Black Mo Preview

In case you didn't get enough of Black Mo last year, Penn State's brutal road race is back this weekend. Fortunately for the A, B, and C fields, there will be one less lap than last year.  The course is the same 21.5 mile long one with 2330 feet of climbing each time around.  Here's the course profile to look over.  The race is in Port Matilda, PA for weather/clothing planning purposes.

Molly coming around the final turn towards the finish at 2011 Easterns.

The course starts off with a gradual 250 foot ascent over the first three miles, followed by a fast 2.7 mile descent of more than 1000 feet--the equivalent of riding down Mountain Drive to Seidersville Road 3 times. Expect to reach speeds in excess of 45-50 miles per hour.  Upon reaching the bottom of the descent, there is a hard left onto Dix Run Road, which begins a 1 mile Cat 4 climb at 6.6% with 340 feet of elevation gain--similar to climbing Mountain Drive.  At mile number 9.8, another Cat 4 climb comes up at 0.9 miles at 6.2% with 295 feet of elevation gain--roughly the equivalent of riding from East 5th and Webster to the steps of AOPi.   Just after this climb, the massive Cat 2 climb begins, sure to obliterate any remaining pack of riders.  The ascent up Black Mo on Rattlesnake Pike measures in at 3.7 miles at 6% with 1192 feet of elevation gain.

The only Cat 2 climb in the Lehigh Valley that can perhaps match Black Mo is over on Point Philips Road, just east of the Blue Mountain Ski Resort. That one comes in at 2 miles, 9.6%, with 1020 feet of climbing, and is definitely worth riding sometime while you're at Lehigh.  The south side of the mountain is a bit sketchy there, however, with eroded road surfaces and potholes littering the descent.

Hopefully this weekend will be as fun and successful as last year's trip to Black Mo.

Tom enjoying a great road race.