Crash, Crash, Win, Win, Win.



Seamus focused on the Win at Bear Creek

 So went the Bear Creek Triple Crown weekend for the Giant Mid-Atlantic crew.  From down in the dirt to the top step of the podium, we saw it all at Pennsylvania's premier mountain bike venue.  Let's break it down race-by-race:

Martin dominating the rocks at Bear Creek

Short Track -  Starting the weekend off right, the short track was a perfect mix of technical singletrack and open fireroad.  With a strong contingent of elite racers at the line, good racing was sure to be had.  At the start, the course took a sharp 90-degree turn uphill almost immediately, causing some good-ole-fashioned ruckus amongst the field.  Martin Kell hung in the front while Jordan, Seamus, and Matt waited for things to sort out before showing their cards.  Quickly, things spread out and Seamus picked his way up to the front with perrenial Mid-Atlantic power house Aaron Snyder (Scott RC).  Jordan was close in tow, and Matt was holding strong.  This pretty much was the race, with Seamus and Aaron battling at the front and Jordan trailing just behind.  In the end, Seamus took the win and Jordan snagged 5th, with Matt and Martin finishing in the field.

Matt Pinnin' it during the short track

Super-D -   After Short Track, everyone knew things were bound to get interesting!  Luckily, the promoter gave us time to get a few practice runs in on the course, so we loaded up in the truck and went to the top.  The first portion of the track was super tech, with no line through the rocks.  Gnar!  The team decided to stick to the top portion and did a few mini loops to stay warmed up.  For Jordan, this meant crashing on one of the more benign section of trails right in front of Matt.  Kudos to Matt for not laughing!  Taking time to straighten his bars back out, Jordan pedaled back to the top to wait for the start.  Jordan left first putting in a conservative effort so as not to take any chances after his crash.  Following closely behind was Seamus, who put in a blazing time WHILE CRASHING!!!  Matt and Martin followed with the rest of the elite field, but nobody could touch Seamus' time.  RAD!

Jordan keeps the corners smooth

Cross Country -  With all the success from the previous day fueling the team, we lined up for a wet and rainy XC on Sunday.  For this, there were a few more pros that made the trip for the race, and a few unknowns were on hand that were sure to make the race interesting.  At the start, Everyone stayed calm and waited for the singletrack.  Martin and Seamus made some smooth moves to stick to the front, with Jordan and Matt close behind.  Into the singletrack, everything was rideable, but super slick!  Seamus worked his way to the front quicky with Jordan doing the same further behind.  Unfortunately the mud gremlins got ahold of Jordan's rear derrailure and ended his race early.  Bummer!  At the end of lap 1, Seamus was ahead of the pack and Martin and Matt were riding strong in the field.  Martin was having an extra exciting time on the descents, with all power being lost to his rear brake!  In the end, Marting pulled the HAT TRICK and took the third win of the weekend, sweeping the triple crown!  Matt and Martin also scored top-10 XC finishes, and finished 4th and 5th in the Triple Crown. 

Great job by everyone!

Hampshire 100 Pro UET

Well my introduction to marathon distance mountain bike racing was a little disappointing but at the same time, way more than what i was expecting all in one. It was disappointing in the fact that right before a decisive climb 25 miles in an old rusty rail road spike went through my side wall shredding it to the point that i could not finish the race... That was really the only disappointing part of the whole weekend...What you wishing for more drama? Your probably thinking that i should be more annoyed about not finishing, but the fact is, i was having the most fun racing my mountain bike in a really long time. Making it in the lead group after the first climb,  hammering in a pace line on a fire road with Tinker Juarez and Manny Prado and feeling great was wonderful. Of course the spike went through my tire ending my high.

But as much as this race was not what i was hoping for, it was eye opening and enlightening at the same time. Having never started a Ultra endurance race before, it was hard to know what to expect. Was Tinker going to attack from the start? how hard are these guys going to go? Camel pack or bottles? But these were the eye opening and learning part's. These guys do go hard from the start, but not cross country hard, just hard... as for the attacking it was more like getting on the front and pushing the pace on climbs trying to pop the suckers. Here comes the enlightening part...i was good at these efforts. i made that group of 6 riders in the first 1/3 of the race. i was riding confident and starting to dream of battling with the endurance MTB stars Manny and Tinker for the win. But of course my dream was cut short by that little guy above in the picture. (at least i have a cool souvenir). The race has left me wanting to try another Ultra and finishing it!!! I don't know why i never looked into these as being a important part of my racing calender but for next year you can bet there will be more of these on my calender and maybe even a Leadville 100 start...WHHATTT!!!

Good job to a new friend Justin Spinelli for the win this weekend and every on to put a great event on.

-Seamus