Monday, May 14, 2007

French Creek

After a long, successful season on the Collegiate Road circuit, the Rutgers Cycling team has turned some of its attention to the dirt and the knobby tires. Charlie, Mark, Jay, and I went out to French Creek State Park in Pennsylvania for a jaunt in the woods, MASS style.

Jay's Pre-Race Warmup

Charlie, racing in the Expert class, was first to go. He finished his race looking like he'd left everything out on the course. With a 14th in a very competitive field, Chaz put in a great ride and seems to've actually had fun!

Chaz Rolls to the Start

Mark raced Sport Senior Men, and had a fantastic start. He was riding in 4th place after about 5 miles of racing, including the killer road-climb and the ensuing endless, rocky descent. Unfortunately, the Butyl gods were not smiling on him that day, and his rear tire flatted. Even worse, the innumerable rock gardens had thrown his flat-fix kit from his bike, and his race was over.

Don Wishes For Suspension

Jay and I raced Sport Single Speed... and because we're maniacs, we raced with no suspension. This made the descents interesting, to say the least. We started somewhat conservatively, making up a lot of ground on the road climb. Jay bombed every descent like a man on a mission, and I climbed like a roadie, feeling very much out of place. We were in the hunt for the podium for a while, took a quick accidental detour, and ended up comfortably in the top half of the pack. About as comfortably as two dummies with rigid forks can be.

Jay Cruises as if on a Full Suspension

Next week... Granogue!!!

Charlie, Mark, Don, and Jay

1 comment:

Hardtail For Life said...

Granogue will be crushed!!! Jay Smash!