Coming off of Big Willis, the trail is in the best condition it's ever been. Photo by Alan Versaw.
This article will reference changes only to the spectator's viewing guide for the NPEC/BCRP course from the orginal article written last year. If you wish to read, or re-read the orginal article first, please follow the anchor link below (the article has been copied whole into the bottom of this article):
Anchor link to original article about viewing the state meet course
There is a great deal about viewing the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede/Colorado State Meet course that is the same late in the summer of 2014 as it was in the fall of 2013. But, there are also differences. And, depending on who you are, those differences could be important.
Once again, you do not want to cut across the massive open area encircled by the west end of the course. At least you don't want to do that unless you have irrigation waders on. Much of the area is essentially a marsh right now. What was three to eight inches deep last fall is probably twice that deep right now. And you won't know it until you're on it unless you heed the warning given by the presence of cattails.
The bridge behind the starting line on the NPEC course is still out. There is no easy way out behind the start line to viewing the course, meaning we'll see massive congestion at the bridge area again this year. Be prepared for that.
You will, of course, note how green Bear Creek Regional Park is this summer. Even deep into the heat of August, rains have been generous and the park is as green as I can ever remember seeing it. The flip side of that is that there are a lot of airborne allergens and weeds have encroached considerably on the edges of the trail from what you've grown accustomed to over the last two years.
The little bootleg trail that shortcuts the route to Drop In is almost completely overgrown right now, but still passable if you're willing to brush aside a few weeds and sunflowers with your legs:
You can compare the photo above with a photo of the same area from last fall in the original article below.
That more or less summarizes the differences from a spectator's perspective from last fall to this summer, but, before talking about differences for competitors, let's take a quick moment to discuss what else is happening in Colorado Springs on Thursday. This week happens to be the week of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. Thursday's stage of the race will, at various times of the day, involve both 21st Street and (mometarily) US Highway 24. You need to be sure to enter the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede from 8th Steet, especially if you are arriving early in the meet. This will almost certainly lead to more than the usual congestion, so please plan ahead and try to arrive a little early. Actual bicycle racing begins at 12:50 and ends downtown somewhere around 4 PM.
Now, for the list of important differences for competitors...
Before I start into a listing of course differences for competitors, I should note that many--and perhaps even most--of these could be fixed by Thursday. It's best to be ready for what I list below, but also realize that the prep work on the course is not yet done. When you arrive on Thursday, take time to see what the sections of the course listed below are like and plan ahead.
Several meaningful thunderstorms have hit the west side of Colorado Springs this summer. In general, the trail system of Bear Creek Park is not nearly as well groomed as the last two years. That's not to say it is unrunnable, only that it is a rougher, less finished, course than it has been in previous years.
Items of concern for coaches and competitors essentially boil down to two: erosion ruts on the course and a large deposit of sediment covering the first 50 or so meters (traveling east to west) through the wooded portion of the course just after the creek crossing.
We'll address the ruts first. Ruts of some concern are as follows:
Immediately after the creek crossing on the way out. These ruts essentially limit the usable portion of the trail to two runners wide in spots coming out of the creek:
Late (toward the west end of) in the wooded section:
And two spots early on your route up Big Willis (first two images are a from-below and a from-above perspective on the worst of the ruts early on Big Willis, the third image is another rut situation a little higher, but still below midway, on Big Willis):
It should be noted that Cheyenne Mountain High School and the El Paso County Parks have done a good job of getting the trails groomed prior to races in the past. Obviously, we're hoping that's the case this time around, too. The job is a little bigger this time around.
Another item runners will want to be aware of are the 50 meters of so of loose sediment (mostly decomposed granite washed down from the slopes of Pikes Peak) that begins as soon as you bottom out in the wooded section (The Bridges) between the creek crossing and the parking lot where the race turns briefly to the south.
Intense rains from this summer have both washed out the previously existing trail and dumped a huge load of sediment here. As a runner, you need to pay attention to where you're going and stay left lest you get stranded on a sandbar that momentarily appears to be the trail. Also footing is both very uneven and loose here. You might consider passing (it is kind of wide through here now), but it will take extra energy to pass here as your feet will be grinding in the sediment. Bicycles riding through here instantly feel the pull and slow considerably, and the tires run a little groove through the loose sediment.
I'm a little less optimistic this is something that's going to be able to be cleaned up before Thursday's race. It would be a most-of-the-day job with a front end loader to get all the sediment out, and then you'd need to put the trail back in place. Meanwhile, the possibility of rains that could restart the whole sediment-dumping process loom for a couple days of the week ahead. As welcome as the rains have been, they've left a mess here as a couple of pictures below will help to illustrate (clear photos are difficult through here due to the starkly contrasting conditions of sun and shadow):
Mud followed by an expanse of sediment
Footprints in sediment
I would like to stress that the course is runnable through the wooded section, it's just going to go a little slower and demand slightly more energy than it has in the past--unless they're able to work a fix of this situation in time for Thursday's races.
Overall, the course is runnable, but caution is suggested at points and there will be some some extra congestion at points if the ruts are not filled in and packed down by Thursday.
I will not be able to make another trip over to Bear Creek Regional Park before Thursday's races to further update this article. Probably the best place to look for updates would be the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede web page at www.cmstampede.com.
The ultimate spectator's guide to viewing state cross country 2013
This year's state course presents some bonus viewing challenges that last year's did not. Read on.
The state course layout is the same as last year, but some of the viewing logistics have changed. Let's start with an overview of the course from a map provided by the Cheyenne Mountain High School meet management (more mapping available at this link).
Unfortunately, this summer's rains have altered a couple of important things about viewing the state meet. Many of you will recall the bridge across the creek at the southeast corner of the Norris Penrose Event Center property. You appreciated the convenient access to the Bear Creek Regional Park side of the course it provided. This is the current state of that bridge:
The damage was done courtesy of the late summer flooding. The upshot of the washout is that the only access to the Bear Creek Park side of the course from the Norris Penrose Event Center side of the course is the same trail where runners cross the creek during races. Figure that this crossover route will only be open a few minutes between races and perhaps a few minutes between the time that the competitors cross out onto the Bear Creek Regional Park portion of the course and then come back onto Norris Penrose Event Center portion of the course.
For most people, this will mean staying on one side or the other of the creek for the entirety of a race. If, however, you trust your timing and speed, you might be able to catch the racers once or twice on the Bear Creek Regional Park side of the course and then scoot back across the creek crossing for the finish. A new bridge is in place across the creek at the site of the creek crossing but the specifics of its availability for spectator use are not yet clear. Access to the bridge is via the same trail that serves as the state meet course, so availability of the bridge for spectator crossing must necessarily be limited by course availability.
Another complicating factor for race viewing is that the large expanse of the park in the center of the trail system (see where "Bear Creek Park" is written in green in the map above) is grown up in denser and deeper vegetation than last year. Of greater concern is the fact that stagnant water stands three to eight inches deep down the middle of almost the entire west-to-east length of this central area. That adds abundantly to the adventure factor of cutting across the center between mile 1.9 or mile 2.0 and any point in "The Bridges" section of the course. Following the purple trail all the way to the main crossroads seems the most prudent option, even though the crowds there tend to be massive and you probably won't have front-row viewing once you get back there.
There is a bootleg trail (see photos, below) that cuts across from mile 1.9 to the purple trail designated as a "Spectator Area" in the event management map shown above. If you are fast and agile, you can probably see runners at mile 1.9 (at the base of "Drop In", the steep downhill portion of the course) and then again at the trail crossroads just before the runners return to the Norris Penrose property. If you're really fast and really agile, you might be able to get to the runners in "The Bridges" section and avoid the crowds at the crossroads. Bear in mind, however, that this will involve using a bootleg trail (definitely rough, and probably simultaneously being used by other people disinclined to move as fast as you will be moving) for about a fourth of the distance back to the crossroads, then using the primary park trail (in purple) in the map shown above.
top end of bootleg trail to "Drop In"
bottom end of bootleg trail to "Drop In"
The "Drop In" section, steeper than the west Eisenhower/Johnson Tunnel approach on I-70
Or, you could take a little greater risk and try to catch runners at mile two, then bolt down the purple trail (again, beware of other pedestrians using the trail at more subdued rates of travel) in hopes of catching runners before the creek crossing. Any attempt to see the runners beyond mile two and then again at any later point in the race is bound to meet with failure.
So, your viewing options come down to the following:
1. Stay on the Norris Penrose side of the course and catch the runners at the start and finish.
2A. Stay on the Bear Creek Regional Park side of the course and catch the runners three times at the crossroads, twice before mile one and once just before the runners return to the Norris Penrose side of the course.
2B. Stay on the Bear Creek Regional Park side of the course, catch the runners at the crossroads, at mile 1.9 or mile 2.0, then again at or near the crossroads
3. Start on the Bear Creek Regional Park side of the course, catch the runners at the crossroads, again as far away as Little Willis, then cut back across the creek (we'll assume that option will be open to spectators who make the crossing in timely fashion).
As a reminder, there is no realistic option this year for viewing the start close up (you can see much of the start, however, from roughly the one mile point of the course, but that would likely preclude seeing the runners as they exit onto the Bear Creek Regional Park property), and then getting across to catch the runners anywhere between mile one and the top of Little Willis. The bridge that made that possible last year is washed out.
Options 2B and 3 should be contemplated only by reasonably fit and agile people. It's not an easy trip to get from mile 1.9 or 2.0 back to the crossroads before the runners do.
Choose your option wisely and enjoy as much of the race as you can. If you're not especially mobile, a pair of binoculars is definitely in order. As always, try to ensure that your enthusiasm for watching the state meet is not interfering with others' opportunity to do the same!