So…. I am contemplating doing the Hagerstown Challenge Crit on July 12th. We were planning a trip up to that area to visit my son anyways, and what better way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday morning? I haven’t been to Hagerstown, MD for years and I can’t really remember the downtown area that well.
I have heard that those racers up North don’t know how to ride and I guess it should be up to me to go up there and single handedly teach them the proper racing form. Ok, that was me being sarcastic!
Does anyone have any opinions of that course and what it is like to race? I really don’t want to make the hour trip up there to Hagerstown from where we will be to race on a course that is nothing but a crash fest.
If you're going up that way why don't you go to T'town?! We're thinking about going up there that weekend, too.
I havent checked the calendar for T'town.... I guess that is a possibility. We were going to stay in Martinsburg, WV to visit Devon at the Ex's parents house. That's only about an 45 min to an hour from Hagerstown. I figured if the course is good it would be fun to ride something different than our ovals down here. All the good stuff seems to have disappeared... Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Norfolk, and even Oyster Point.
Hagerstown is a great course. Not super-technical but turn one tightens a bit as you go through it and is always the site of crashes. Turn two is off-camber, but it's at the top of a hill so you're not hitting it at warp speed. Still, you've got to take it smartly. I lost most of the skin on the left side of my body there last year.
There's a long finishing straight, and start/finish is adjacent to a park with lots of grass and shade. Not a downtown course by any means, so you're on your own for food. But it's super family-friendly. Plus, this year it's the MABRA Crit Champs, so the racing will be extra-intense. You should do it if you're in town.
Sounds like a lot of fun and things are falling in to place to get up there. My sister is watching the dogs, the Mini Cooper S will be back from the body shop, and I have a free place to stay in Martinsburg!
Thanks for the course report!
I think I am going to do this race also. I did it last year and loved it. Great course.
After seeing Mike May's comment about the course and my vague recollection of that area I think it will be a lot of fun. What would be really cool is to see a strong showing of Hampton Roads area riders.