July 29, 2013
Photos by Audrey Stuller
Oak Mountain is in the Adirondacks. Seven hours away from MD. Four of us made it to this race. Four of us podiumed. Proud of our team. Everyone stepped up huge. Looney blew the doors off his first Cat 1 19-29 race. Took first. Justin smoked Cat 2 30-39 and took first with me in third. Joe Shack rounded it all out with a second place, Cat 3 30-39.
Pat Looney, First Place Cat 1 19-29.
Justin Stuller First, Karfakis Third, Cat 2 19-29
Mr. Joe Shack, Second, Cat 3, 30-39
Oak Mountain was purchased about a year ago by Matt O’Brien and his wife Laura. Plans for year-around attractions have been in place for some time. As part of that growth strategy, GES held Oak’s first ever MTB race. The venue has a total of about four trails. The DH course was added just for us. So we broke it in. Lots of soft dirt. Loose with two huge mud pits. Deep too. Everyone was bitching about them. Looney says he ran his bike across the biggest mud pit….in his race run. They were that bad. But overall, we were glad to help these guys break in a new trail. It was a challenging course with lots of rock, roots, steep rollers and a 6′ drop. As Stuller put it, the course was a true mix AM/FR/DH riding. It was a challenge to carry speed and a fun course to practice on.
Did a course walk and rode my first run with Joe. We stopped to size up the ladder drop and hit it. Joe was super stoked on dropping that. His excitement got me pumped. From then on it was run after run after run. Looney and Stuller joined shortly after. The two mud pits were the talk of day. Getting through them wasn’t easy, even for the pros. We stood there watching and I was amazed at how slow and confused everyone was with those mud pits.
Lucas was shooting as always and grabbed my favorite pic I have of myself. Really thankful he was there and knew the angle, lighting, etc. Bought this one off him. Pumped on this. Thanks Lucas! Click to enlarge this one.
Karfakis Over a Rock Roller. Photo by Luca Bayus.
Looney On the Fast Line Around the Rock.
We camped out. Oak brought in a blues band. We drank and listened to the band then crashed. 2am, light rain. 4am, steady rain. 6am, heavy rain. I hear Looney stir in his tent 2 feet away from mine. “Fuuuck.” he says. Back to sleep till 7am. Still raining. Pouring now. We gather under the team tent. We throw on Wet Screams. Looney actually considers siting the race out. It was raining that long and that hard. Just as the lifts started running, the rain stopped. And the thickest fog sets in. You can barley see the next tower on the lift ride up. The chairs disappear in the fog. Thank god for the chicken wire that was so securely fastened to the ladder drop and wooden hip. I worry about the spikes breaking loose on all the rock faces. I cut down the knobs. Audrey gets some really great shots in the fog. Check it.
Heading into the Mist.
DH Disappearing Act.
Stuller's Ghost Emerges. Click to Enlarge.
Joe Shack off a Soaked Ladder.
Open Field to the Finish.
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