Schalk, Barclay net wins in Pennsylvania

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Men's Open: Schalk ties it up with three wins

"The NUE Series men's open class has seen more heat than the East coast had last week!" said Race Director Chris Scott. And the heat was on Saturday near State College as the NUE defending champion Jeff Schalk (Trek Racing) duked it out in the hills of Pennsylvania with Christian Tanguy (Team CF), who already has three early season wins this year in his aggressive bid to for his first NUE men's open Championship.

Schalk ultimately prevailed in Pennsylvania, as he finished 3:59 ahead of Tanguy.

Schalk and Tanguy need one more win to close the window of opportunity for all other challengers and perhaps set up a rematch, a final showdown, at Shenandoah, where all ties will be broken.

"It was a really, really good, close battle between Christian and I," said Schalk. "I think there were eight of us or so together on the fire road coming out of aid two. That is the first big climb in the race where the race really starts to blow up.

"Christian was pushing a huge pace and I was suffering. I was struggling to stay on but I was the only one to stay on. The others just dropped off so it was me and Christian at the top of the climb.

"I got in front of him in the singletrack and got a little bit of a gap on the downhill but then he rolled right back onto my wheel on the next climb. It kind of went that way, yo-yoing back and forth until aid four. At that point he started to get away from me because I was having chain issues.

"I dropped my chain and I lost maybe 20 or 30 seconds untangling it so I had to chase him down. And then, when I had chased him down, on another fire road descent on the way to aid five, I dropped the chain again, had to untangle it, and chase him down again. Both times, it was just a huge effort to chase him down.

"However, we were together at aid five and both stopped to get a bottle. I just got my bottle faster and got out of aid station 5 maybe 10 seconds quicker. From there it's rail trail with one more big climb and I just buried myself to get away. I put about four minutes on him at that point." Michael Simonson (RBS Trek MTB Team) took the third spot on the podium, 22:39 off the pace, with Roger Aspholm (Westwood Velo) fourth at 39:31 and Kevin Carter fifth at 42:52.

Women's Open: Barclay tastes her first NUE Series victory of the year at the 101

We reported that local Vicki Barclay (Freeze Thaw/Honey Stinger/Stans No Tubes) looked to have her best shot at taking an overall victory for the Pennsylvania locals and she did not disappoint, finishing in 7:42:31 as the only woman with a sub-eight hour finish.

Former NUE champion and Wilderness 101 winner last year, Cheryl Sornson (Team CF), was forced to drop out of the race with stomach issues, giving Barclay the unexpected opportunity she needed to go for the victory on her home course.

"It went really good," said Barclay. "I felt really strong this morning. My plan was to just sit with Cheryl and, up to aid station two, it worked. I could see that the field was getting a bit tired so I put in a little kick.

"I left her on one of the descents after aid two and never saw her again. Apparently, she was feeling sick then. From then on I was just trying to keep it steady and I was climbing well. It was a lucky day for me."

Barclay, who sat tenth in the series before this race, has two fourth place finishes in the NUE Series this year at Cohutta and the Lumberjack 100. Her win at the 101 will, no doubt, significantly improve her standing this year. Barclay stated that she might do Fool's Gold and then the Shenandoah 100.

Brenda Simril (Motor Mile Racing) had a great shot at the top three and she took it, placing second 34:51 down on Barclay. Simril was already ranked third behind Carey and Sornsen in the race for the title.

"It was really hot, of course, and I think everyone suffered some from the heat," said Simril. "My husband and I did ORAM last week, so I had no idea how I was going to feel. The legs were a little achey to start but they came around and I had a really good day.

"Karen Potter (MTBRaceNews.com) and I were going back and forth for what seemed like about halfway through the race but then, on one of the rocky downhills, she ended up slicing her tire. She had to stop so I got a little gap on her at that point.

"From then I was riding like a stalking cat. I never saw Vicki after the neutral start, she was on fire. It was an amazing day for her."

Karen Potter rounded out the podium finishing third, 58:46 back with Jessica Kutz (Freeze Thaw Cycles/Hubcap Cycles) taking fourth and Pam Frentzel-Beyme (Gripped Films) placing fifth.

Singlespeed Open: Domination by superhuman Pflug

Seven races into the season, the story continues to be defending champion and current NUE Series leader Gerry Pflug (Salsa/Notubes/Pro Bikes). The Pfluginator may be superhuman, able to recover with nothing more than a post-race beer while competing week-in and week-out.

He has become seemingly unstoppable now following another huge win at the 101, making it six wins out of seven races. The Pflug strategy appears to be, "Win all races and never allow a glimmer of hope". At the 101, he finished in 7:19:45 finishing more than 20 minutes on second place.

"It went real well out there. I had a perfect race today and was real happy with it," said Pflug. "Last year I flatted about 70 miles in and my teammate ended up winning," referring to Justin Pokrivka (ProBikes/Cohen Associates) who finished 13th this year.

"Up the first climb, through aid station one, I was able to ride with the fastest geared guys. After one, I stayed with them on the climb, went over the climb but it was a pretty fast descent and just being under-geared on a single speed I couldn't keep up. At that point I was pretty much by myself the rest of the way."

When asked what gearing he used, The Pfluginator responded, "34/19, it's bigger than what I've used in the past but it felt pretty good today. I think the course was better this year, it flowed a lot better. They took out the Poe trail this year, which, on a singlespeed is kind of tough because it had a lot of baby heads on it that will eat you up pretty good.

"They put in a pretty technical downhill which was fast but I felt pretty good. I didn't have any trouble on the descent and I rode a rigid fork today."

Pflug plans to compete again next weekend at the Pierre's Hole 100 in Alta, Wyoming. When asked about his rather demanding schedule and what he does in the middle of the week to recover from four straight 100 mile races, Pflug replied, "This week, I didn't do much, I was pretty spent. I was even wondering whether I was going to come here and be able to race today but it worked out pretty good. I felt pretty fresh this morning."

Mathematically, there is still a distant glimmer of hope for a challenger to emerge, however, with only four races remaining, it would appear that only superman himself could defeat the Pfluginator now. Matthew Ferrari (Freeze Thaw/Hubcap Cycles), arguably the second strongest singlespeed racer in the series, took second Saturday at 20:57 and remains the best chance for a late season upset. Jorden Wakeley (Einstein Racing) finished third at 22:50.

Masters 50+ Open: Masse makes his move at the 101

Roger Masse (Trek 29er Crew) put the smack down on Saturday as he finished in 7:58:48, more than 20 minutes ahead of the runner-up Mike Ramponi (Independent Fabrication). Masse has always been there, hanging near the top, ready to strike yet falling short of glory, but today was his day as he gained his first NUE Series win this year.

Masse has amassed just six points, with three second-place finishes in the NUE Series so far this year. Will a win at the 101 give Masse the momentum he needs to go the distance for the series victory? With just four races remaining, is there enough time for a late season streak that could put him ahead of the defending champion, Robert Herriman and the Hulk himself, Doug Andrews?

Michael Ramponi, (Independent Fabrication) is clearly capable of causing an interruption in the master's galaxy but finished second after reportedly suffering from tire problems. Not far behind Ramponi was Boston's own Mark Virello, (Hammer Nutrition) also no stranger to the podium. Virello finished second in the Masters at the Mohican 100k the last two years.

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