As far as racing goes, there is some new stuff going on this year with the Western Montana Trail Series. In addition to the usual races like scratchgravel, herron, and the Missoula XC, there is another race in Missoula, plus a few extra Wednesday night races. The cool thing is that they aren't all on the same old course at Marshall. There are scheduled wed races at blue mountain, snowbowl, and mt jumbo, plus there is new trail above Marshall mountain. The only downside is that it's only about a mile, and has to be accessed by road since the lower part of the ski area is still private property. So once you get up there you can't actually ride the rest of the xc course and have to go back down the road. Hopefully that changes soon as the property is for sale.
I was recently up there for a trail work day and it looks like it will be pretty fun to ride, and also easy to do laps on. You can ride up the trail, or go around on a road and do one-way loops. Assuming things with the marshall property work out (i.e. going to something like 5 valley land trust or becoming public), it will be great to have another place to ride in Missoula. The rattlesnake and blue mountain tend to get really crowded at times. A few weeks ago we had over 20 riders show up for TNR, plus there was a running thing and a few other mtb groups on the same trails that night. Even though we split up into smaller groups when that many people show up, I feel like we are still possibly getting in the way of other users.
Outside of Missoula, there are also going to be races near Seeley lake, Phillipsburg, the 12 hours of Lolo, plus a "gran fondo" in the ninemile area. I really don't want to miss Missoula XC this year since I have never gone, and plan to race this coming weekend on the new "mittower" course, which is the road climb and new trail I mentioned plus I think the main XC course. Not all that different, but should be nice. I've also signed up for the Butte 100 again. Lolo and the other races look like they would be fun, but I haven't committed to anything. The races seem to be a little more expensive so it will depend on the budget and what I feel like doing the week of. Plus I want to do some upgrades to the MTB before msla xc and butte.
As far as the bike goes, the drivetrain is getting a little worn out and I'm tired of the front derailleur not always shifting right and dropped chains. A clutched rear derailleur would probably help a lot but I think I want to simplify and go to an 1x setup. Shimano has a new 11-46 cassette coming out, and I think I can live with that kind of a gear range. With a 34t ring I will hardly lose anything on the low end, and I think 34x11 is a decent enough gear for descents, although it means no more pedaling once you approach 30mph. (maybe my 39x11 on marshall canyon road will be an opportunity to get a head start on the climb next weekend). Sram's new 12 speed, with a 10-50 cassette would be nice, but in my search for a new freehub I discovered there isn't an XD driver available for my wheel. It's not very old, and I had less than great customer service from Easton trying to get a new freehub, so I guess we can add them to the list of "brands I probably won't ever buy again."
Speaking of spending money on bike parts, I also think I'm getting tired of buying $80 tires. I ordered a replacement Maxxis ikon last week, but this time with the EXO casing as my old one got pretty cut up in a short period of time and I've had to ride it with a tube. The stronger casing means even more expensive, but heavier and stiffer. On the front I haven't needed an exo casing and my ardent race is still looking good after a season of use. It's been a decent tire but I'm not sure I'm going to buy another one. Something less expensive with as good or better grip would be nice. There are some tires from Kenda that look like they would work, as well as some discounted schwalbes online. The nobby nic looks like a nice grippy tire and from what I've heard still rolls well. I might just have to buy a few things on the internet and see what I think, since I seem to be on a tire spending spree this year.
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