The account of the race, August 30, 2009

Cranking up Leverich
Stories by SEAN FORBES Chronicle Sports Writer There’s a new race in town. And it’s already popular. The first edition of what will hopefully be an annual race, the Leverich Canyon Crank Up, started Saturday morning from the top of Moser Creek in Hyalite Canyon. Racers laid their bikes on the sandy, yellow surface of the Forest Service road, then walked away. In an effort to spread out the field of 52 registered racers before they hit the narrow single track comprising the majority of the course, the race began with a Le Mans start, where riders run to their bikes then climb on and start pedaling. And that’s when the fun really picked up.
“Highlights were the running start, the Le Mans start,” said Ben Elias, the men’s category 2 (2 laps over the 5-mile course) race winner. “Trying to find your bike in a pile of metal and spokes out there, jumping over other bikes and then getting out.”
Much of the first mile was on a gravel road, which led racers to the single-track trail in Leverich Canyon proper. The wider beginning section allowed for passing and the natural sorting of competitors by skill and speed before dropping into the course’s long, twisting descent through the tall pines. While the start already seemed a bit hectic, things were made a little more complicated for Bozeman’s John Curry.
“Well first of all this joker Andrew … I lined (my bike) up in the front and I go run up there at the start and my bike is gone,” Curry said. “He moved it all the way to the back and pointed it the other direction. So I had to run back and get my bike and start in last
“It was pretty funny, so I’ll get him back one of these days, I think.”
Starting at the rear of the group didn’t seem to hinder Curry. He took top honors in the men’s cat 1 race — the event’s most talented category — finishing four laps in about 2 hours, 12 minutes.
“The descent is really fun,” Curry said. “It’s designed to be a downhill trail so … you just have to really watch it, ’cause you can get going really fast pretty easily and it’s pretty exciting. But as you get tired after each lap, you get more tired and more tired, you’re starting to kind of see a little cross-eyed and you just have to watch it to make sure you don’t go flying off the trail.”
The banked turns carved into the hillside through the tight trees are the newest part of the Leverich trail and, surprisingly, developed out of environmental concerns.
“The Forest Service knew that we’d been wanting to do something with the trail and it really started out because they were concerned about the fisheries and the erosion that was introduced by mountain bikers to the trail,” said Rich Shattuck, a member of Team Muleterro, which helped to administer the race. “They wanted to do something different to save the creek.”
So the Forest Service approached the Gallatin Valley Bicycle Club for help, and with the aid of local volunteers — including Team Muleterro — created a descending trail that avoids the water.
As though fated to happen, it was at the same time that Muleterro was looking for a venue to host a race to fulfill its obligation as part of the Montana Bike Racing Association. And with the blessing of the Forest Service, a cross-counrtry mountain bike race unlike most was born.
“It was awesome,” said Lydia Tanner, women’s cat 1 race winner. “It was a lot of down and a lot of up. That’s also rare. Usually you get like kind of rolly, but this was descending, descending, descending and then climbing, climbing, climbing. There was nowhere to hide. There was nothing in between.”
Tanner finished her three laps in just over two hours.
But it was the beginner class and cat 2 men who were the first to cross the finish line and start the buzz. Nathan Paulick came across first, notching a time of 51 minutes in the men’s beginner category, followed shortly by David Denny.
“It was a fun time. I knew I could do one loop, just kind of sprinting,” Denny said. “Did well. No major crashes. This was from the last time I did it.”
Denny still bore the tender pink marks on his upper arm from a previous crash on the trail.
“It was intense. Adrenaline going,” Denny continued. “(I) used to play football in college so it’s fun to have that rush again.”
Elias, also a member of Team Muleterro, was as excited as anyone that the downhill section was appreciated more than feared.
“I think probably the best part about it was just having all the people on the downhill cheering you on and knowing the safety was there for it,” Elias said. “We had an amazing turnout for the first time this thing’s ever been put on, on a somewhat controversial race course (because of its difficulty) too, seeing that most people that use it are the downhill bikers.”
Only moments after Elias crossed the line, single-speed winner Jesse Palmer, from Red Lodge, came into the finish area. Despite a steep, sustained climb and with only one gear on his bike, Palmer finished in 1 hour, 20 minutes.
“It was a challenging climb, long duration,” Palmer said. “There were a couple spots I actually had to jump off and run up but overall I love the course, the downhill was super-fun with the jumps and banked turns.”
But for the single speeders, the competition didn’t end with the race. As part of a three-part duel for the gold spinner-hubcap on a chain trophy, Palmer still had to face the hardest challenge: the mystery contest. The Little Debbie decider. The single-speed riders lined up at the podium had to grab a plateful of wrapped Little Debbie snacks and be the first to devour all of them. As the racers crammed chocolate treats into their mouths, someone from the crowd joked: “That’s just cruel after racing, to have to eat that.”
Sean Forbes can be reached at sforbes@dailychronicle.com  .

Late August update

Team Muleterro pulled it off. The first race ever on Leverich. Ever. Called it the Crankup. Good article in the Bozeman Chronicle outlined how it worked out. It's good that people recognized how unusual the setting is, and also how they liked it. Congratulations to Team Muleterro!!!

As a measuring yardstick for us mortals, John Curry cranked up 4 laps in 2 hours and 12 minutes! Thats around 10 miles per hour. That's also covering almost 21 miles and 4,400 ft of climbing (conservatively). Lydia Tanner smoked the women with 3 laps in a similar time. Still a goddesslike pace!

For those of you how haven't had the eyeball rattling pleasure of rocketing down Leverich, here is a link to a video Carl Strong made just the other day. He did a pretty fair job of keeping up for an old guy on a hardtail! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhLIGsBY5C8

work crews and accomplishments

The last big work session

After this day, it's all downhill. June 13, 2009 was cool and sunny, mostly. One group worked from the bottom, smoothing out the chatter marks in the downhill. The other group (myself included) worked on the top connector. This part was pretty cool, as we constructed a short stone path through a mud hole, built a culvert and stone bridge over the Leverich headwaters, and carved out much of the singletrack path. Other fun was had as we got extreme over a couple stumps.

Later in the summer Jason will work in small groups on small upgrades to the downhill.

By fall we may do one last big work day when students have arrived.

So now we've had 2 workdays. A lot has been done.

On Sunday May 31, a small army of 21 plus folks turned out. The weather was fab, and we set right to work. A few went to the downhill side to reinforce the bermed turns which suffered some winter deterioration and disperse more soil left over from last falls excavator work. Matt climbed to the upper section and sawed out a tree that had fallen.

Most of the crew, including 5 earth moving humans from the Montana Conservation Corps, worked on the uphill side of the trail, dispersing dirt, adjusting the tread angle, and eliminating some excavator caused chatter marks.

Most folks left early, about one oclock. But due to a coordination snafu, did not get any snacks because the stuff was locked in a truck. We learned a lesson there...

The uphill side now is much less tiring to climb. I recommend that everyone who is out for a ride, ride the trail directionally, and do not push bikes up the downhill. It turns out the distance is almost equal on each side.

June 6, National Trails Day was foggy and drizzling. A few hikers and bikers used the trail that day before the rain settled in for the pm. Trail workers numbered at 8 soggy souls.

The crew climbed above the 3 lower bermed turns and installed a grade reversal, the first of many. The size and length is experimental, and we will need feedback from riders on how it flows. This coming Saturday is the last regularly scheduled work day, and more grade reversals are planned along with work on the singletrack connector at the top.

HUGE thanks to the many of you who showed up to put out on these work days. The machine cut the trail out, but you are the ones who give it personality.

Recon

I (Gregb406) went for a hike today to check out the trail condition.

The trail is designed as a loop, and I hiked up the east side, crossed the top connector, and skittered down the downhill part. The uphill is called L1, as it is a new reroute of the original L1. The connector is an extension of a logging road from the 1970's that extends into a game trail regularly used by deer, moose, elk, and bear (anyone good at reading critter droppings?). The downhill is called L2, as it is a reroute of the original L2, the infamous Elevator Shaft Downhill.

Trail condition today is a much better uphill than I anticipated. It's solid, kinda rocky, and should roll much better than last fall. Last fall was so rough that one could run to a stop from the jerky rhythm of the excavator diggings. We should gradually be able to improve the smoothness. Three trees had fallen, but people had cut them out. The rough parts needing work start at the second switchback, and continue sporadically to the ridgeline section. The absolutely roughest trail is at the new swtchback just above the mine. The entire uphill, and parts of the downhill need protruding roots to be cut. The connector has quite a lot of snow on it, which I hope will be gone by next weeks trail workday (May 31). Two locations are flowing a lot of water, please dismount your bike and lift over at these spots, until we get some stone crossings constructed. The downhill has one tree across, requiring a chainsaw to clear it. The rest of the downhill, barring some snow, is in great shape. Of course the many little booters that appeared last fall will have to be toned down or removed (more on that later). All in all, it's in great shape.

The Leverich Trail has some history, but honestly we are going to have to dig to find it. It's not documented in an easy to research format. Bit by bit, the history will come forward. By knowing where Leverich started from, we can better understand why it is what it is.

It's trail number 435. On the Gallatin National Forest. To get there one drives out S. 19th Ave. from Bozeman, Montana, or alternately drive south on S. Third Ave. or S. Church Ave. Look for the four way stop at the old schoolhouse at the corner of Nash Rd. and S. Third. Then drive south, sedately, through the Mystic Heights neighborhood. There is National Forest access signs pointing to the county road, guiding your car (or bike) through the houses. The one lane dirt road takes the Leverich quest into the bushy canyon and up to the trailhead parking lot. Don't race or spin your tires on the lumps in the road, and it'll last longer into the summer. The road is borderline for needing four wheel drive. It is a Subaru route to the trailhead.