Monday, July 02, 2007

VisitPA.com MTB Stage Race and Festival Highlights

So it's pretty much all wrapped up. Results are posted on HighSpeedCycling.com and the last bills are being paid. We had a really sweet weekend all around with wonderful weather, fantastic racing, and just a great feeling of camaraderie.

A few of the bits about the weekend that stood out for me:

My Wonderful Friends and Family
Let me say it one more time... I get a lot of the credit for this thing and you all know how I like to be the center of attention, but the amount of enthusiastic help and support I get from my folks, Kris's parents, my sister Susi and her husband Doug, Kris' brother Matt and Matt's friends John and Wes, my friends and teammates, our sponsors like VisitPA.com, World Cup, Memphis Blues, and Ted at Sutliff Hummer - all of whom contributed greatly to our event, and my wonderful wife, Kristine, is pretty unbelievable and I could not do this without each and every one of them. This isn't my event, it is our event and we hope that you feel like its your event too.

Great freakin' racing
Almost 60 riders scored points in the Elite A field in one or more of the stage race events (even me!!).
At least four of the overall stage race wins were determined by hard and fierce racing in the STXC. This means that in those categories at least two if not three or four or even five riders came into the STXC with a shot at the overall win! It doesn't get more exciting than that and we saw some really great racing tactics played out - particularly in the Sport A and Expert A STXCs where team work played a role in the wins.

Fun Events
Both the Slow DH and the Bike Toss were bigger and better than ever with three heats and a final in the SDH and lots of spectators and Men's, Women's, and Kid's winners in the bike (or wheel if you're a little one) toss. Its great to see more and more people trying something that seems, well perhaps pretty stupid at first, and really getting into it by the end.

Dominating Performances
It is pretty impressive to win all four events in your category in one weekend. Both Gunnar Bergey and Leif Lucas took home victory in all four of their races this weekend. Congrats gentlemen -- you've proven you're ready for the next level.

Mother Goose
Thanks Andy, Mike, and Frank.

Parity in Racing
What I like even more than Lance like domination is to see something like what happened in the Elite A race where we had a different winner in each of the stage race events. Ryan smoked the Night ITT, Brandon flew up the climb, and Wes rode away in the STXC, but Aaron Snyder rode the most consistently and ended up taking the overall win. That is sweet stuff.

Alaina Rocks...Again!
Once more Alaina Dietz came out to the weekend and once more she walked away with a podium spot. Over the past four years she's done this in the Beginner, Sport, and Expert B categories. She continues to demonstrate that women kick ass and can compete with the guys. Alaina thanks for your continued support of our little shindig. You plain rock.

Rob the Lumberjack
Most of you missed this and I wish I had Ry's camera to video it for you, but at one point I decided to finally remove "the branches" since we must have had a lot of tall riders on the course this year. So off I go with the chainsaw to eradicate some zombies with support from my troops Ray and Ry. We get out there and we're not getting the saw started. Ray's big heavy ass is able to break off one of the branches, but we ain't breaking the other one. Sheeeitt...now what. Well, along comes Rob. Rob's a landscaper. Hey Rob, feel like giving this thing a shot. Sure. Rob fires 'er up and ride off. Branch 2 come down with out hitting Ray or I on the head. Thanks Rob!

The After Party -- I got to do something I've not been able to do very much at all this year and hang out with my team. I don't think I realized how much I miss these people. Its worth all the work for the weekend just to be able to let loose with these guys after you all go home. Go here (sorry, but you're not invited - members only...and we do have the jackets.)

I DON'T SUCK COMPLETELY
Holy crap, I got top 10 at something. I just suck mostly.

You Saw It Here First

COMING TO AN OESTERLING FARM NEAR YOU
4TH OF JULY WEEKEND 2008
VISITPA.COM MASS STAGE RACE AND FESTIVAL V
presented by SUTLIFF HUMMER
book your travel arrangements now

2 comments:

Zach said...

It took me way too long to find this! I'm definitly quiting my job, probobly tomorrow. Let me know what you need for the remaining races.

Kim said...

thanks for an unforgettable race experience...already looking forward to next year!