Course Description
Thanksiving Weekend calls for some thigh-burning racing (drumsticks, that is), so stuff your tummies into a skinsuit (or costume) and come out to Lake Padden Park!
We had another totally unique course design laid out in the Lake Padden softball fields. Click the image below to expand a large (4.2Mb) Adobe .pdf of the course lay-out:
This is where our local practice was run for many years before the move to WWU. From open fields to wide gravel paths to smooth paved sections, this course once again has fast written all over it. It also features staircase run-up, and several yo-yos up a side-sloping grass hill that will challenge your balance and tax your power.
Many thanks to Mark Peterson and the Whatcom Independent Mountain Pedalers (WHIMPs) for their years of hard trail work that helped us earn the privelege to use the Padden fields for a cyclocross race. Visit their website to learn more about what they have done to make Bellingham one of the best places to ride your bike! Proceeds from the race will benefit their constant trail-building efforts.
This event featured a benefit for the HUB Community Bike Cooperative in Bellingham. HUB founder Kyle Morris has conceived a unique category to challenge riders to race on heavy department store bikes - the spawn of Huffy Cross!
Racers were encouraged to build up their special steeds at the HUB, with a great discount and support and from the shop crew. $35 gets you a Huffy (or similar), an entry into the Huffy Cross, and a t-shirt! You can enter your own bicycle in the event, but there is a weight minimum of 35 lbs. Kyle reserves the right to weigh your bike at registration and weld additional weight onto your frame at his discretion.
Visit their website to learn more about their unique service to the cycling community. Additional proceeds from all racing categories will be donated to the HUB, so feel free to enter a standard category on a weenie bicycle.
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Directions: South-bound drivers should use the same exit #252 off Interstate 5 as above for WWU, except head the other direction (left off south-bound). Cross the freeway, turn right on Samish Way, drive about 2 miles uphill until you start downhill again and see signs for Lake Padden park. Then keep going! You need to drive past the first entrance, along the full length of the lake, to the second entrance on the southeast end. Turn right at the second entrance.
North-bound drivers coming from the south can take a short-cut via the N. Lake Samish exit, #246. Turn left off the off-ramp and head northwest on Samish Way. You will go over a gradual hill and descend down to Lake Padden. Look for the park entrance on your left immediately after the intersection with Yew Street. Or you can drive all the way into Bellingham for some coffee & breakfast, then proceed as described in the previous paragraph.
After turning off Samish Way into the park (from either direction), continue past the secondary entrance for the golf course (i.e. stay right), proceed through the tall, dark trees and into the softball fields area.
Parking: Park wherever there is space after the golf course turn-off. If the parking lot is full, go back to the first entrance described above (in Directions) and ride the trail to the south end of the lake. That would be a good warm-up.
Registration: See the Entry Fees page for info on costs, race numbers, etc.
Race Times: See the Start Times page.
Warm-ups: The wide, gravel trail we will be racing on continues all around the lake (2.5 miles). This is an excellent, fast surface, but also quite popular in this active town. Please be courteous to people jogging, walking their dogs and children, by slowing down and saying "on your left!". There are also great mountain bike & horse trails that head up into the hills where you could ride more freely, though if ride you too far you may run into some technical sections. Again, as for WWU, ask a local.
Food: We are going to try and set-up a refreshment stand with hot coffee, cocoa, and maybe even some chili dogs to help you stay warm and amped up for the day's activities. Bring along a few extra dollars and maybe your own mug to reduce waste, please.
Restrooms: There are two sets of public restrooms, one on each end of the course. Last we checked, they are well-lit, heated, have warm hand dryers, but the water is cold. There is also room enough inside to change clothes.
Dogs: Lake Padden was voted Bellingham's "Best Place to Take Your Dog" in the Oct. 4th issue of Cascadia Weekly . That means you should bring them! There is a large, enclosed off-leash area for letting your canine run free and socialize with their own species. The rest of the park is fun, too, though leashes are an expectation. Lots of doggie doo-doo stations, too, so please use them. Naturally, keep them off the course.