Koerber and Wilson win Trans-Sylvania stage 5

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Sam Koerber (ProGold) and Andrea Wilson (Brickhouse Racing) won stage 5 of the Trans-Sylvania Epic on Thursday. Justine Lindine (Redline/NBX) and Amanda Carey (Stan's NoTubes Elite Women's Team) defended their yellow leaders' jerseys; however, the stage was not without drama.

The top four women in the GC, all Stan's NoTubes Women's Elite Team riders, went off course about 10 miles into the 22-mile stage. They, along with some other riders, descended into a valley before they realized their mistake and had to climb back up to the spot they made the wrong turn.

Carey had such a huge lead going into the day's stage that she kept her overall lead, but Wilson moved up into second, ahead of Sue Haywood (Stan's NoTubes) in second.

In the men's overall, Lindine continues to lead, but Koerber moved up one spot, jumping ahead of Brian Matter (RACC/Trek/ProGold), who flatted early in the stage.

Racers competed on old school, rocky Pennsylvania-style singletrack linked together by smooth gravel roads. It was the first properly hot and humid day of the Trans-Sylvania Epic, with temperatures reaching the high 80s.

Women

The women's race proved to me the most eventful contest of the day.

Feeling especially good for the day, Sarah Kaufmann (Stan's NoTubes Elite Women's Team) went to the front near the start and got a gap. After a bit, race leader Carey caught up to her, and the two were chased by Vicki Barclay (Stan's) and Sue Haywood (Stan's).

"I was surprised at how much time I lost yesterday and for whatever reason, I remembered this course better than any other from last year, so I felt like I really knew where to go for it and where to rest," said Kaufmann. "Apparently, I didn't remember it as well as I thought."

Kaufmann and Carey went right instead of left at a key intersection. Instead of staying up on the ridge and heading toward the second enduro segment, a major singletrack downhill, the pair split right and started flying downhill on a road.

"We descended a long fireroad. I stopped halfway down and put my foot down and said that I thought it wasn't right - I knew we lost elevation last year on singletrack and not on a road," said Kaufmann. "But then Vicki and Sue came up on us and Amanda was like 'Sue's right there', so we kept going."

"I should have listened to myself because I just knew it wasn't right. We got down to the road and sure enough, it wasn't right, so we went back up."

Carey said, "I don't have that much experience going off course because I tend to stay on course. But stuff happens. I hit my lap timer at the bottom of that climb, so not counting the descent, I was riding at my max on that climb to get back up to where we missed the turn, and I got 22 minutes. So it was 22 minutes plus the time down that we lost."

"It was just one of those turns. We were riding with a local [a GC leader in a Masters category - ed.], and he loves telling everyone where we're going and what's coming up. He's been so helpful, and we all went the wrong way. Then I heard him swearing, and he'd had a mechanical so we kept going."

Haywood said, "I had just caught up to the other girls after having gotten dropped on the prologue climb, and I basically just followed them and had my head down. Sarah knew it was wrong, and I don't know why we didn't listen. She said she didn't remember that downhill."

"I feel like an idiot. It's always the fatal mistake to follow others. When you're going downhill, it feels so good," said Haywood. "I was surprised how much time we lost. I feel like it's so ironic. I keep having to claw my way back into this GC. It takes its toll. After the first day, I said I'd take it day by day, and that's what I'm doing."

After the four Stan's ladies and their companions from other categories got back on track, they started a chase that would last more than half the race.

Kaufmann struggled a bit. "Passing people was not the problem after we were back on course. Getting motivated was. It was like my mojo was gone," she said.

Carey fared much better. "Honestly, I didn't think once about having gone off course," she said. "I found myself riding with people who were lamenting that we got off course, but that wasn't helping. I wanted to minimze the damage. Sue caught back on to me at about the halfway point. I had an extra bottle so thankfully, I didn't run out of water after getting lost."

"Sue said to me, 'We just have to race really hard,' so we did. We went as fast as we could that was still safe."

The pair rode together until the final dirt climb, when Carey pulled away from Haywood. Kaufmann chased alone on her own behind them, followed by Barclay, also riding solo.

The four women did not catch Wilson or Sonya Looney, both whom had gotten ahead while the Stan's ladies were making their way back onto the course.

Wilson caught up to Looney going into the second enduro section, and the two rode together for the duration of the stage, having no idea they were in the lead of the women's race.

"We weren't riding easily, but we weren't trying to attack each other and kick each other's butts because I had like 20 minutes on her in the GC," said Wilson.

"We rode together, not knowing everyone in front had gone off course. We agreed to roll across the line together. I don't know if one of us had a wheel ahead because I didn't pay attention at all."

Officials called the stage for Wilson, who gained enough time to jump up to second in the GC, behind leader Carey. It was Wilson's second stage win of her career - the other came in stage 5 of the Breck Epic last summer.

"It's amazing. It's crazy. I hate that some people went off course, but at the same time, I passed the same spot and didn't go more than 20 feet off course. But that's bike racing."

Going off course shuffled the GC and set up a battle for the final two stages. Carey still has a 10-minute lead, but there is a healthy battle for the remaining spots brewing.

"Sue is two minutes behind me. I'm going to fight to stay in the top 3. I think tomorrow, the gloves will come off and they will be angry. Tomorrow will bring a whole new level of hurt," said Wilson.

Men

The pace was fast on a prologue loop climb as the favorites applied pressure to whittle down the lead group heading into the numerous rocky singletrack sections.

Race leader Lindine said, "We went pretty hard up the first climb after the neutral section. Drew Edsall [Kenda/Felt] was pushing the pace. We had a small group which formed, but it was without Brian [Matter], although none of us knew why."

Matter was busy dealing with some untimely bad luck.

"Maybe five minutes into the race, I went into the first section of singletrack in about eighth wheel and we weren't going that fast, so I thought I was ok in eighth position," said Matter, "but then it started tilting down. The trail was getting rocky and everyone was zig-zagging to find a good line. My sight line wasn't that great, and I got a rear flat."

Matter used a CO2 to re-inflate the tire, and it sealed well enough to get him up the next dirt road, but the rear tire was flat again and he had to stop and put a tube in before the next singletrack section.

"Flatting that early in the race puts you into that first enduro segment behind 50 or 60 people. It was a lot of traffic, but then it finally spread out."

At the front, Koerber and Lindine were crushing it, until the others had come off on a long, uphill, rocky, technical singletrack section.

"We were kind of working together," said Koerber. "I was able to get a little gap on the enduro segment, but I sat up afterward and got some food. I rode the whole first half without water after my bottle bounced out early on. It was a hot day to be without water, and I was just hanging on Justin on the climbs until I could get some more water."

Lindine said, "We were both putting in some digs. He'd try to ride me off in the technical sections, and I'd try to ride him off on the gravel. We were pretty evenly matched. Neither of us wanted to put each of ourselves super deep into the hurt locker because tomorrow will be a really hard day. It was a good situation for Sam because he was gaining time on Brian, and it was a good situation for me because I was gaining time on Brian."

"As long as I didn't get dropped by Sam, I was ok with the status quo."

Coming into the finish, the two riders were together.

"We came across the line together," said Koerber. "I jammed my chain coming right across the line, and he gave me a little push to get across first so that I could get the stage win."

"It was the reverse of stage 3 when I was the odd man out and Justin and Brian were together. I knew I could get some time back today, especially with two of us trading pulls and working."

Lindine summed up the day, "It was a good day and fun. It was unbelievably hot. It was kind of a shock to go from 60 degrees and raining to 90 and humid today. That was hurting everyone a little bit."

"I felt bad from Brian. I know how it feels to have a mechanical so early on and to have to chase. It's not an easy course to move up through traffic."

Edsall chased behind the two leaders while Matter closed on him, catching him near the end.

"I felt great and I rode within myself," said Matter. "I ended up catching Drew Edsall coming into the dirt road finish section. I made it back up to forth."

"It's a little disappointing to lose more time to Sam. Take away a few flat tires, and I think I'd be right up there. Tomorrow, I'll go with a little less. I think tomorrow will be more tire pressure and less suspension pressure to even things out."

Koerber gained enough time to overtake Matter for second in the GC, which Lindine continues to lead.

Singlespeed men

With a 14-minute lead in the GC, Matt Ferrari (FreezeThaw/Hubcap Cycles) went into stage 5 in a strong position to defend his leader's jersey. However, for second place Dax Massey (Breck Epic/Honey Stinger/Light and Motion), time was limited to close the gap and unseat the lead single speed rider.

"I tried to get into the singletrack first and put the pressure on him," Massey said. Coming into the race in substantially better form than last year, Massey successfully opened up a small gap between himself and Ferrari coming into the aid station halfway through the course.

Ferrari remained close enough to Massey to keep him in his sights. "I could just barely see him on the longer climb sections leading up to the aid station," Ferrari said. The pair would rejoin shortly after the aid station and would remain together through the end of the race. In the second half of the race, Massey dropped his chain but was able to chase back to Ferrari quickly.

Coming into the final section of the course, Ferrari mentions he "wasn't sure whether we had a 'gentleman's agreement'" for ending the race without a full-on sprint. Massey cleared the confusion by reminding Ferrari of the road gap jump at the end of the trail segment, thus commencing a long sprint finish. "We started going into it like a BMX race," Ferrari commented.

Massey crossed the line just ahead of Ferrari to take the stage win. David Yacobelli (Corning/NoTubes) placed third. Today's finishes did not result in any changes to the GC, with Ferrari still leading Massey by fourteen minutes and Yacobelli sitting comfortably in third.

U25

U25 race leader Cory Rimmer ceded over 20 minutes to his top contenders after suffering from multiple flats and the misfortune of turning off course.

Madison Matthews (The Bicycle Shop/MBR/Maxxis), sitting third in the GC after the previous stage, took control early on in the race. "I broke away from the start and really just wanted to get as much time out of today as possible," said Matthews, who would go on to take the stage win, with Logan Taylor and Gunnar Bergey following in second and third, respectively.

Throughout the race, Rimmer battled with a frustrating trio of flats that allowed Matthews, as well as other contenders, to build their lead over the GC leader. Compounding his bad luck, Rimmer went off course in a tricky section of trail, losing even more time to his competition.

With the time lost in today's race, Rimmer relinquished his command of the U25 leader's jersey to Gunnar Bergey, who now sits only two minutes ahead of second-place Matthews in the GC.

After the race, Rimmer appeared frustrated but prepared to tackle the next day. Commenting on his chances of regaining the leader's jersey, Rimmer acknowledged that "it'd take a big effort" due to his competitions' strong riding and Matthew's local knowledge of the trails.

Duo men

The duo men results appeared a bit different for stage 5, as Mike Festa and Craig Lebair (Philadelphia Ciclismo) ended the winning streak of Jon Firth and Drew Simson (TransRockies/Honey Stinger/Planet Foods) with their first place finish. The TransRockies team placed second, losing two minutes to the Philadelphia Ciclismo duo.

The powerhouse team of Firth and Simson experienced major setbacks in the stage as Firth broke his derailleur in the first half of the race. After developing a sizeable gap, Festa and Lebair worked hard to sustain their lead. Despite an impressive chase, Simson and Firth were unable to close the gap to the stage winners.

"It was fantastic and we still almost got beat, so we're very happy to be in first tonight," noted Festa.

Duo coed

In another exciting upset, Chris Merriam and Libbey Sheldon (Crosshairs Cycling) developed a small lead over GC leaders Kaarin Tae and Lawrence Plug (Java Blend) to take their first stage win of the week. However, the win would gain the Crosshairs Cycling team only fifteen seconds over second place, leaving Tae and Plug comfortably in first for GC. Elizabeth Shaner and Sean Riley (Griggs Orthopedics) rack up another third place finish, leaving the overall GC unaffected.

Masters 40+

In the back-and-forth competition of the Masters 40+ race, Nathan Ruch (Evolution) raced aggressively to finish first. The impressive ride put almost thirteen minutes into second place stage finisher Alex Hawkins, who previously led the GC by only three minutes. Rob Campbell finished third.

In the GC, Ruch moved to first place, holding a nine-minute gap over Hawkins. Jon Stang (Crosstown Velo/Industry Nine) retains his third place standing in GC despite losing significant time and finishing tenth in today's stage.

Masters 50+

After dominating the race in the first few stages, race leader Jim Matthews DNF'd stage 5, thereby yielding the first place finish to John Williams.

Matthews received external assistance on the course, thereby making him ineligible for the day's stage win or an overall GC finish. Matthews will be able to ride the remaining stages of the Trans-Sylvania Epic, but will not be scored for stage or GC results.

With his first stage win, Williams becomes the current Masters 50+ race leader, holding a gap of almost an hour over second place GC contender Joe McCarthy. Finishing third for the day, Jack Dalzell (Team CF-Ohio) moves to third place in the overall standings.

Enduro

In the men's competition, the stage 5 enduro competition resulted in a three-way tie between Derek Bissett (NoTubes/Trans-Sylvania), Drew Edsall (Kenda/Felt), and Zachary Adams (Toasted Head Racing). The tie was resolved based on aggregate times - the competition is typically scored on a points basis - that left Bissett in first, followed by Edsall, then Adams.

With the three-way tie in stage results, Drew Edsall keeps the leader's jersey. Bissett keeps his second place standing, only three points behind. Adams' finish moves him up to third in the overall standings while Brian Matter (RACC/Trek/Progold) drops to fourth.

Andrea Wilson added to her successful day with a first place finish in the women's stage 5 enduro competition. Rhonda Pearce finished second, with Laura Gleason (TotalCyclist Mountain Bike Race Team) taking third on the stage. In the GC competition, Andrea Wilson broke her tie with competitor Sue Haywood to earn the leader's jersey. Rhonda Pearce and Jordan Salman (Pisgah Tavern) move up one spot each to finish second and third in the overall standings.

Stage 6

Friday's stage 6 is the queen stage in Rothrock State Forest.  Racers will cover 37 miles and nearly 5,000 feet of climbing, including going over the well known and scenic Tussey Mountain Ridge.

Non-elite reports written by Tim Darwick.

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