The 2009 Lost River Classic is one step away from becoming reality. We are on the MABRA schedule for JULY 25, we have received team commitment and we have the course laid out and test ridden. The last major step will be on Tuesday the 20th (Inauguration Day for most of America), when we go in front of the Hardy County Commissioners board and get fianl buy in and permission from them.
Here is the link to
the route. For those of you who are familiar with the area, the yellow road to the right in the picture above is 259, which is the road that the Pure gas station is on. The pink dots and red lines pictured above are course management features for my use. The veloroute shows 1400 feet of climbing, which is an overstatement.
The loop is 10.4 miles and carries around 1000 feet of climbing per lap. There are two main climbs: one on Dispanet near the start of the course (just off of Howard's Lick Road), the other near the church on Jenkins Hollow Road. It is a tough course, but certainly not one where climbers will have an unbeatable advantage. There are a lot of rolling sections and there are also some technical descents. It's not at all out of the realm that the race could be torn apart by a fearless descender.
This site will be updated as things develop. Information on registration, lodging, directions, sponsors, etc will all find its way on here eventually. In the meantime, head out to Jay's and get your test on.
This doesn't look that evil in the picture but this area of the course is a big challenge. People will be going really hard through this section, some will survive it and some won't. It's one of those sections where if you went through this riding on your own, you'd do it at half the pace at which the race will go through. Perspective is looking backward - racers would be riding toward the camera in this shot. Note the generally rolling terrain.
This will be a lot of people's favorite section. Again, the perspective is looking backward. Make a hard right over the little bridge that you can barely see in the back left and then hit it hard through these rollers. The church is not very far (maybe a mile?) behind the camera in this shot.
It's too bad that most riders will be seeing stars for most of the race. The course is in a very beautiful area. 
With cows.
