Cyclists were already milling around in front of the Stone County Courthouse on the Mountain View town square, nervously making last minute adjustments to their bikes, packing drop bags for various aid stations and sizing up the competition. I noticed a few full rigid, single speed bikes and thought to myself, life is just not hard enough for some people. After looking over the course maps the night before and seeing the strong chance for rain throughout the day, I was beginning to realize the enormity of the task ahead for these competitors.
After some pre-race instructions on the courthouse lawn, the cyclists began to line up on Main Street as escorts arrived for the neutral roll heading west out of town. At 7:00 am they began to ride past historic buildings, out of the Folk Music Capital of the World, and into the Stone County countryside.
The first 6.75 miles took racers down paved roads before turning north on Oak Grove Loop, the first of the many gravel roads that would take them to and from the Syllamo Mountain Bike Trails. Soon, they came across their first challenge, crossing South Sylamore Creek near it’s confluence with Roasting Ear Creek. I caught up with the riders shortly after this crossing and some expressed that it was easier than they anticipated.
Next up was the climb to Highway 14 for both the 100 and 60 milers before a short paved section into Blanchard Springs. All this time the rain was coming down, sometimes heavily. The first check-in for them was at Blanchard Caverns and then down the paved hill to the beginning of the singletrack. Racers began the singletrack section about 18 miles in, with a 1.2 mile climb to the Jack’s Branch Loop. After a little over 3 miles on this fast and challenging trail, a left turn takes racers on the Bad Branch Loop for about 13 miles of smooth bench cut trail.
One of the great things about this race is that with the long ride to the trails, both the 60 and 100 mile racers were able to get to the singletrack without being grouped together allowing them to make the most of these beautiful trails right from the time their tires hit them.
Once they cleared the Bad Branch, riders jumped on the north section of Jack’s Branch for a quick 3 miles to Scrappy Mountain Loop and a 2.5 mile decent to the Livingston Creek crossing. The next 2 miles after crossing Highway 5 are fairly technical, this is where many of the on-trail photos were taken. The riders then came into the Highway 5 aid station before crossing the road and starting an almost 2 mile climb to the intersection of Scrappy Mountain Loop and Bald Scrappy Loop.
It was time to split the field. At the intersection, 100 milers turned left to continue on Bald Scrappy Loop while the 60 milers headed up Scrappy Mountain Loop. The 60 milers continued on Scrappy Mountain until it hit Jack’s Branch again. A left took them on 7-plus miles of beautiful singletrack before descending back into Blanchard Recreation Area and up to Highway 14. Back onto the gravel roads, the riders made their way for about 4.5 miles to Highway 87 and a steep paved section before a right turn onto Wilcox and one last gravel road section with more climbing to Highway 87 again. It was then a short ride to the finish line on the square.
But what happened to the 100 milers?
Back at the split, the 100 mile racers headed clockwise on the Bald Scrappy Loop for 4.5 miles of beautiful singletrack, before making their way to the White River Bluff Loop complete with huge rock formations and beautiful vistas. Next they picked up about 18 miles on Bald Scrappy, Scrappy Mountain, Jack’s Branch Loop and Bad Branch Loop with only about 7 miles of repeat trail.
This is where they got back on gravel roads and headed to Gunner Pool Recreation Area and their last aid station. The weather turned sunny with intermittent rain making the air a muggy blanket as riders climbed out of the Gunner Pool area. A short section of pavement took them a 12 mile section of gravel grinding until they reached Highway 87. Now, like the course for the 60 milers, riders had some final, torturous miles of climbing and descending before finally reaching the finish line.
The 100 mile course had been cut a few miles due to high water in one of the creek crossings, but I heard no complaints about that. Frank created one of the toughest mountain bike races in the state. A combination of Ozark gravel road climbing and signature Ozark singletrack with a start/finish line in the middle of town. This could become a classic race drawing riders from the mid-south region and across the country. Looking for a challenge on a mountain bike? Look no further than the Mountain View Epic.
(All the photos are now available on our Facebook Page. We will also post a link to the results once they are available.)
