Pajarito Punishment XC
Date: Saturday August 11th
Registration: 7-9 am
Start : 9 am - Staged start with Pro/Expert followed by Sport/Single Speed followed by Beginner
Course Description: MAP & PROFILE
This year we thought we'd have a true beginners circuit, challenging, but not too difficult - so, if you're an adventure hound and can honestly deal with a truly big (and long) challenge, consider riding the full Pajarito Punishment as a Sport class rider instead. Enough warning.
Beginners:
All beginners will ride 4 laps of a moderately challenging 1-mile circuit on Pajarito Mtn. trails. The course has 235' of climbing/lap, a nice long, twisty single-track descent, several flat straightaways (think passing), and presents a great opportunity for racers to keep an eye on each other! Spectators will also be able to enjoy the action from the comfort of the ski lodge deck.
Pro/Expert, Sport, Single-Speed:
The course starts on the Beginner's circuit, but after slightly less than one lap leaves Pajarito Mtn. and heads up a relatively gentle wooded double-track climb, crosses Canada Bonita meadow to meet upper Pipeline Rd. Riders then heads down Pipeline for 2 miles to the top of the Gauje Ridge Trail encountering the first nontrivial rocky climb on the way.
Gauje Ridge Trail run starts tame enough, but all too soon gets gnarly - it's tight, it’s twisty, it’s rocky, and side-hill single-track a third of the way. Several difficult short rocky descents occur before the mid-point of the trail - keep an eye out for the triple arrows! After the third decent things mellow a bit, but stay twisty. You may need to apply cyclocross skills on a downed tree or two in this section. Oh yeah, it’s sandy too. The 5.5 mile Gauje Ridge Trail finally comes to an end with a sharp right turn onto Gauje Rd.
This 1.5 mile jeep road, mostly a descent, starts on loose sandy, rocky tread. But beware, it has a short section of Los Alamos’s world famous, ball bearing pumice, which will easily catch the the unwary (we ain’t kidding, look for the skull and crossbones sign and think SLOW). After the pumice slide, the road is mostly slickrock. When things finally get level, riders turn right onto the mostly single-track Perimeter Trail.
After a bit more than 2 miles of easy climbing on Perimeter Trail, which skirts Los Alamos residences, it’s time to get serious. The Pueblo Canyon switchbacks await – thankfully, they’re short. Heart rate up, riders are back on Pipeline Rd. again and the real climb starts. For the next seven miles the route heads uphill on loose, rocky double-track. Pipeline Rd. isn’t too difficult technically, but it’s unrelenting – all that earlier 2,000+ feet of down now becomes up! The route eventually passes the Guaje Ridge trailhead and riders retrace the course back to Pajarito Mtn. ski area crossing Canada Bonita meadow and down a quick double-tract descent to finish in front of the ski lodge deck. The smiling, relaxed crowd on the lodge deck cheering you on will have absolutely no idea how hard you’ve worked for last 20 miles – congratulations, you made it!
Course Distances:
Beginners: 4 laps = 4 miles
Pro, Expert, Sport, Single Speed: ~ 23 miles
How to Get There:
The XC race is at Pajarito Mountain Ski Area.
From Trinity (SR502) turn left at the
intersection with Diamond (about 2 miles past the
airport). Cross the Omega bridge and follow the
road around east staying in one of the right two
lanes. At the light turn right. There are new
guard shacks where you'll need to stop and be
waived through since this portion of the road up
to the ski hill turn off is on LANL property.
Again, guards will just waive you through but they
do want you to stop. The turnoff for the ski area
is appx 1.5 miles up on the right. If you're
coming up the truck-route (East Jemez Rd.) turn
left to get the guard shacks at that same light.
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