Coal Cracker Classic??
- Thread starter Chris26er
- Start date
crashcanipe
New Member
Some info on the course
I started mountain biking back in '97 when I lived near the Tamaqua trails. Even after moving to NJ, I still get back to ride a couple times a year when visiting my in-laws. I'm not racing this weekend but rode the trails last weekend (yes, I know they are on private property but I assume it is more a liability issue than having anyone calling the cops or asking you to leave - I will address this later). The trails were maintained back in the late 90's by a local bike shop - JAMA bikes that is no longer in business. They use to put on the Coal Cracker race back then as well. Seems like in the early '00s the trails got taken over by four wheelers and motorcyclists. I believe motorcycles cut many of the trails originally but I don't know for sure. Late in the '00s Spokes bike shop and another bike shop seem to have taken over "ownership" of trail maintenance and have done a nice job of cutting new trails and cleaning up the trails. Groups that use to go to Jim Thorpe would take side trips to Tamaqua to ride the trails back when the MTB festival use to occur.
My comments are based on my experience on the trails, particularly the XC course. The endurance course is new and I can only speculate on it although I did see some of the newly cut trails. When looking at a map, the endurance course, from what I can tell moves to the higher elevations north and west. I can't verify exactly where the trail goes but I saw some of the new cut trails last weekend at higher elevations. To the north, there are large ravines from strip mining running east to west. The "endurance" section is bound to have some some (at least one) big climb of 500 feet plus of rocky, steep trail as it negotiates around some of these ravines. The climb to the top is the only section of trail that has larger babyhead size rocks to negotiate. Along the top of the ridge are powerlines and the climbing is much milder along the top but it is a good climb to get there.
The XC loop is the main loop on the site and the one that gets ridden the most. When looking at a map, the trails start in the east and work their way west before completing a roughly counter-clockwise loop. The area is all old strip mining areas that have a lot of "jeep" roads cut in. These jeep roads tend to hold water year round and can be muddy. There are some paths cut around large puddles but all this rain will make this section muddy. Fortunately, this is only a small portion of the trails. The rest of the trails are rocky but mostly very fine rocks - although some sharp ones to rip sidewalls. This is not a course of large rocks (except for one short section) and roots. Since this is coal country, the trail is made up of fine pieces of coal. It does tend to drain reasonably well. The race generally will start with a climb to get up to the plateau where the trails are located. But once there, there are small ups but no climbs longer than 20 yards or so. I love running my singlespeed here. There are lots of ravines that are 10 feet deep or so where you will drop into and have a steep up to get back out. These are probably about 2 miles into the race. About 3 miles in you will hit a series of steep rollers that are an absolute blast. The rollers are steep ups and downs that you don't need to hardly pedal on. After that from about mile 3.5 to 4.5+ are more traditional XC trails with some ups and downs but just lots of tight singletrack. After a jumping back on the jeep road for some slight ups and downs before a final grunt climb of about 30 yards, you hit the final section that actually has some bigger rocks and rock gardens. Everything else up to this point is fairly smooth except for an occasional bigger rock.
The XC race is going to be terrific and a lot of fun. Passing will be difficult except on the jeep roads so take advantage of that. Enjoy the race, spend some money in town (it is hurting like a lot of small mining and manufacturing towns). If I can answer any questions, I would be glad to.
I do want to add one more point - I don't know the full status regarding the land being private property. This was news to me when I went out there this summer - I saw my first private property sign this weekend (maybe they were there before but I never noticed them). The trails do not get a ton of mtbers because it is not well publicized. However, there are still a lot of four wheelers and motorcyclists (saw both the two times I rode out there this year). I've been told conflicting things on mtbr.com (ok to ride) and from the promoters of the race (not ok to ride) so I don't know the full story. I don't recommend anyone go out there to ride at other times until permission is cleared up. I would hate for this place to be shut down to mtbers because it gets overrun. I'm hoping there is a way to work with Reading Anthracity Company who I believe are the owners of the land that would open up access.
That's it.
Barry
I started mountain biking back in '97 when I lived near the Tamaqua trails. Even after moving to NJ, I still get back to ride a couple times a year when visiting my in-laws. I'm not racing this weekend but rode the trails last weekend (yes, I know they are on private property but I assume it is more a liability issue than having anyone calling the cops or asking you to leave - I will address this later). The trails were maintained back in the late 90's by a local bike shop - JAMA bikes that is no longer in business. They use to put on the Coal Cracker race back then as well. Seems like in the early '00s the trails got taken over by four wheelers and motorcyclists. I believe motorcycles cut many of the trails originally but I don't know for sure. Late in the '00s Spokes bike shop and another bike shop seem to have taken over "ownership" of trail maintenance and have done a nice job of cutting new trails and cleaning up the trails. Groups that use to go to Jim Thorpe would take side trips to Tamaqua to ride the trails back when the MTB festival use to occur.
My comments are based on my experience on the trails, particularly the XC course. The endurance course is new and I can only speculate on it although I did see some of the newly cut trails. When looking at a map, the endurance course, from what I can tell moves to the higher elevations north and west. I can't verify exactly where the trail goes but I saw some of the new cut trails last weekend at higher elevations. To the north, there are large ravines from strip mining running east to west. The "endurance" section is bound to have some some (at least one) big climb of 500 feet plus of rocky, steep trail as it negotiates around some of these ravines. The climb to the top is the only section of trail that has larger babyhead size rocks to negotiate. Along the top of the ridge are powerlines and the climbing is much milder along the top but it is a good climb to get there.
The XC loop is the main loop on the site and the one that gets ridden the most. When looking at a map, the trails start in the east and work their way west before completing a roughly counter-clockwise loop. The area is all old strip mining areas that have a lot of "jeep" roads cut in. These jeep roads tend to hold water year round and can be muddy. There are some paths cut around large puddles but all this rain will make this section muddy. Fortunately, this is only a small portion of the trails. The rest of the trails are rocky but mostly very fine rocks - although some sharp ones to rip sidewalls. This is not a course of large rocks (except for one short section) and roots. Since this is coal country, the trail is made up of fine pieces of coal. It does tend to drain reasonably well. The race generally will start with a climb to get up to the plateau where the trails are located. But once there, there are small ups but no climbs longer than 20 yards or so. I love running my singlespeed here. There are lots of ravines that are 10 feet deep or so where you will drop into and have a steep up to get back out. These are probably about 2 miles into the race. About 3 miles in you will hit a series of steep rollers that are an absolute blast. The rollers are steep ups and downs that you don't need to hardly pedal on. After that from about mile 3.5 to 4.5+ are more traditional XC trails with some ups and downs but just lots of tight singletrack. After a jumping back on the jeep road for some slight ups and downs before a final grunt climb of about 30 yards, you hit the final section that actually has some bigger rocks and rock gardens. Everything else up to this point is fairly smooth except for an occasional bigger rock.
The XC race is going to be terrific and a lot of fun. Passing will be difficult except on the jeep roads so take advantage of that. Enjoy the race, spend some money in town (it is hurting like a lot of small mining and manufacturing towns). If I can answer any questions, I would be glad to.
I do want to add one more point - I don't know the full status regarding the land being private property. This was news to me when I went out there this summer - I saw my first private property sign this weekend (maybe they were there before but I never noticed them). The trails do not get a ton of mtbers because it is not well publicized. However, there are still a lot of four wheelers and motorcyclists (saw both the two times I rode out there this year). I've been told conflicting things on mtbr.com (ok to ride) and from the promoters of the race (not ok to ride) so I don't know the full story. I don't recommend anyone go out there to ride at other times until permission is cleared up. I would hate for this place to be shut down to mtbers because it gets overrun. I'm hoping there is a way to work with Reading Anthracity Company who I believe are the owners of the land that would open up access.
That's it.
Barry
Juan Aracena
Member
Looks like a go so far....
Does anyone want to share the driving with me? My car or yours, doesn't matter to me.
Does anyone want to share the driving with me? My car or yours, doesn't matter to me.
thedoner
Member
Thanks for the info! Sounds cool. I'm in, along with EABODS in maybe the VTC international liason.
tommyD
New Member
This was the hardest race I've ever done. The climbing was relentless and I slid down a few of the descents on my ass and then waited for my bike to follow. VTC CAE had a bad bike day and called it quits after a lap. I had a good bike day but wasn't prepared for the average speed to be 7.5 mph and a 5 plus hour day, called it after a lap. Congrats to Young Rob of mtbnj.com who crushed it out there.
Tommy D
S a D
S a DD
Tommy D
S a D
S a DD
crashcanipe
New Member
Tommy, I assume you did the endurance race. The climbs are brutal. There are downhills that are brutal rocks that are almost impossible to negotiate. I didn't realize they would be part of the loop but based on your description they certainly were. 20 miles out there can be brutal. The XC course is flatter and a lot more fun.
Can't wait to hear more reports and to see where the actual Endurance course went if someone has a GPS of it. Sounds like it went through some of the roughest sections both up and down.
He did, and from what I'm told it did go through some of those kinds of sections. The race sounds beyond brutal and no fun at all. I think 3 different people have said it was the hardest race they ever did. The other guy posted on FB that it should be called Soul Cracker.
crashcanipe
New Member
Ugh, that's a shame. I rode 12 miles there that hit some of the endurance course and knew it wasn't for me. I would love to hear from those who did the XC loop. That is a much more fun. I know 10 years ago when the XC loop use to go to the top of the mountain where the endurance course went today, it turned into a terrible hike-a-bike at times and when the sun was out, you just baked on the climb.
This is mine from today, its incomplete in spots from when I wiped out the garmin shut off. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113690904
The course was brutal but fun in spots. I used a hardtail 29er and regretted it from the first climb. It was all up for the first couple miles but mostly ridable except for some washed out fireroad. The section near the top was freshly cut, wet and rooty. Then onto the fireroad at the top for a couple miles and then connecting to ST that was established and somewhat flowy and rocky with a couple hike a bikes down to the middle of the mountain where all hell breaks loose. Crazy rock gardens up and down, some so vertical it was hard to push the bike up and downhills that were more scary to walk. I bombed down most that I'd be scared to ski down. Then it was mostly steep dh till we hit the bottom section which felt like the Stephens maze on Steroids, as soon as there was some flow, you turn the corner and go up. This seemed to go on forever to the finish.
After the first lap I prayed that Rob would be waiting and call it a day but he was on, so I trudged on. I forgot where he put our cooler and searched up and down the road like an idiot zombie then said f- it and started the second lap.
It was cramp control the whole second lap, locked up a couple times. Especially when I put a foot down my leg would cramp straight and I would brace myself on a tree and try and clip it back in and ride through it. But I finished, which was my only goal today. A little under 6 hrs.
The course was brutal but fun in spots. I used a hardtail 29er and regretted it from the first climb. It was all up for the first couple miles but mostly ridable except for some washed out fireroad. The section near the top was freshly cut, wet and rooty. Then onto the fireroad at the top for a couple miles and then connecting to ST that was established and somewhat flowy and rocky with a couple hike a bikes down to the middle of the mountain where all hell breaks loose. Crazy rock gardens up and down, some so vertical it was hard to push the bike up and downhills that were more scary to walk. I bombed down most that I'd be scared to ski down. Then it was mostly steep dh till we hit the bottom section which felt like the Stephens maze on Steroids, as soon as there was some flow, you turn the corner and go up. This seemed to go on forever to the finish.
After the first lap I prayed that Rob would be waiting and call it a day but he was on, so I trudged on. I forgot where he put our cooler and searched up and down the road like an idiot zombie then said f- it and started the second lap.
It was cramp control the whole second lap, locked up a couple times. Especially when I put a foot down my leg would cramp straight and I would brace myself on a tree and try and clip it back in and ride through it. But I finished, which was my only goal today. A little under 6 hrs.
crashcanipe
New Member
Nice job persevering. In looking at your Garmin, they went further west than I've ever ridden, that must be some of the new trails. Regardless, you had the terrible climb up to the top and the boulder-laden jeep trail sections down. I've ridden some of these downhills for years and they still scare me and can get out of control quickly.
Describing the XC course as Stephens maze on steroids is a good one. It's one thing to ride it when you are doing just that but another to hit it after the rest of the climbs and downhill you did. Nice job.
Sounds fun or not. Way to stick with it & finish it out.
Pampa
Well-Known Member
1speed
Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
Tamaqua is a funny place. There is a loop there that is tame by almost anyone's standards and yet if you deviate from that loop at all, you're in for a tough day. There are some trails up there that are better suit to full body armor. I've ridden there a few times and experienced both extremes. Kudos to those who rode the enduro loop today -- it's some serious stuff! Well done, folks!
HeavyMetaLance
Well-Known Member
I rode the Cat 2 XC course. I had a COMPLETELY different experience from what the endurance people did. Both in the course itself, and also race organization logistics.
So we started the race up a hill in the middle of a neighborhood with police blocking all the intersections. Then rode up and into the woods, but about a mile or so into the race there was a multiple trail intersection with absolutely NO markings. NONE. The entire Cat 2 field was standing around trying to find where to go. I didn’t take a head count, but it felt like there were about 50 of us wandering around for like 10 or 15 minutes. The organizers caught wind of the debacle, and sent someone out to collect the cat 2 racers and send them back to the start. Somehow I missed that and eventually found the course and completed the loop, but when I got back to the line, they said that they were going to re-start the cat 2 race all over. Only catch was that the re-start was going to be just 1 lap (you also had the choice to drop the race and get a refund, but you wouldn’t have gotten points for the series if you did). Almost all the riders stuck with it. It took the organizers around an hour (maybe longer) to get everything re-set (not sure why so long, but probably because they had the electronic number cards, etc...). The waiting around was the worst part because you got cold, and had t re-warm up for the next race. While we were waiting, the organizers made an announcement that there were some 'land rights' issues that they had to work through when they set up the race, and that the race course was sabotaged by someone. They said that they checked the course markings the morning of the race, so someone must have been really slick to get in and out of the trails unseen.
As far as the course itself goes, I thought it was really fun twisty, and lots of roller-y sections. There was a climb in the beginning, but no other major climbs after that. It was a 7.5 mile loop , which would’ve been 15 miles for the whole race. But since we only did 1 lap, it was actually pretty tough and all out 100% since you didn’t have to pace yourself as much. It had a lot of everything: hard packed smooth sections, rocky sections, stream crossings, fire roads, and even a respectable boulder section close to the finish. The only part I didn’t enjoy much was the ‘new’ section only because the surface was so soft and spongy, which made it hard to pedal through.
All in all, I had a good time.
If they hold this race again next year, you’re gonna want to do XC, and not endurance.
So we started the race up a hill in the middle of a neighborhood with police blocking all the intersections. Then rode up and into the woods, but about a mile or so into the race there was a multiple trail intersection with absolutely NO markings. NONE. The entire Cat 2 field was standing around trying to find where to go. I didn’t take a head count, but it felt like there were about 50 of us wandering around for like 10 or 15 minutes. The organizers caught wind of the debacle, and sent someone out to collect the cat 2 racers and send them back to the start. Somehow I missed that and eventually found the course and completed the loop, but when I got back to the line, they said that they were going to re-start the cat 2 race all over. Only catch was that the re-start was going to be just 1 lap (you also had the choice to drop the race and get a refund, but you wouldn’t have gotten points for the series if you did). Almost all the riders stuck with it. It took the organizers around an hour (maybe longer) to get everything re-set (not sure why so long, but probably because they had the electronic number cards, etc...). The waiting around was the worst part because you got cold, and had t re-warm up for the next race. While we were waiting, the organizers made an announcement that there were some 'land rights' issues that they had to work through when they set up the race, and that the race course was sabotaged by someone. They said that they checked the course markings the morning of the race, so someone must have been really slick to get in and out of the trails unseen.
As far as the course itself goes, I thought it was really fun twisty, and lots of roller-y sections. There was a climb in the beginning, but no other major climbs after that. It was a 7.5 mile loop , which would’ve been 15 miles for the whole race. But since we only did 1 lap, it was actually pretty tough and all out 100% since you didn’t have to pace yourself as much. It had a lot of everything: hard packed smooth sections, rocky sections, stream crossings, fire roads, and even a respectable boulder section close to the finish. The only part I didn’t enjoy much was the ‘new’ section only because the surface was so soft and spongy, which made it hard to pedal through.
All in all, I had a good time.
If they hold this race again next year, you’re gonna want to do XC, and not endurance.
thedoner
Member
A comedy of (bike) errors.
To say I had a bad bike day is a gross understatement. My trusted LeftyFly, who has been so good to me all season, finally said, "I give up" at the Coal Cracker endurance race. 3/4 of the way up the first 900' climb, I was in 3rd with the two leaders (one was a Master) in sight when a spoke broke on my rear wheel. I heard it pop, and could feel a disconcerting flex in the wheel, but it wasn't a race ender. About 5 minutes later, right at the top of the climb, my seat came loose for the first time. Robson came by me as I was tightening up the clamp and about a minute later I saw Tommy D, just as I had locked my seat back down, so we started riding together on the fire road. We blasted through a couple huge puddles and suddenly my gears started acting up. By the time we turned back into the technical singletrack I could no longer coast...the pawls of my hub would not disengage, so in a way it was like riding a fixed gear...if I tried to coast, the cassette would keep spinning forward and the chain would jam. The next rock I hit sent my seat pointing skyward again only this time it completely came free of the clamp in one side. The clamp was stripped. I stopped to try and tighten it down as best I could and told Tommy D to keep going.
For the next 10 miles I attempted to ride the most insane rocky technical singletrack I've ever been on with my seat flopping around, (probably stopped a total of 20 times to tighten it, each time it popped out of the clamp) my rear brake rubbing (not sure exactly when that started), and my gears skipping and popping and chain jamming. Most of the field had passed me at this point. I knew I wasn't going to finish the race, but I did need to get back to the car eventually...so when I came to the aid station I asked what the quickest way back was and they said to just follow the course, which got even more technical after that...we're talking so technical that I was walking a lot of the downhills, and falling. Crazy! I was riding with my friend Rolf when my chain finally snapped. I literally laughed out loud...This was like Murphy's Law on wheels. I was ready to walk the whole way back at that point, but Rolf talked me into taking his quick link and fixing my chain. Glad he did because I didn't realize until later how far from the finish I still was (My Garmin had stopped in one of my several crashes).
About a mile after fixing my chain I realized that I had forgotten my glasses on the side of the trail. Great. Somehow once I finally reached the bottom of the mountain, my hub started working properly again. I actually had about a whole half hour of riding the relatively smooth XC portion of the course without my seat slipping and I even managed to pass a few guys back.
By the time I finished my lap, a full 3 hours had passed and I was glad to be done. Fortunately, even though he has in the top 3, Tommy D had decided not to go out for another lap either. So I was able to clean my wounds and get the hell out of there.
If it were dry, and my bike didn't implode I would have loved this course. In its wet, slippery state, it was truly brutal. I would rate it as hard or harder than any of the Michaux races, Nuff said. Next year...
To say I had a bad bike day is a gross understatement. My trusted LeftyFly, who has been so good to me all season, finally said, "I give up" at the Coal Cracker endurance race. 3/4 of the way up the first 900' climb, I was in 3rd with the two leaders (one was a Master) in sight when a spoke broke on my rear wheel. I heard it pop, and could feel a disconcerting flex in the wheel, but it wasn't a race ender. About 5 minutes later, right at the top of the climb, my seat came loose for the first time. Robson came by me as I was tightening up the clamp and about a minute later I saw Tommy D, just as I had locked my seat back down, so we started riding together on the fire road. We blasted through a couple huge puddles and suddenly my gears started acting up. By the time we turned back into the technical singletrack I could no longer coast...the pawls of my hub would not disengage, so in a way it was like riding a fixed gear...if I tried to coast, the cassette would keep spinning forward and the chain would jam. The next rock I hit sent my seat pointing skyward again only this time it completely came free of the clamp in one side. The clamp was stripped. I stopped to try and tighten it down as best I could and told Tommy D to keep going.
For the next 10 miles I attempted to ride the most insane rocky technical singletrack I've ever been on with my seat flopping around, (probably stopped a total of 20 times to tighten it, each time it popped out of the clamp) my rear brake rubbing (not sure exactly when that started), and my gears skipping and popping and chain jamming. Most of the field had passed me at this point. I knew I wasn't going to finish the race, but I did need to get back to the car eventually...so when I came to the aid station I asked what the quickest way back was and they said to just follow the course, which got even more technical after that...we're talking so technical that I was walking a lot of the downhills, and falling. Crazy! I was riding with my friend Rolf when my chain finally snapped. I literally laughed out loud...This was like Murphy's Law on wheels. I was ready to walk the whole way back at that point, but Rolf talked me into taking his quick link and fixing my chain. Glad he did because I didn't realize until later how far from the finish I still was (My Garmin had stopped in one of my several crashes).
About a mile after fixing my chain I realized that I had forgotten my glasses on the side of the trail. Great. Somehow once I finally reached the bottom of the mountain, my hub started working properly again. I actually had about a whole half hour of riding the relatively smooth XC portion of the course without my seat slipping and I even managed to pass a few guys back.
By the time I finished my lap, a full 3 hours had passed and I was glad to be done. Fortunately, even though he has in the top 3, Tommy D had decided not to go out for another lap either. So I was able to clean my wounds and get the hell out of there.
If it were dry, and my bike didn't implode I would have loved this course. In its wet, slippery state, it was truly brutal. I would rate it as hard or harder than any of the Michaux races, Nuff said. Next year...
Last edited:
Robson is Falcon or Falco, as I like to call him.
Robson is another racer on mtbnj, he kinda looks like he could be falco's dad.
Sorry to hear about the mechanicals Gordon. I guess with all the enduro's you put a lot of hard miles on that bike this year.
I'm still not sure who tommy d is but congrats on not killing yourself at the Cracker.
Nice job 26er & Lance.
Panhead
Well-Known Member
tommy d is VTC Pro rider.
I got knocked the F out and still finished the stage tommy d.