The newest addition to the League series stages out of Pilarcitos Canyon, a remote setting in the center of Ft Ord.

The first mile climb on Skyline Road will take the riders up and out of the canyon and treat them to views of the Salinas Valley and Pacific Ocean at the crest. As they turn left on Oil Well Road, it will be time for the big-ring and a little recovery as we roll down towards the entrance of “Goat Trail” (41), the long singletrack that made the Sea Otter “Classic.”

Goat Trail begins with a narrow traverse around a steep ravine, proceeds across a big-ring meadow, and after a short, steep climb begins the long undulating descent along miles of bermed trail. Here technical descenders will spread their wings and regain lost ground as riders bank back and forth under an oak-tree canopy, finishing at the Jack’s Road turnaround at the pond.

A mile of wide jeeproad leads to a sharp right-hander and a short steep climb up to the entrance of Trail (36).  The distinguishing feature of this scalloped singletrack return through the chaparral is little line of sight from it’s curvy design.  Riders climbing one-corner up will vanish from view as they try to make good their escape. A the top, a short paved connector will allow riders to catch their breath momentarily as they prepare to conquer the final three short, but very steep humps that give Trail 10 it’s local (coarse language) nickname.

The final steep drop-in down Trail-10 will require riders to carefully control their speed and cornering as they position for the holeshot into the last singletrack descent on the course, Trail 43, known as “Ewok.”   Like Goat, this is a curvy, bermed trail where technical skills may play a role as riders position for the left at the bottom into the final flat, wide jeeproad finish-line sprint.

Eight miles!  On the whole, probably easier than Bogg’s, this course is an ideal tune-up for Sea Otter (two weeks later) and may require riders at every level of competence to re-calibrate their race plan a little bit in the direction of “epic” and away from “short-track.”  Pacing, hydration, and fueling will all be important considerations.