Hodges Village Race this year.

[BadDNA]

So apparently the Root 66 race at HVD went well this year. One complaint I have about the event though, TRASH! I went for a ride yesterday and the course arrows are still up, there's flagging tape all over closing off trails that weren't part of the course, there were discarded tubes and CO2 cartriges, empty gel packs beyond count...way to act as ambasadors for the sport guys. I filled my pockets with debris and barely made a dent, is it really that tough to put the empty gel pack or flat tube back in your jersey pocket and get rid of it in an acceptable manner? Would it be too much to ask of the event coordinators to rerun the course at then end of the day and remove their signs and tape?

[imploded]

I was with Eammon and I share his concerns... we found old tubes, CO2 cartridges, and saw lots of Gu packets (specifically Gu) near what I think are water / refuel stations (they tended to be clustered around certain areas). We saw a trail runner with a trash bag, my guess is he was out trying to clean some stuff up, but man, it was pretty gross in some areas.

Cheers,

-Andrew

[bdee]

Maybe just ask Rich/Bo what the agreement was w/the land managers re: cleanup. Maybe they had some grace period to get it all cleaned up. Next day is well, next day - not that it can't be done. I've s/up and broken down courses where we had to get it done that day and sometimes we'd have a few days. I saw a lot of racers dropping their GU etc.. it sucks, I think everyone racing should just stick it in a pocket - that's why they are there.

[Pedalphile]

Agreed that the there was a good bit of race trash left on the course. Unfortunately, that happens during races. There was also a running race at Hodges on Saturday so it's possible that some of the markings you noted off the bike race course were remnants of that. Anyway, this was the 11th time that the Hodges race was held. The organizers have always been invited back because they acted responsibly before, during and after the race. The clean up is planned for Wednesday night when Bo hosts his regular weekly ride.
Rich

[05stumpy]

I rode Saturday AM (during the running race...oops!) the running race course was marked with pink ribbon and paper plate arrows.

There were also blue ribbons and some arrows that have been there for a while.

[BadDNA]

Bo and crew did clean up, thanks guys. I guess I was just a little miffed at the sight of all the trash left over on the trails in my back yard and didn't consider the possibility that there was a cleanup planned. I'm glad they arranged to go back and clean up. Rich is right, the race has been held for 11 years, knowing the rangers at the park, there's no way they'd be invited back if they weren't responsible users.