Lindine and Carey win stage 6 of the Trans-Sylvania Epic

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Justin Lindine (Redline/NBX) and Amanda Carey (Stan's NoTubes Women's Elite) won the queen stage of the Trans-Sylvania Epic mountain bike stage race on Friday. Stage 6 took racers over 40 miles, including gravel roads and rocky singletrack through Rothrock State Forest.

"I felt pretty good though it's always easy to say that after the fact," said Lindine. "Brian [Matter] and Sam [Koerber] had me on the rivet a couple of times. I had to work for it."

Carey said, "I felt pretty solid all day and had good legs."

Men

Lindine and Brian Matter (RACC / Trek / ProGold) escaped off the front together up the first major climb and descent.

"Today definitely seemed like more or less the last chance to possibly get my two minutes back on Sam," said Matter, who was in third in the GC and hoping to move back up to second. "It was fun to go out with the attitude that we're going to battle to the finish."

"The first climb of the day, a long doubletrack, I attacked and Justin followed. We got a gap on Sam, and I pushed it pretty hard. Sam was getting further and further behind, and I was like 'This is what I wanted.'"

Koerber [ProGold] was pushed to the limit. "Whew, man, I was hurting. I did the best I could to go fast, but I could not quite go that fast. I was by myself and going steady. They were gaining, gaining, gaining, and the gap got up to about 45 seconds."

What may have been the highlight of the day for Matter occurred on the high speed, bumpy, grassy double/singletrack descent down Detweiler. "We did that fast downhill, and I was either hallucinating or I saw a giant porcupine cross right in front of us."

Matter and Lindine stayed away up and over the next major climb on Bear Meadows Road. A fast, gravel descent followed with an abrupt right turn into the infamously rocky John Wert trail. Despite sunshine and hot temperatures, the John Wert trail was somehow full of slippery, wet rocks and roots.

Matter said, "I took a good line, but it wasn't on the trail any more. I was like 'This is really technical and rocky,' and I was picking my way through it, but I wasn't on the course any more. Justin was following me and was said, 'Brian, up here'. So I had to stop and go up the trail a little by foot. I got on Justin's wheel and he crashed. Then he crashed again."

It was enough to disrupt the rhythm of the two leaders.

"Sam's a great technical rider and he was back on us and smiling and like 'It didn't work guys'," said Matter. "From then on, it was status quo."

"It went pretty well on the John Wert trail, and by the end of that trail, I'd caught them. I was like 'Game on'. That was going to be the race," said Koerber.

The three riders regrouped and backed it off a little, taking turns pulling, but it wasn't an easy pace.

"I was hanging by a thread on the climbs, and Brian attacked a few times," said Koerber.

Matter said, "We rode hard on the climbs, but I think the heat and the fatigue were starting to get to everyone. Any chance I could, I was at the front and going pretty hard."

In fact, Lindine had a bottle bounce out on an early descent and was riding with limited water to the first aid station.

The three leaders were together down Lonberger, up Bear Meadows Road and onto the Tussey ridge. Matter, the only one of the three who was going for the enduro segments, set the tempo.

"Leading on Tussey, I was pushing the pace," said Matter. "I feel like I'd hit a section good and open up a gap, and then I'd get hit by a heat wave, like someone opened the oven door or someone stuck me inside a dryer. Then my five-second advantage would disappear. Toward the top of that ridge, I was out of energy. I was still riding smoothly, but I wasn't going that fast."

Lindine said, "It was so hot out there today - it was easy to get behind on hydration out there. It was easy to get overheated, and the heat fatigues you more quickly. I think you pay a higher price for having to go into the red zone in the heat. Tussey was exposed, and it was hard to drink up there because it's pretty technical. That was a taxing section - like 30 minutes without being able to drink."

The two enduro segments were back-to-back, and when Matter paused to swipe out of one and into the other, Koerber and Lindine got away for good.

Koerber had a small gap on Lindine, but the race leader closed it quickly on the roads that followed the final enduro section.

"I could draft for a few miles, but then Justin turned it on," said Koerber. "I was dying toward the finish, but I didn't get caught."

Lindine powered away from Koerber on the final gravel climbs. "We were kind of working together, but I could tell he was hurting, and I got on the front and took a giant pull," said Lindine. "I looked back and had a gap and then stuck it in after that. It was further to the finish than I thought it was."

"It felt good to win the queen stage. This was arguably the hardest stage of the week," said Lindine. "In the back of my mind, I thought it'd be cool to cap it off by winning this stage. I tried to play my cards well and it worked out."

Lindine rode in solo for the stage win, while Koerber rode alone into second. Matter followed in third.

While many racers found all the road sections to be a bit of a slog in the heat, most enjoyed the singletrack.

Koerber said, "This stage was the most fun stage with the best singletrack. If I came back here to ride, this is what I'd ride. There was more flow today. I kind of liked the road sections. If I was drafting somebody, those were great parts. All of these stages have been a good mix of road and singletrack. Nobody likes doing all singletrack. It drags it out too long."

Women

In the women's race, Andrea Wilson (Brickhouse Racing) rode aggressively at the start to defend her GC.

"Andrea took off on that first climb, and I jumped on her wheel," said Carey.

Sue Haywood (Stan's NoTubes) struggled to stay with them and was gapped off on the first two climbs. "Andrea started hard and was setting the pace up that first grassy climb. I was gapped off, but I could see her and Amanda," said Haywood. "The three of us were together down Detweiler. Andrea pushed the pace up Bear Meadows, and I gapped off again, but I caught them at the top of the climb. The three of us rolled into John Wert together, but then we never saw Andrea again."

Behind them, Sarah Kaufmann (Stan's NoTubes) chased alone.

"Yesterday took the wind out of my sails a little bit, but it was a little motivating to be under some serious pressure," said Kaufmann. "I kind of remembered the start, and I made the split up the first climb, then I full got popped on the doubletrack climb."

"I knew Andrea had to be under some pretty good pressure up there, so I tried to not kill myself to get her. I tried to be patient."

Wilson crashed on the John Wert trail, hard enough to want to take a minute to sit and recover afterward. She'd been pushing it to defend her second place in the GC.

Kaufmann said, "I caught Andrea in John Wert, then I could see Sue and Amanda forever, until Tussey."

Carey and Haywood set the pace at the front of the race. Carey enjoyed following Haywood through the rocky sections. "I held my own, but riding behind her is still inspiring. She's amazing," said Carey.

The two rode a majority of the stage together, including up and over Tussey Ridge. Carey said that pre-riding the stage prior to the race proved a big help as she knew what to expect on the slightly uphill, rocky technical singletrack.

"Amanda helped me out by setting the pace on all the roads," said Haywood. "We rolled Tussey together. None of that felt super fast. We just went steady on our pacing. At the end, with four or five miles to go, Amanda did her thing on the gravel, and I just suffered, thinking about time."

Carey said, "We had no idea where Andrea was, but we knew that the harder we rode, the more time we would make up. I had a little more left in the tank than Sue did on that last section."

Kaufmann rode alone in third, also trying to make up time on Wilson. "I cracked pretty hard up on Tussey and lost some major time up there. I just kept looking over my shoulder and tried to think it wasn't about beating her, but was about putting some time into her."

Carey rode away from Haywood in the final miles and took the stage victory. Haywood rolled in for second and moved up from third to second in the GC.

Kaufmann rode in for third after a long day, but with enough time on Wilson to move up into third in the GC while Wilson dropped from second to fourth in the overall.

Racers in all categories faced hot and humid conditions, especially in sections of road and trail exposed to the sun. Fortunately for them, much of the course was mostly shaded in the Pennsylvania woods.

"It was a hot day," said Carey. "That played a factor in how I planned to take on the stage. I didn't have a ton of work to do today, but I also wanted to get my fire back after yesterday. I pretty much went for it, but keeping in mind that I wanted to look after teammates and not hurt them."

U25

Local rider Madison Matthews (The Bicycle Shop/MBR/Maxxis) used stage 6 to put large chunks of time into his lead competitors and take the U25 leader's jersey.

"I went into it with the same mental attitude [as the day before]: just go from the start," said Matthews.

Matthews' aggressive start was not enough at first to shake Cory Rimmer (Piney Flats Bicycles/Dean Endurance), who desperately wanted to reclaim time lost from multiple flats in the previous stage. Coming into the aid station, Matthews had Rimmer in his sites and pursued him viciously.

"Once [Cory Rimmer] gets on your wheel, it's really hard to shake him off," said Matthews on Rimmer's resilience. The former race leader would not give up easily, but eventually lost time in the more technical sections of the race.

"I'm just mentally defeated in the rocks right now," said Rimmer. Matthews, who trains frequently on the trails featured in stage 6, mentioned that his tactical advantages in the stage came from his expertise in "riding the rocks and knowing where the tops of the climbs were".

Madison leads the U25 overall competition by 10 minutes over second-place Gunnar Bergey (Team Seifert) and by 16 minutes over Rimmer.

Despite his strong ride throughout the week, Rimmer remained despondent about his misfortune. "You come here to win," said Rimmer, "Second and third get pats on the back." Rimmer seemed open to the idea of returning to compete in the 2014 edition of the race, noting that he would be "a lot more prepared" for the race the next time around.

Singlespeed men

In the singlespeed men's competition, the day began with the typical neck-to-neck racing between race leader Matt Ferrari (FreezeThaw/Hubcap Cycles) and second-place Dax Massey(Breck Epic/Honey Stinger/Light and Motion).

"Dax was going a little slow on the climbs yesterday, so I decided to try to turn the heat up early on," said Ferrari. "I dropped him on the first couple and he would catch back up on the trail when I was trying to recover."

Massey rode persistently with Ferrari for most of the race. But when the riders entered Tussey Ridge, Ferrari found the day's heat unbearable. A local rider, Ferrari said, "I was dabbing on rocks I've ridden a hundred times." Pulling back his pace, Ferrari allowed Massey to develop a sizeable lead that would grow to two minutes at the end of the day. Dejay Birtch (Ride for Reading/Stan's NoTubes/Maxxis/Pivot) finished third in the stage.

Despite the strong finish in today's stage, Ferrari retains the leader's jersey by 12 minutes over Massey.

Masters men 40+

Nathan Ruch (Evolution) extended his lead with a first place finish of 3:20:02. Bob Radzwich (The Bicycle Shop/Vassago), used his local knowledge of the trails to boost his way to a second place finish. Alex Hawkins worked to chase Radzwich, but would finish two minutes back in third place.

In the overall GC, Ruch and Hawkins remain in first and second, respectively, while Radzwich's strong ride moves him to third place.

Masters men 50+

John Williams finished first with a time of 3:51:36, thereby adding 14 minutes to his already strong buffer over second place stage finisher Joe McCarthy. Jack Dalzell (Team CF-Ohio) finished third in the day and retained his third place standing in GC.

Duo Men

Jon Firth and Drew Simson (TransRockies/Honey Stinger/Planet Foods) rebounded after a rough stage 5 and continued to develop their lead in the GC. The duo had a finishing time of 3:14:50, over 24 minutes ahead of second-place Mike Festa and Craig Lebair (Philadelphia Ciclismo). Pawling Cycle and Sport riders Paul Wojciak and Christian Baks finished third, while a surprising fourth place went to Marc Basiliere and Tyler Benedict (Bikerumor.com).

In the GC competition, Firth and Simson remain in first place with almost an hour gap over Festa and Lebair in second. Baks and Wojciak remain in third.

Duo Co-ed

Lawrence Plug and Kaarin Tae (Java Blend) finished first in stage 6, only four minutes ahead of Crosshairs Cycling riders Libbey Sheldon and Chris Merriam. Though a close race, the first place finish allowed the Java Blend team to increase their lead in GC to over 32 minutes. Elizabeth Shaner and Sean Riley (Griggs Orthopedics) took third in the stage and remain third in the GC standings.

Enduro

In a heated enduro competition, Brian Matter (RACC/Trek/Progold) and Zach Adams (Toasted Head Racing) tied for first. With the tie-breaker, Adams was awarded first place in the stage. Derek Bissett (NoTubes/Trans-Sylvania Epic/BMC) came in with a very close time to finish third in the stage.

Despite the stage results, the enduro GC remained unchanged, with Drew Edsall (Kenda/Felt) retaining the leader's jersey, Bissett in second, and Adams in third.

Stage 7: Bald Eagle Little Poe

Racers will cover 26 miles with 3,300 feet of climbing during the final stage in Bald Eagle State Forest. While the men's and women's GC seem relatively set, anything can happen.

"Tomorrow is fun and has some good trails in it. It's generally fast... maybe two hours for us," said Lindine. "I don't have any big ambitions about tomorrow, but I think there are some people who are looking for a stage win, and we'll have some aggressive racing. I need to be careful and mark the right people. I'm cautiously optimistic."

Koerber said, "I'm sure Brian won't give up yet. He's probably working on his recovery right now."

Non-elite category reports written by Tim Darwick.

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