Jeremiah Bishop, Karen Potter rule the day

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The second annual Trans-Sylvania Epic mountain bike stage race kicked off Sunday with a 12.5-mile prologue in hot and humid conditions, a stark reminder that when a heat wave hits eastern Pennsylvania it's serious business.

Racers agreed that this year's day one course was even better than last year, maximizing the use of serpentine singletrack found in the area. The major obstacle of the day was not the exposed, two-mile road climb off the start but the one-mile singletrack climb at about mile 5.5. The forest mostly protected it but its steepness and sweltering humidity took a toll that effected many racers for the last half of the stage.

Drama started early when Trek/SRAM/Easton/Giro/Pearl rider Ross Schnell showed up to State College yesterday sans race bike. A case of lost luggage left him with just a race kit and jersey. Luckily, a fellow racer loaned him shoes and race promoter Mike Kuhn handed over his personal bike so Schnell could ride the day.

In another near miss, Team CF's Chris Beck almost missed his start. In his usual "rock star" fashion Beck raced through though the start ramp and pulled onto the course without missing a beat and losing only one second, according to TSE timing.

Cannondale's Jeremiah Bishop dominated the day with a winning time of 47:56 but the big story was notable Boston, Massachusetts cyclo-cross racer Justin Lindine (BikeReg.com/Joe's garage/Scott) who took second less than four minutes back.

Schnell, for all his effort to get on course in the first place ended up getting lost and currently sits in last a 1:25.42. For the women Karen Potter (MTBRaceNews) took the surprising win over defending champion Selene Yeager (Team CF), less than a minute back.

Tomorrow's stage one, the second longest of the week is a 69km day in Cooper's Gap in Rothrock State Forest. With temperatures hitting the 90s, heat and humidity could play a role.

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