Sunburst thoughts

For the past couple of years they have been running the same course for the Sunburst race. Not many people actually liked the old course for some reason or not. Me personally, I didn't mind it.  I seemed to do good at it each year. A couple spots were not so much fun, but thats racing. This year, thanks to Attitude sports and WORS, the course was completely different. There was close to a 50/50 ratio single track to open. Probably a little more open because of the lower part which switchbacks so much. These switch backs were the hardest part of the race. After you did about 4 of them, on the lower slopes, the hill really kicked up and made you suffer. You did 4 or 5 switch backs before the top. Then once you were at the top you dropped into single track. It wasn't hard but it was nice to have it in their. A couple log ride overs and some rocks but nothing hard. Then you had a fast single track decent, hard left into a field, then climbed up and around a corn field back into some single track, where another fast decent was. The decent was long and fast enough, where if you were good at it, you could drop people. After the decent you climbed a little, across the hill, turned right, climbed a little more then hit a single track climb. Then a little more open at the top, then into a fast decent, down to the bottom where you lap through. This last decent was key. If you were in the front on the last lap you were most likely going to beat the people behind you. This decent is what we did in the past, but instead of descending it, we climbed it at the start of the loop. This course was, race pace, 16-20 minutes long depending on who you are.  A lot shorter laps then most, but I liked this style. It made it feel more like a world cup race. After 5 laps, I managed to hang on for 20th and 2nd in age group. Still really consistent with the other races.  All in all the course was fast, hard, fun and made you suffer. I think this new course is here to stay.