Grant grabs the stage, Bishop up overall

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Day four of the Trans-Sylvania Epic started with a yellow school bus. Racers piled in two-to-a-seat for a swift ride to one of the oddest Pennsylvania trail systems in the state. The Raystown Lake trails are smooth, fast and not unlike a huge pump-track. For anyone who was complaining about stage three's abundance of gravel road, they were awarded a full day of trail.

Rusch lights it up

"It was more fun than I've had in a race in a long time" was how the day's women's winner described the day. "It was like a pump track. You could work all the angles and corners."

Rebecca Rusch (Specialized) managed to work every edge of her tyres to take a stage win and gain redemption after her stage two troubles. Rusch didn't lead from the start, but she did manage to work her way to the overall leader Selene Yeager (Team CF) and pass her.

Once she was around Yeager, Rusch let it rip on trails that she described as very similar to the dirt she rides in Utah.

Only a minute and a half behind at the finish, Yeager didn't lose much time in the overall and still has a 20-minute lead on Karen Potter (Mtbracenews.com). Rusch stays in third on the overall but might be moving up if she keeps the lights bright on the runway to the finishing day.

Group of five finishes together

When five guys are railing 32 miles of trail in two and a quarter hours, you would think it might have to go down in their diaries as a memorable day on the bike.

For Alex Grant (Cannondale Factory Racing) the day will probably be stacked away into the vault for telling war-stories from his youth. With only a couple of miles to go, Grant managed to scrape the elbow of Christian Tanguy (Team CF) as he passed in the single track to take the lead. The boxcars were ready to pass the engine at the sprint finish, but neither Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale Factory Racing), Brandon Draugelis (PAValleys.com), Drew Edsell (Yeti) or Tanguy could jump the tracks.

Grant's enthusiasm for the day was reflected in his comments:"It was an awesome day! The trails were buffed out perfectly."

The day started with Draugelis dropping into the single track first and got an early gap with Bishop and Edsell. Tanguy, Grant and Evan Plews (evanplews.com) were caught back about 60 feet. Tanguy managed to get around Plews and bridged the gap back to the front two. Grant followed shortly after, leaving Plews. Both Tanguy and Grant were looking to put time on Plews who is currently sitting in second place in the general classification.

At check point one, the top six were back together and Plews, who looked to be fading to black, was firmly back with the group. All the men skipped taking any water at the aid station. Soon after the aid station, Draugelis had a small gap on the group but missed a turn and disappeared. The group gave a pause and allowed a courtesy wait before stomping on through the roller-coaster trails. On the next climb, Draugelis was back with the group and Plews was beginning to fade.

Aid station two was a narrow road and as everyone was grabbing a bottle from their support crew, Tanguy decided to go with what was left in his hydration pack and took a quick lead with about 10 miles to go. After station two, Plews disappeared from the group. For the next 10 miles the tension began to grow as bodies got weary.

"I was going really fast and lost control on an undulation. I went airborn and landed on my front wheel and rode it for I don't know how long." said Tanguy. "I was getting a little tired and sloppy. Both wheels were sliding in corners."

When Tanguy caused a little pile-up Grant managed to get around from the back where he was sitting and only had Tanguy between him and the finish line. "I was rubbing his wheel a little. When I went, at first I thought he was going to let me go, then he surged in what seemed an afterthought. We were elbow to elbow so I backed off. Then I waited a second and went for it again and got a pass," said Grant.

Grant managed to hold that position to the end, and the train of five riders came across in five consecutive seconds. Tanguy held onto second, with Brandon in third, Edsell in fourth and Bishop in fifth.

Martin avoids turning missed turn into disaster

Greg Martin (Club Ride Apparel) reinstated his skills, riding away from Doug Jenne (High Gear Cyclery/ Ghostship Clothing) mid race, then after missing a turn he managed to regain a lead lost during the confusion.

Early in the day Martin and Jenne got passed by a sneaky Rich Dillen (Team Dickey) who posed as a geared rider when asking for a pass. When his magic trick was discovered, Jenne and Martin gave chase to a laughing Dickey. After catching him and watching Dickey fade away, Martin also left Jenne behind.

About 20 miles in, Martin, Jenne and Dickey missed the same turn and when they turned around, the race basically started over for the single speed class. Dave Cormier (CVC / Subaru of New England) made all the right turns and managed to hold off everyone in the single speed category except Martin.

Master men stay same in overall

Alec Petro (Team Psycho) managed to regain 12 minutes from current leader Garth Prosser (Cannondale) but still sits another 12 minutes back in the masters men category.

Duo team of Gavin and Theiman roll on

Krisitn Gavin and Nikki Theiman (Team CF) are enjoying their first stage race as the winning duo team. After a stage two bike explosion that reduced Gavin's ride to a single speed the two have managed to enjoy each other's company enough to continue another day.

The other duo team of Kim Jones and Marc Risdale (Misfit Psycles) are enjoying the Pennsylvania countryside.

Tandem riders back at it

Rob and Sara Lichtenwalner (PAValleys.com) got back on the tandem together after a stage three where Sara suffered dehydration.

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