Lindine and Carey win Trans-Sylvania Epic overall

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Justin Lindine (Redline/NBX) and Amanda Carey (Stan's NoTubes Women's Elite) won the overall Trans-Sylvania Epic general classification on Saturday afternoon. Both riders successfully defended their leads throughout the entire seven-day race.

Lindine and Sarah Kaufmann (Stan's NoTubes Women's Elite) won the final stage through Bald Eagle State Forest.

Men

Going into the last stage, racer leader Justin Lindine had a solid lead and planned to ride conservatively.

"Before I started, I thought I was going to be disciplined and do the bare minimum to be safe," said Lindine. "I wasn't going to be very aggressive, but that plan quickly went out the window."

"Somehow I was leading through the first singletrack. I was like 'This is not what I intended.' We started racing and I was racing, too. That chip goes off and it's like 'game on'."

The expected battle between Sam Koerber (ProGold) and Brian Matter (RACC/Trek/ProGold) for the second and third spots in the GC did not materialize due to Matter suddenly coming down ill.

"Today's stage for me started last night. It was something I ate I think," said Matter. "After dinner, my stomach was rocking like a boat on the ocean. Probably at 2:00 am, I started barfing every 40 minutes. When I woke up this morning, I figured I wouldn't be racing."

"I went and talked to the race doctor this morning, and he gave me some anti-nausea medication and a liter of fluids so I could at least stand up with out feeling like I was going to pass out or open my mouth without it sticking together."

Hence, Matter was absent from the group of leaders, headed by Lindine, at least until the latter crashed while leading through a rock garden in the second singletrack section of the race.

"I crashed hard while I was leading the top group of five. I came into a rock garden and bungled it up. I went over the bars and landed on my knee and leg pretty hard. I chased back on. Then I settled in."

Phil Grove (Hammer Nutrition) was especially motivated and got away solo off the front.

"Not to take advantage of misfortune, but Brian had been sick all night, and I thought maybe I could wind up fifth," said Grove. "At the start of the enduro, I followed Aaron [Snyder] for a bit, then I realized I had a gap and just went for it on that loose section."

"I was by myself and maybe thinking about a win until the aid station. I knew I was one hour and 10 minutes behind in the GC, and I thought maybe Sam and Justin would let me go, but it wasn't in the cards. They were still racing."

Koerber and Lindine caught Grove at the aid station, and the three stayed together for awhile until Grove could no longer hang.

"We were creeping the pace up, and it turned into a race," said Koerber. "I guess we were all thinking about a stage win or something."

"In the last six miles or so, going into the singletrack, I started hammering. I thought I might take the stage. I had 30 seconds, but then I clipped a pedal and went sailing into the bushes. I got a little bruised up, and it took me a little while to get up. Justin passed and took it on to the finish."

Lindine rode in solo for the stage win. "I inadvertently won the stage," he said. "I'm psyched to win. It's been a big goal for the past few years. This year, I thought I stood a good chance of winning it."

"It's nice when a plan comes together with the form in a race. Some variables were hard to control. My best previous finish was fourth. I feel like I'm riding well right now."

Koerber rolled in for second on the day and kept his second in the overall.

In the race for third, Grove was caught and passed by Aaron Snyder (TSEpic Team) toward the end of the race. Drew Edsall (Kenda/Felt) rolled in for fifth.

Pale and weak from a night of puking, Matter pulled off an impressive ride to finish 10th on the day and to keep his third place overall in the GC.

"My strategy was to survive and to have a somewhat decent start so I wouldn't get caught in traffic. All I was thinking about today was trying to keep that third place overall."

Women

The Stan's NoTubes Women's Elite Team was on a mission during the final stage of the Trans-Sylvania Epic on Saturday.

"Today we had one objective as a team: We wanted to get Vicki [Barclay] back into fourth place in the GC," said overall race winner Amanda Carey. "She was only behind Andrea Wilson [Brickhouse Racing] by 40 seconds. We didn't care about cumulative time; we just wanted to get the GC back to where it was before we took that wrong turn on Thursday.

"We all worked hard yesterday to make up a lot of time, and we had a little more to do today."

Barclay, a State College local, has had a tough week and it wasn't going to be an easy day for her.

"I was struggling this morning to find it in me to race. I've been sick all week," said Barclay. "I also crashed on the road yesterday in the last section. Being sick, getting lost on Thursday, crashing on the road, I was a disaster this morning."

"Andrea asked me if I just wanted to ride party pace, and I said only if you give me my 40 seconds back, and she said "no", so we raced. It was all in good humor. It's racing. It wasn't her fault we got lost for half an hour. Yesterday, I needed to make up 17:40 and I made up 17:00. I think if I hadn't crashed, I might have done it then."

With that strategy in mind, Carey led from the gun, setting a fast pace with Barclay on her wheel. As the early doubletrack narrowed to singletrack, Carey planned to let Barclay pass to have a clear shot at the technical terrain.

"I was first wheel and Vicki was second wheel. Andrea was third wheel. When it went from double to narrow, I wanted to give Vicki the wheel because she rides this stuff all the time," said Carey. "I let her go around, and I started to get back on her wheel, and Andrea Wilson was right there and T-boned me. It wasn't a light bump. We both hit the deck in the bushes pretty hard. We both got up, but I think she had to stop and adjust her bars or saddle or something afterward."

Sarah Kaufmann (Stan's NoTubes) was in fourth place when Carey and Wilson crashed. She paused briefly to make sure they were ok. "Once I heard them both talking, I knew they were ok, and then I kept going."

Barclay led for a bit, and Kaufmann closed the gap to her. Behind them, Carey chased alone, followed by Sue Haywood (Stan's).

"We all regrouped at the aid station by chance," said Carey of her teammates. "We knew we had a gap, but not how big. We set a steady pace and stayed behind Vicki. None of us were going to attack her. We let Sarah and Vicki duke it out in front at the end."

"They were going to talk it out and give it to each other, but Sue and I said they should duke it out. We've been doing it all week - duking it out although we help each other when we can, too," said Carey.

Instead of duking it out, Carey eased back the throttle, her work done for the week.

"I took the last minute or two or three to relax and pedal by myself and let the week sink in," said Carey. "It feels good to win the overall. It's so much hard work, and I put so much training and preparation into it. I had a little injury in March that held me back from training the way I wanted to. Being able to come here and be on fire and have it go well, I feel like I nailed it."

"The riding here is hard. It's really technical. I'm super proud of the way I rode and kept my bike together. I didn't have a single flat or mechanical all week. I kept the body and the head together."

Kaufmann got ahead to take the stage win and finished 34 seconds ahead of Barclay. Haywood finished in third at 49 seconds, and Carey rolled in for fourth.

The team's work was good enough to accomplish their mission.

"Yes, I got my 40 seconds," said Barclay. "Today, we were working as an awesome team. They pulled me up to the singletrack and Amanda let me in first. Sarah helped me a bunch on the road."

Carey clinched the GC while Haywood and Kaufmann were second and third, respectively. Barclay claimed fourth and Wilson took fifth.

After finishing second, Haywood said, "I'm tired. Today was one of those days, you either have to go really slow or a little faster to just get it over with. There was no bar out in the woods this year, so it was like just get her done. It was neat to see these gals dig deep and go for it."

U25 men

After two disappointing stages for former U25 leader, Cory Rimmer (Piney Flats Bicycles/Dean Endurance) used stage 7 to put in one last effort to reclaim time on the GC. With six minutes separating him and second place Gunnar Bergey (Team Seifert), Rimmer executed an exhaustive attack.

"I just put it all out there," said Rimmer after the stage.

The attack was effective early in the day, growing to two minutes within the first few miles. As Rimmer attacked the gravel climbs, he built his lead to over five minutes by the end of the day, taking the stage win in the process.

However, the gap would not be sufficient to remove Bergey from the second step on the GC podium. Rimmer would still trail Bergey by almost a minute and a half.

Rimmer applauded the other racer's efforts. "Everyone I raced definitely deserved what they got," said Rimmer on his competitor's successes. Though not meeting his own personal expectations for the week, Rimmer acknowledged his shortcomings and had a definitive plan should he race again next year.

With the final stage concluded, Madison Matthews kept the U25 Leader's jersey, much to the cheers of the local cycling community. Gunnar Bergey keeps second place, while Rimmer's impressive ride secures third-place.

Singlespeed men

Coming into stage 7, race leader Matt Ferrari (FreezeThaw/Hubcap Cycles) held a comfortable lead over second place Dax Massey (Breck Epic/Honey Stinger/Light and Motion). However, with the two riders riding wheel-to-wheel the past few days, Ferrari did not have the luxury of easing up on the last day of the race.

Though close in the early segments of the race, Massey suffered from two flats throughout the 26-mile stage, causing him to lose six minutes to Ferrari by the time he hit the aid station.

"I just kept looking over my shoulder expecting him to come and get me, but he didn't," said Ferrari on Massey's unexpected absence from the lead of the race.

Massey was able to recover some time from his bad luck, but it would not be enough to catch Ferrari. The FreezeThaw/Hubcap Cycles rider took the stage win and earned the singlespeed leader's jersey for the 2013 Trans-Sylvania Epic.

Ferrari attributes his success throughout the week to his girlfriend's support, "Nita is my main teammate; she got me through this week. I couldn't have done this without her."

Masters 40+

With improved fitness in the second half of the week, Rob Campbell took his first stage win in the Masters 40+ competition. Chris Cyr (Bikeman.com) finished second, with four and a half minutes separating him from Campbell. Bob Radzwich (The Bicycle Shop/Vassago) also showed phenomenal late-week form, finishing third in Stage 7, only thirty seconds behind Cry.

In the GC standings, Nathan Ruch (Evolution) stays in first place to keep his NoTubes Leader's jersey, while Alex Hawkins and Rob Campbell take second and third, respectively.

Masters 50+

John Williams continued his control on the Masters 50+ field with another stage win. Williams closes out the 2013 Trans-Sylvania Epic in first-place for the GC, giving him the leader's jersey. Jack Dalzell and Joe McCarthy had a tight race today, with Dalzell finishing only thirty seconds ahead of McCarthy to take second place. The finish, however, was not enough to make up for McCarthy's sizeable lead in GC. McCarthy finishes second in the GC, while Dalzell finishes in third.

Duo Men

With the exception of one stage, TransRockies/Honey Stinger/Planet Foods riders Jon Firth and Drew Simson controlled the duo men's category for the entire week. The two took another stage win today, extending their GC lead to one hour and 10 minutes over second place stage and GC finishers Mike Festa and Craig Lebair (Philadelphia Ciclismo). Christian Baks and Paul Wojciak (Pawling Cycle and Sport) hold third place in the GC after finishing third in today's stage.

Duo Coed

Kaarin Tae and Lawrence Plug (Java Blend) take another duo co-ed stage victory with a seven minute lead over second place Elizabeth Shaner and Sean Riley (Griggs Orthopedics). The Java Blend riders secure their GC victory, while Crosshairs Cycling duo Libbey Sheldon and Chris Merriam take second on the GC podium. Shaner and Riley take the honor of third in the GC after a strong showing this week.

Enduro

Achieving one of his main goals for the week, Toasted Head Racing rider Zach Adams finishes first in the enduro results for stage 7. Clocking in only two-seconds behind Adams, Stephan Kincaid (Team Seifert) placed second in the stage's enduro competition, while Drew Edsall took third. For the women's enduro stage competition, Kaarin Tae (Java Blend) put in a phenomenal run for a first place finish. Enduro leader Andrea Wilson (Brickhouse Racing) finished thirteen seconds behind for second, and Jordan Salman (Pisgah Tavern) beat out Rhonda Pearce by two seconds for third place.

In the men's enduro classification, Drew Edsall (Kenda/Felt) finished first with a four-point lead over second place Derek Bissett (NoTubes/Trans-Sylvania Epic/BMC). Zach Adams' consistent riding landed him in third place.

In the women's enduro classification, Andrea Wilson retains her substantial lead to win the leader's jersey for the race. Rhonda Pearce and Jordan Salman finish second and third, respectively, in a very close competition.

Non-elite reports written by Tim Darwick.

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