The first weekend of the Snake Gap Time Trials was a big success with milder-than-normal conditions and close to 400 competitors coming out Jan. 7 for the first of three races.
The racing continues Feb. 4 and concludes March 3 on the extremely rocky 17- or 34-mile courses that are almost totally single-track trails in the Pinhoti trail system. Racing ends at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center in Dalton, Ga.
Chattanoogan Jim Farmer had a successful start to the event, finishing second in his age group and just over a minute behind the leader. Farmer is just 30 seconds off his best time ever in the race, which is run by the Northwest Georgia chapter of the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association.
Farmer says that he would have preferred for conditions to have been a bit more "extreme" for the January race. "I'm more of a mudder," he says. "The nastier the better as far as I'm concerned."
Farmer says he hopes to improve his time in February and March, and he thinks he can apply lessons from the January race that will be a benefit.
"It's definitely a course that each time you ride you're going to see improvement," he says. "I just hope my fitness follows my experience."
RIDE THE SNAKE
To compete in the second two legs of the Snake Trifecta, registration is available online at www.PreRace.com or at Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center beginning at 7 a.m. on race days.