Race Report: Long Pine Classic, M.A.S.S.

By: Who do you think?!?!

Long Pine Classic podium, Jordan 2nd, Matt 5th.  

It's always nice when you can start a race report with a podium shot!  The Giant Mid-Atlantic Cycling Team celebrated 'Merica's Birthday in Michaux State Forest at the Long Pine Classic XC race.  It was an old-school single-lap throw-down with plenty of walks and climbing.  Despite it being a big 'ole fat american holiday, there was still a strong field of Pro/Open racers at the start line, ready to hold off on their (intercourse) beer drinking until 22 miles later.

With a lead moto to start things off, we rolled out nuetral until the road turned upward and it was game-on. It was here that Matt & Jordan took things easy while everyone traded barbs up the first climb into the singletrack.  It didn't take long for people to get in over their heads, and our intrepid duo soon found themselves up with the first chasers without too much effort (a combination of crashing and lapped riders helped too).  We rode some fun singletrack for a while, making a little time up on the lead duo, then hopped out onto a fireroad where Jordan set pace up to the leaders.  Once caught, we had about 6 or 7 in the lead group, and things stayed relatively calm in the next singletrack section while we passed sport racers.  On the next fireroad, we regrouped and Brandon D set pace towards the next section of trail, which was a long doubletrack climb.  Here, Jordan took over the pace and quickly set himself apart from everyone else, tapping out a gap of over a minute at one point.  Matt stayed reserved and patient with a teammate ahead, and rode smooth and clean to the finish for 5th.  Jordan solo'd the rest of the course until getting caught by Aaron Snyder with 500m to go.  Due to some confusion on the location of the finish, Aaron took the win in a 'sprint'.

After the race, we had a chilled case of Inercourse Brewing Co. Bareville Pilsner ready to go, which needless to say vanished quickly while we waited for awards.  Awesome day on the bike for Giant Mid-Atlantic!

Mutant Strawberries and the attack of the race report!

That's right.  The secret of the Giant Mid-Atlantic team is mutant siamese strawberries.  But good luck getting your own, suckers!

This past weekend was the first official XC race of the 2010 Mid-Atlantic Super Series; Bike Line XC @ Fair Hill.  Everyone was amped to test their early season fitness, and the day did not disappoint!  With over 700 racers in attendance, it was hard to stay calm and focused on our own race!  With so many there, we made sure to be as visible as possible of course.  Flag me!

After what seemed like a bigillion sport riders took off on the course for their race, Matt and I took off for a warm-up pre-ride of the course.  What we found was what we expected:  A fast, fun course, with a small sprinkling of short punchy climbs to sting the legs and help create separations in the pace-lines during the first lap.  Before we knew it, we finished and were ready to race.

Lining up for the Elite Open, there were much more racers than normal, and a certain Hebrew Cyclist (ahem, ahem) should have been paying more attention.  After we got called forward, there were about 8 rows deep of racers for the start!  Despite the large field and it being the first real race of the season for many, the start was relatively uneventful, but was FAST!  It was a drag race for the first mile or so down fire road before we hit the singletrack.  Passing was at a premium, and drafting was used generously.  The singletrack strung things out, but didn't slow the pace, and while Matt fought near the front, I was at the back picking off riders, practicing some good-ole fashioned aggressive passing.  After finding some sweet inside lines and passing a good number of riders, my luck started running out and I found myself stuck in position while things started splitting up ahead of me.  At this point, I found myself doing intervals between groups of riders, resting in their draft, then going again.  Meanwhile, Matt was duking it out with some of the young'ns ahead of me.  This was how our respective races played out for the first 2 laps.  On the final lap, my legs finally got the better of me and started fading big time.  Matt held strong for a top-20 and a strong start to the year!  Big shout-out to my wagon wheels, Giant XTC 29er.  Best choice for this course!

Afterwards, we took another spin on the course and then cleaned up for some socializing and story telling with everyone we raced with.  Great race, great weather, couldn't ask for a better start to the season!

This weekend the team will be at the Tour de Tykes XC race!  Look for us there, and don't forget to get your Intercourse Care Package Raffle Tickets!