me luck!!!!.