Got the Band Back Together: French Creek 2010

By:  Hebrew Cyclist

Twas a fine occasion this past Saturday, with all the Giant Mid-Atlantic crew in attendance!  The day started off early with some rain and Jordan setting up the pit area for Rich's 6hr race (Jordan also forgot the camera, which is why there are no pics of the sweet set-up).  Rich had his new Anthem X set up and was feeling as good as one can feel for a cold, wet, 9am start to an endurance race.  The Expert loop was about an hour long, so there was little chance to get bored out there.  Unfortunately, as Rich started warming up and feeling good, some of his spokes were wearing out and decided to throw in the towel early (along with some rotor bolts too).  With a wobbly rear wheel and no spares on hand, Rich had to call it quits after 2 laps.  Total bummer, but that is racing!  He is riding strong and is heading towards good form for June 5th's Mohican 100.

Richie Rich descending with class and style

Richie Rich, out of the saddle on lap #2

MUCH later in the day, it was the Pro/Open field's turn to tackle 2 laps of the course.  On the start line was Matt and......wait for it..........are you ready?.......MARTIN!  Yes, Martin has returned from roadie oblivion to lay down the law with his new Giant XTC 29er.  It was a fine day, and we were all stoked to have him back at the team tent (which we don't have pictures of because somebody, ahem, forgot the camera)!  The field, as usual, was stacked with riders like Jeff Schalk, Brandon Draugelis, and Harlan Price at the start along with the GMA boys.  Martin started things off fine, riding into the first singletrack in around 6th place, with Matt just out of the top-10.  Unfortunately, Martin got a case of the flats and DNF'd after puncturing twice.  Not the glorious return he had hoped for, but his form is there and the results will come very soon!  Matt overcame a minor mechanical in the beginning of the race to finish 9th, so despite the bad luck we still had a solid result on the day!

On tap for this weekend is the Cascade Classic, which is the next stop in the Mid-Atlantic Super Series.  See you there!