Bishop and Sornson extend GC leads in stage 5
Old School mountain biking delights racers
Raw Pennyslvania trails built by 19th century loggers and CCC workers in times long past were the theme for day 5 of the NoTubes Trans-Sylvania Epic. RB Winter which played host for the race is one of PA's beautiful State Parks - a spring fed lake surrounded by lush green foliage and dark pine forest in an elevated valley and served as the start location for a 25-mile course of "old school" mountain biking.
"This is the place where Ray (race co-promoter) and I cut our teeth on mountain biking," said promoter Mike Kuhn. "RB is a place we love to ride and we're always excited to introduce people to these trails. It is beautiful here and the trails go on forever."
The loop they introduced this year included the steepest continuous descent of the entire week, the hair-raising Grosses Gap, the deep woods beauty of Old Tram Tr, and a four-mile long ridge top ride called Top Mountain Tr. that features numerous challenging chunky rock gardens along its length.
Men's contender, Kona's Barry Wicks, said emphatically, "Win, or die trying!" when asked about his strategy for the day. Wicks even brought out a "secret weapon" for the day, a 5.5-inch travel Kona Satori with which he planned to punish the competition. Unfortunately for Wicks, Cannondale team mates Tim Johnson and Jeremiah Bishop, the GC leader, had their own plan.
Within three miles of the start, the race was ripped apart as Wicks stretched Bishop with Johnson, racing for the Volkswagen/People for Bikes/NoTubes Epic Team, marking the move.
Bishop quickly regained contact on the gradual climb of Sand Mtn Road, and it was groupo compacto as the lead trio passed from Old Tram to Round Knob Tr. The early action dropped Matthy Buekes (unattached), Aaron Snyder (Scott), Cary Smith (Team CF), Drew Edsall (Kenda/Felt) and Chris Michaels who came through that same Old Tram to Round Knob intersection together.
By the time the race hit the bottom of the one mile long/1000 foot drop of Grosses Gap, the entire situation had changed. Bishop and Johnson were away by 40 seconds over Wicks, who they had shed before the steep descent. Buekes, Edsall and Snyder came through more than three minutes behind with no one else in sight.
Buekes, happy to be through the descent, was quick to showcase his climbing ability on the ensuing ascent of Running Gap road and closed the gap to Wicks. Ahead Bishop and Johnson raced away for a two up sprint with Johnson winning the stage. "The best defense today was a good offense. It was time to put the race to bed." Bishop said, "Today we [Tim and I] went with the right bike, the Scalpel 29, and didn't take unnecessary risks. It paid off."
Wicks was, in his words "having too much fun. I'd flatted once and was ripping the last descent on Top Mountain. I hit a water bar way too fast, flew 30 feet and landed in a pile of rocks. The rear tire exploded!" That left Buekes alone in third overall and second in the men's category while an attack from Snyder just as he and Edsall entered the last section of trail opening up a gap
Women
The women's race started fast and furious as well with Cheryl Sornson (Team CF) taking the initiative off the line to put the GC away. With the mass start and all riders together Jeremiah Bishop was in a prime spot to watch Sornson's early effort and said, "I was in eighth up the first climb and Cheryl was in fifth and we weren't going the least bit easy. She was killing it." Soon Sornson left second place GC rider Sue Haywood (NoTubes) behind.
Sornson said, "I wanted this stage. I focused on being smooth in the technical sections and every time I felt like I was in a spot where the others could go fast I made myself go faster." A native of Pennsylvania who calls the Michaux State Forest near Carlisle her home turf, Sornson said, "It felt like home. I loved this course. The trails were fantastic!"
Other categories
Jonathan Davis (Trek Bike Store Boulder Racing) grabbed the win on the stage with Kenny Wehn (Stan's NoTubes) in second and an ailing Zeke Hersh (Honey Stinger/Breck Epic) gutting out the stage to finish third. Davis took over the GC lead with the stage win.
The Breck Epic Duo of Dax Masey and Jake Wells showed they can crush the Pennsylvania rocks with the stage win. Tim and Troy Zimmerman (First Place Racing) took second and the Philly Ciclismo Duo of Jake Wade and Steve Ordons rolled in third. The GC looked the same as the stage only with Ciclismos Mike Festa and Craig Lebair replacing the team mates on the podium.
Juan Garcia and Trish Grajczyk (JCTracing/Deadgoat) continued their dominance in Duo Coed with another stage win as did State College's Jim Matthews in the 50+ category.
Chip Meek of Team CF put in a valiant effort in an attempt to defend the lead in the Epic Team category but Tim Johnson's spectacular finish time pulled back just enough to put Volkswagen/People for Bikes/NoTubes into the lead. Team CF has vowed this will not be the end of things however.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale Factory Racing) | 1:56:37 |
2 | Matthys Beukes | 0:07:17 |
3 | Aaron Snyder (Scott Pro Mountain Bike Team) | 0:09:02 |
4 | Drew Edsall (Kenda / Felt) | 0:10:42 |
5 | Cary Smith (Team CF) | 0:14:52 |
6 | Justin Lindine (Redline) | 0:15:59 |
7 | Barry Wicks (Kona) | 0:16:00 |
8 | Chris Michaels | 0:16:01 |
9 | Cory Wallace (Kona Factory Team) | 0:23:30 |
10 | Matt Miller (Giant Mid Atlantic Off-Road Team) | 0:25:59 |
11 | Stephan Kincaid (Stan's NoTubes/AXA Equitable) | 0:27:50 |
12 | Michael Wissell (B2C2 p/b Boloco) | Row 11 - Cell 2 |
13 | Theo Procopos (Keswick Cycle) | 0:28:56 |
14 | Madison Matthews (The Bicycle Shop / MBR / Maxxis) | 0:37:24 |
15 | Luke Sagur (Carolina Bicycle Company/ Total Cyclist) | 0:38:19 |
16 | Jarrett Heitzman | 0:39:34 |
17 | Eric McKeegan (Dirt Rag) | 0:42:41 |
18 | James Spurk | 1:27:27 |
19 | Samir Salas (Diamond Adventure) | 1:28:27 |
20 | Andrew Cappella | 1:51:33 |
21 | Jesse Stauffer | 1:57:02 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Cheryl Sornson (Team CF) | 2:26:38 |
2 | Sue Haywood (Stan's NoTubes Elite Women) | 0:05:34 |
3 | Alice Pennington (Kona) | 0:07:43 |
4 | Sarah Kaufmann (Stan's NoTubes Elite Women) | 0:13:41 |
5 | Jenny Smith (Stan's NoTubes Elite Women) | 0:18:50 |
6 | Kristin Gavin (Team CF) | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
7 | Karen Potter (MTBR.com) | 0:24:09 |
8 | Shannon Gibson (Stan's NoTubes Elite Women) | 0:28:02 |
9 | Karen Brooks (Dirt Rag Magazine) | 0:50:50 |
10 | Rachel Brown (Team LUNA chix) | 1:02:28 |
11 | Sarah Hansing (Race Pace Bikes) | 1:14:46 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Dejay Birtch (Niner/Ergon) | 2:36:14 |
2 | Rich Dillen (Team Dicky) | 0:01:52 |
3 | Clay Chiles (Faster Mustache) | 0:09:42 |
4 | Chris Merriam (Crosshairs Racing) | 0:20:10 |
5 | Steven Thompson (Big Pig Racing/Western) | 0:32:24 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Jonathan Davis (Trek Bike Store Boulder Racing) | 2:15:04 |
2 | Kenneth Wehn (Stan's NoTubes Elite Masters) | 0:01:36 |
3 | Ezekiel Hersh (Honey Stinger Bontrager/ Breck Epic) | 0:11:52 |
4 | Rich Bartlett (Block Bikes) | 0:13:36 |
5 | Garth Prosser (Ashford SUrgical) | 0:15:57 |
6 | Pat Doyle (Deadgoat Racing) | 0:23:29 |
7 | Bruce Stauffer (Trek Bicycle Store Charlotte) | 0:25:11 |
8 | Donnie Harries (Greenway Bicycles) | 0:27:54 |
9 | John Kuhn (Cranford Bike Team/CTS) | 0:28:04 |
10 | Nathan Ruch (Evolution Racing) | 0:32:02 |
11 | Rob Campbell (BikeLine) | 0:32:13 |
12 | Brent Fargo (Oakville Cyclepath Race Team) | 0:35:12 |
13 | Stu Hess (MBR/The Bicycle Shop) | 0:37:14 |
14 | Nate Means | 0:45:20 |
15 | Kevin Maldonado | 0:49:35 |
16 | Hal Judd (Oakville Cyclepath) | 0:55:42 |
17 | Oscar Velazco (Diamond Adventure) | 1:24:36 |
18 | Luis Urteaga (Diamond Adventure) | 1:33:36 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Jim Matthews (MBR / The Bicycle Shop) | 2:44:01 |
2 | Scott Thomson | 0:08:26 |
3 | Jim Wilson (Team CF) | 0:51:01 |
4 | Keith Bontrager (Bontrager/Trek) | 0:57:23 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Jake Wells (BreckEpic/NoTubes) | 2:21:06 |
Row 1 - Cell 0 | Dax Masey (BreckEpic/NoTubes) | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
2 | Tim Zimmerman (First Place Racing.com) | 0:11:00 |
Row 3 - Cell 0 | Troy Zimmerman (zboys Racing / Endurance Factor) | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
3 | Jake Wade (Philadephia Ciclismo) | 0:08:45 |
Row 5 - Cell 0 | Steven Ordons (Philadephia Ciclismo) | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
4 | Mike Festa (The Philadelphia Ciclismo TSEpic p/b NoTubes.com) | 0:00:01 |
Row 7 - Cell 0 | Craig Lebair (The Philadelphia Ciclismo TSEpic p/b NoTubes.com) | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
5 | Andy Ording (Hoosier Old Boys) | 1:09:15 |
Row 9 - Cell 0 | Todd Winget (Hoosier Old Boys) | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
6 | Scott Perschke (TwoSes) | 0:04:57 |
Row 11 - Cell 0 | Stan Ritchie (TwoSes) | Row 11 - Cell 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Juan Garcia (JCTracing/Deadgoat) | 2:44:18 |
Row 1 - Cell 0 | Trish Grajczyk (JCTracing/Deadgoat) | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
2 | Lawrence Plug (Kaarin/Lawrence) | 0:11:58 |
Row 3 - Cell 0 | Kaarin Tae (Kaarin/Lawrence) | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
3 | Karen Rishel (NoTubes Endurance Racing) | 0:02:20 |
Row 5 - Cell 0 | Alan Rishel (NoTubes Endurance Racing) | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
4 | David Cook (Pisgah Area Cycling) | 0:35:37 |
Row 7 - Cell 0 | Cissy Fowler (Pisgah Area Cycling) | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
5 | Joel Nankman (Will we still be married?) | 0:13:02 |
Row 9 - Cell 0 | Jessica Nankman (Will we still be married?) | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Tim Johnson(Volkswagen/People For Bikes/Cannondale/NoTubes/TSE) | 1:56:37 |
2 | Chip Meek (Team CF) | 0:19:24 |
3 | Mike Boyes (CO/VA Connection) | 0:56:01 |
4 | Wels Baker (Baker Installations) | 0:57:50 |
5 | Darren Miskiewicz (Team Dogfish p/b The Captain) | 1:01:05 |
6 | John Miller(Misfit Warriors) | 1:11:47 |
7 | Denver Poole (On the Rocks) | 1:14:07 |
8 | Matt Allyn(Bicycling Mag) | 1:24:46 |
9 | Skye Allsop (TEVR) | 2:01:04 |
10 | Jesse Kelly (Team CF) | 0:32:20 |
11 | Rich Oneil(Volkswagen/People For Bikes/Cannondale/NoTubes/TSE) | 0:48:52 |
12 | Jack Dalzell (Team CF) | 1:12:39 |
13 | Joey Boyle (CO/VA Connection) | 1:13:44 |
14 | Derek Bissett (CO/VA Connection) | 1:14:43 |
15 | Bruce Bedell (Misfit Warriors) | 1:15:29 |
16 | Jamie Harris(Team Dogfish p/b The Captain) | 1:22:47 |
17 | Dave Pryor (Team Dogfish p/b The Captain) | 1:25:56 |
18 | Mark Bowman(Bicycling Mag) | 1:25:57 |
19 | Chad Baker(Baker Installations) | 1:40:02 |
20 | Derek Reynolds (On the Rocks) | 1:42:58 |
21 | Nate Cross (Team CF) | 1:45:21 |
22 | Steven Hecht (Misfit Warriors) | 1:54:31 |
23 | Kaitlyn Broadhurst (Team CF) | 1:56:54 |
24 | Tanner Davis (CO/VA Connection) | 2:01:01 |
25 | Joel Light (TEVR) | 2:01:03 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Fred Baker(Baker Installations) | 4:49:11 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale Factory Racing) | 10:57:10 |
2 | Barry Wicks (Kona) | 0:22:28 |
3 | Drew Edsall (Kenda / Felt) | 0:29:07 |
4 | Matthys Beukes | 0:29:57 |
5 | Aaron Snyder (Scott Pro Mountain Bike Team) | 0:30:54 |
6 | Justin Lindine (Redline) | 0:48:47 |
7 | Cary Smith (Team CF) | 0:55:41 |
8 | Chris Michaels | 1:10:56 |
9 | Stephan Kincaid (Stan's NoTubes/AXA Equitable) | 1:48:57 |
10 | Cory Wallace (Kona Factory Team) | 1:49:39 |
11 | Matt Miller (Giant Mid Atlantic Off-Road Team) | 1:53:31 |
12 | Michael Wissell (B2C2 p/b Boloco) | 2:03:38 |
13 | Madison Matthews (The Bicycle Shop / MBR / Maxxis) | 2:33:16 |
14 | Theo Procopos (Keswick Cycle) | 2:44:55 |
15 | Luke Sagur (Carolina Bicycle Company/ Total Cyclist) | 2:51:36 |
16 | Jarrett Heitzman | 3:22:11 |
17 | Eric McKeegan (Dirt Rag) | 4:21:54 |
18 | Jesse Stauffer | 4:42:34 |
19 | Samir Salas (Diamond Adventure) | 5:44:10 |
20 | James Spurk | 6:32:06 |
21 | Andrew Cappella | 8:48:12 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Cheryl Sornson (Team CF) | 13:07:34 |
2 | Sue Haywood (Stan's NoTubes Elite Women) | 0:10:27 |
3 | Jenny Smith (Stan's NoTubes Elite Women) | 0:38:09 |
4 | Sarah Kaufmann (Stan's NoTubes Elite Women) | 1:02:18 |
5 | Kristin Gavin (Team CF) | 1:03:17 |
6 | Alice Pennington (Kona) | 1:05:04 |
7 | Shannon Gibson (Stan's NoTubes Elite Women) | 2:50:52 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Dejay Birtch (Niner/Ergon) | 13:28:32 |
2 | Rich Dillen (Team Dicky) | 0:38:46 |
3 | Clay Chiles (Faster Mustache) | 1:34:10 |
4 | Chris Merriam (Crosshairs Racing) | 2:17:39 |
5 | Steven Thompson (Big Pig Racing/Western) | 4:33:24 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Jonathan Davis (Trek Bike Store Boulder Racing) | 12:17:13 |
2 | Ezekiel Hersh (Honey Stinger Bontrager/ Breck Epic) | 0:07:42 |
3 | Kenneth Wehn (Stan's NoTubes Elite Masters) | 0:24:25 |
4 | Garth Prosser (Ashford SUrgical) | 0:58:30 |
5 | Rich Bartlett (Block Bikes) | 1:08:01 |
6 | Donnie Harries (Greenway Bicycles) | 1:15:03 |
7 | Mike Abraham (Tall Tree Cycles) | 1:29:15 |
8 | Pat Doyle (Deadgoat Racing) | 1:39:53 |
9 | Bruce Stauffer (Trek Bicycle Store Charlotte) | 1:40:03 |
10 | Nathan Ruch (Evolution Racing) | 1:44:36 |
11 | Brent Fargo (Oakville Cyclepath Race Team) | 2:11:30 |
12 | John Kuhn (Cranford Bike Team/CTS) | 2:32:11 |
13 | Rob Campbell (BikeLine) | 2:32:47 |
14 | Nate Means | 3:19:51 |
15 | Stu Hess (MBR/The Bicycle Shop) | 3:35:10 |
16 | Hal Judd (Oakville Cyclepath) | 4:22:07 |
17 | Kevin Maldonado | 5:04:44 |
18 | Luis Urteaga (Diamond Adventure) | 6:45:36 |
19 | Oscar Velazco (Diamond Adventure) | 7:15:49 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Jim Matthews (MBR / The Bicycle Shop) | 14:05:53 |
2 | Scott Thomson | 1:32:27 |
3 | Jim Wilson (Team CF) | 3:21:31 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Jake Wells (BreckEpic/NoTubes) | 13:04:57 |
Row 1 - Cell 0 | Dax Masey (BreckEpic/NoTubes) | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
2 | Troy Zimmerman (zboys Racing / Endurance Factor) | 0:22:12 |
Row 3 - Cell 0 | Tim Zimmerman (First Place Racing.com) | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
3 | Mike Festa (The Philadelphia Ciclismo TSEpic p/b NoTubes.com) | 0:23:23 |
Row 5 - Cell 0 | Craig Lebair (The Philadelphia Ciclismo TSEpic p/b NoTubes.com) | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
4 | Jake Wade (Philadephia Ciclismo) | 0:06:07 |
Row 7 - Cell 0 | Steven Ordons (Philadephia Ciclismo) | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
5 | Todd Winget (Hoosier Old Boys) | 4:42:03 |
Row 9 - Cell 0 | Andy Ording (Hoosier Old Boys) | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Juan Garcia (JCTracing/Deadgoat) | 14:23:33 |
Row 1 - Cell 0 | Trish Grajczyk (JCTracing/Deadgoat) | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
2 | Karen Rishel (NoTubes Endurance Racing) | 1:21:24 |
Row 3 - Cell 0 | Alan Rishel (NoTubes Endurance Racing) | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
3 | Kaarin Tae (Kaarin/Lawrence) | 0:06:58 |
Row 5 - Cell 0 | Lawrence Plug (Kaarin/Lawrence) | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
4 | Cissy Fowler (Pisgah Area Cycling) | 1:39:02 |
Row 7 - Cell 0 | David Cook (Pisgah Area Cycling) | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
5 | Joel Nankman (Will we still be married?) | 1:31:46 |
Row 9 - Cell 0 | Jessica Nankman (Will we still be married?) | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team |
---|---|
1 | Volkswagon/People for Bikes/Cannondale/NoTubes/TSE |
2 | Team CF |
3 | CO/VA Connection |
4 | Baker Installations |
5 | Misfit Warriors |
6 | Team Dogfish p/b The Captain |
7 | TEVR |
8 | On the Rocks |
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