Mountain Creek Spring Classic / ProGRT #2

June 2, 2016

Going Pro

Spoke Apparel invested in a nice pit set up and we got to break it out at this race for the first time. Jeff Lenosky was handling the logistics of team pit placement and tucked us into a sweet spot between KHS and Fox. To say we got a lot of love on the set up would be an understatement. From grass-roots riders and teams to factory teams and pros, there were more positive comments than I could possibly recount here. Should have designed and invested in this set up years ago. To be recognized by your peer group for who and what you are is a great feeling. Getting out of the weeds of race series sponsorship was the best call I have ever made on behalf of this team. Thanks to all riders and friends for the kind words on our set up and our team kits (our jerseys were praised over and over too). For me, this kind of validation is worth just as much as earning the top step.

Carnage Around the Corner

For us local racers, these ProGRTs are where the progression is at. The Spring Classic was stop #2 of this national race series. The course at Creek brought a loaded pro field  full of Cat 1 / Pro features. Big drops, big rocks, speed and big dirt jumps. The Cat 2/3 guys and gals rode a different course. As such, times are not comparable from class to class as they so often are in the local races.

Friday. We get up there and get set up and the first thing Bobbby tells me is that Jobson Christomo from Defiant went down fast and hard in Asylum. Turns out he broke a few ribs, concussion. Hospital. Bobby was a first responder. Jobson would be one of many. In the words of Jeb Wallace-Brodeur, “This was definitely the most carnage I’ve seen at a race in a long time.” Our Amy saw fellow pro lady Cait Fields break her wrist on the 30 foot hip. Amy was the first responder and spent 45 minutes with Cait. Neko broke his arm 5 seconds into his race run. Kristin Lenart from Blue Mtn ruptured her spleen. As I type this, she is still in the hospital. John Rinker from Reading Racing compound fractured his wrist. Logan Binggeli went down hard in quals and suffered some badly bruised ribs. He told me he didn’t like to complain about injuries holding him back, but I know that he would have done better than 14th had he been able to breath like a normal person. I’m only brushing the surface on the body count. It was crazy. Crazy.

Side note. And this was brought up by one of our team members; not a single tree in a any high speed corner or rock garden was wrapped with padding.

Jeremy’s Race

Jeremy helped me at the start of practice on Saturday by taking two slow laps to show me the lines. This was his race. We all knew it and I did not want to take away his practice time. Coming off a solid second place at Platty, J was gunning for the top step at Creek this weekend. After several great practice runs, come his race run, he ripped a tube in Asylum. Same spot as the year before. He recognized it as a slow leak but could feel the psi changing as his run played out. He hit the dirt jump immediately after Asylum and the lower psi sent his rear wheel skidding left off the lip as it lost grip of the dirt. The result was nothing short of badass as it looked like a sweet whip over the jump at full speed.

Later on in Jeremy’s run, Brice Shirbach would shoot the most baller shot one of our team riders has ever been featured in. Love the BMX dirt jump background so clearly evident in Jeremy’s style. Magazine cover quality shit right here folks. Thanks for sharing this pic with us Brice. Click to enlarge it. It’s worth it.

Jeremy would finish 6th on the day in Cat 1 40+. His flat tyre run was just .29 seconds off John Nicholson’s 5th place finish. He was bummed. But this is a stellar result given the circumstances. We’re stoked for ya J. Next year!!

Chris’ Race

If you don’t know Pound, you’re in for a treat. All smiles and all good vibes, even when faced with injury. Chris is a long-time Canfield insider that knows the players in the industry and scene just as well as any of us. He tends to show up on race weekends having not ridden his bike in days or weeks. He just lays it down and lets the chips fall where they may. I like that about Chris.

His race went well, regardless of a lingering shoulder injury that came back to get him. After only a few practice runs, Chris was all “look at this bag of ice on my shoulder” for the rest of the weekend. Then he went out and landed a solid top 10 in a field of 20 riders in Cat 2/3 40+. 7th place. Good work Chris! Looking forward to riding with you at Blue!

The Berminator

I practiced with Bobby all weekend. It was really great. Bobby is a NICA coach (Bronxville Broncos Highschool MTB Team). He’s really great about line choice and technical changes that help you improve your game. We probably ran too many practice laps on Sunday (5 total) but we were both feeling it and we both wanted to keep the flow going into our race runs. By the last couple of laps in practice, Bobby had the hip dialed and he was barreling down Great Northern with lots of speed. Come his race run, he caught a pedal 3 seconds out of the gate. The start beeps for the rider behind him spurred him into letting that rider pass and then passing that rider again down through Asylum. Bobby finished 21 out of 22 riders on the day with a time of 3:07.83. Suffice it to say, this was an uncharacteristic finish for the Berminator. When I asked Bobby how he felt about the weekend, his response was “Best race weekend ever.” When I asked him to clarify, he said the hanging with the team, the pit, the friendships, the laughter and the riding with Gwin were what stood out for him. (Yes, the ride with Gwin. Standby for more on that). This is why I love Bobby. He gets the big picture. We all want to win and/or podium. But it’s not all about that all the time. Thanks for all your help and good vibes this weekend Bobby!

Mike’s Race

When I saw that cabin drop built last year, I knew I needed to get to this race. I couldn’t make it last year and even if I could have, I would have been forced to ride around that feature as I was a Cat 2 rider at the time. Winning the Gravity East Cat2 overall in 2015 enabled me to move up to Cat 1. There was no way I was missing this race again. My goals for the weekend were to finish several steps up from the bottom, with a mid-pack / top 10 being icing on the cake if I could make it happen. I pre-rode the course with Brigandi the week before and rolled off the cabin plenty of times but never in a race run at full speed. I wasn’t sure what speed checking it would feel like as I knew I was going to be coming in faster and hotter than I was used to. By the end of Saturday, I felt solid through most sections. But I was loosing a ton of ground on Great Northern. The 26″ wheels are holding me back in sections like this for sure, but I am not going to use that as my excuse. It is what it is and I plan on making it work to the best of my ability. In full-pull 75% practice runs I was timing 2:47-ish. I wanted to shave 10 seconds on that for my race run. It didn’t happen. I ran a 2:49.15 and took 15/22. I’ll take it for now. My first National race in a long time. I walked away and I finished where I was aiming for. To be able to ride this course and walk away….you’re out there with the best of the best on the East Coast and beyond. It’s humbling and it fills with so much stoke that I just wanna keeping doing it over and over and over. Looking forward to Blue Mtn you guys this weekend!

Gary’s Race

Coming off his Duryea podium, Gary came into this race with a lot of confidence. It was noticeable for sure. He ran a lot of practice runs with Pound but when Chris stopped riding due to the shoulder, Gary was off to practice on his own. Because we were riding separate courses all day, we didn’t get to really practice together either. That was a bummer. For the most part, the team was pretty split up most of practice due to the designated practice times and courses. Gary ended the day 19/20 with a 3:43.56. Tell ya one thing. I ripped a tube in practice and I go to sit down only to turn around and see Gary fixing my bike without me asking or saying a word. It was ghost shifting through practice and he fixed that too without me asking. Found it on his own. Having a race certified wrench at the ready like this is worth its weight in gold. When Gary is there, the team feels polished and complete and for so many reasons. Thanks dude. Glad you walked away unscathed with the rest of us.

Team Wrench Gary Lessner Through the Rocks.

Amy’s Race

Mountain Creek saw roughly 90 pro men attempt to qualify with 60 riders making the cut. An additional 15 riders were pre-qualed for a total of 75 pros racing. For the ladies, all pro women were automatically qualified but they still had to run quals to determine start order. Jill Kintner had this race on lock from the start. And with Lauren Daney back on the bike for this race, we knew Amy was shooting for a mid-pack finish, which was more than do-able for her. She practiced without us, as we were not allowed on course with the pros. She rode with the local girls and all of them were going around the cabin; a feature Amy would need to hit to put up a competitive time. I can’t imagine that seeing Cait snap her wrist helped any. I’m sorry if that messed with the head, girl but you were a champ helping her and staying with her. I hope you got a nice Thank You out of that one. Amy went down hard in quals (Asylum). She bent her brake and rode with it like that until she wrecked again, this time moving her seat sideways. Rough. She ran last place which put her first in the race run line up. When she came down to the Fly finish drop in quals, she boosted so fuggin high and slammed her bike down with force, on purpose. You could tell how pissed she was but it looked super baller to the crowd watching pro quals.

Come race run time, Amy started out up top with a strong run and a fast pace. She went down again in the rock garden finishing with a 3:20.03 for 10/10. After finishing, a woman in her 30’s asked Amy for her autograph and Amy obliged. How cool is that shit? You are Pro after all, Amy. It does come with the territory at a National race. All in all, I think this is hardest time I have ever seen Amy have at a race or in a finish. But you know what? She walked away unscathed. Two of her category mates did not. And she kept her head up the entire time with a smile on her face. If you ask me, that’s finishing first in the real test. Attitude is everything. Let’s get up to Creek for some freeriding Amy. You will have this place dialed in no time making you all the more ready for racing here. Great work this past weekend!

A Shout Out to Tracey

If you guys don’t know Tracey Spritius, you do now (far left in the pic below). She is a MTN Creek local and Jeremy’s partner in bike crime. She hasn’t been riding all that long but the race atmosphere tempted her to enter her first race this past weekend. With plenty of support and encouragement from Kathy of Dirt Rock N’ Root Training, Tracey landed on the 3rd step of the ladies cat 2/3 podium. HUGE. Gotta say, more often than not, seeing the stoke on other people’s faces from their achievements on the bike are sometimes just as good as experiencing your own achievements. So happy for you, T. Love your smile and love the energy. We could tell this achievement inspired you. Hope to see you between the tape again soon. Big congrats and see you at BLUE!

Let’s Have Some Fun

I wasn’t feeling going up for a fun run after practice on Saturday. But Bobby and Chris Lynch talked me into it. Glad they did. Gwin boarded the lift behind us and followed us down through Breakout. I heard him behind us and shouted for the guys to pull over so he could pass. But he ended up stopping too. “You guys wanna do half a fun run together?” No one needed to say a word. Chris pointed the way and Gwin responded, “I have to go first, I forgot my goggles.” No one had a problem with that. We took off. Probably the highlight of the entire weekend. And let me just say what a gracious and savvy guy Gwin is. At every race I have ever talked to him at, he has always been so approachable and so kind. Thanks for this cool experience Aaron. Hope you kill it again in 2016.