May 3, 2004 - Page 2
Back on the road that evening to West Chester , for some much needed pizza and sleep. We were up again at 6 the next morning to head over to the Wilmington race. I have been atten ding this race for many years, and it never disappoints. The weather was on the fence all morning, it couldn’t decide if it wanted to rain or not, so we prepared for the worst and hoped for a dry race. The rain started shortly after we got our tents set up, an d c ame in a few waves of steady drizzle that soaked the course an d c ooled the air. The beginner and sport races were quite muddy and slick, with racers reporting lots of sketchy turns and root sections. I did some feeds for friends in the sport race while Steve, our mechanic, did a bunch of pre-race checkups on all the racers’ bikes and the rest of the gang rested up and got ready for the main event. We handed out tons of Emer’gen C samples to tired happy sport racers and showed off our thumping JBL sound system while we waited for the 1 pm start time. Suiting up today for the pro mens race were Chris, Todd and David, with Caitlyn pulling a double header in the pro womens race and myself taking a stab at the mens singlespeed division. Patrick Leslie competed in the sport race but suffered a broken derailleur hanger and was unable to finish.
At the start of the race the rain had quit and the sun was trying hard to show itself through the clouds. The course conditions were still quite treacherous with very slick roots showing through the trail surface on many of the tight turns making body english and proper weight distribution key to staying upright. Brandon Ott was running hot after his win the day before and set a blistering pace from the start line, forcing every other pro there to dig deep to stay near the front. By the end of lap 3 Brandon was still lea ding , but Chris Eatough was making up ground at a steady pace, and eventually caught and passed Brandon on the final lap, cruising through the finish for a hard earned victory for Trek/Volkswagen. Greg Marini rode a blazing fast race to take third behind Brandon and then the rest of the Trek train came through with Todd Helmick cinching fourth and David Duvall sealing up the podium in fifth place. Congratulations to all three Trek pro men for yet another first class race performance.
Caitlyn Tuel was also hot coming off a win from the previous day and she and Lacey Gonzalez battled it out for the entire race, tra ding the lead several times. In the end Lacey managed to stay just ahead and Caitlyn finished second by under 50 seconds. Theresa Richardson from Cannondale rode to third after dealing with some hydration issues early in the race.
The singlespee d c ategory boasted a well stacked field of a dozen racers inclu ding Eric Roman of Independent Fab and Marc Vettori and Mark Elsasser ri ding for Spot Brand. I decided with an hour until the start that I would line up with them as well and see what I had left from the day before. Apparently I had something left because I managed to somehow turn the cranks to another fourth place finish and another cash prize. The race went perfectly for me, and I felt awesome the whole time, ringing my handlebar bell and smiling at all the spectators.
The crowds at this race were fantastic. There were tons of people cheering for every racer all the way around the circuit, an d c ourse marshals playing music and shouting encouragement wherever they were stationed. After the race we had our usual mini team feast, this time featuring roast chicken pita sandwiches courtesy of Alison Foreman-soon-to-be-Eatough and Nicole Helmick. Caitlyns dad, Brian, was instrumental in the feed zone han ding bottles to everyone as they went by and shouting encouragement.
This past weekend reminded me yet again why I love this sport so much. We met so many great people at both races and of course saw dozens of old and new friends and race pals. The teamwork within the Trek camp is beyond description, and the way everyone pitches in and helps with everything from set-up/teardown to feeds to travel and lodging makes every event I get to do with this group an unbelievable one. Huge thanks go out this time to Patrick Leslie, who drove every mile with me and provided a sweet brand new couch to crash on Friday and Saturday nights. On top of that he was acting team mechanic on Saturday and helped out with every aspect of our operation through the weekend. As always, thanks to Brian Tuel , Nicole Helmick and Alison Foreman for their selfless efforts on behalf of the team. Thanks to the Logue family and the DuPont family for graciously provi ding property and trails for these two races. Thanks to Warren Reid and his army of volunteers and to Wooden Wheels racing club for all the manpower behind these two events, and thanks to Bill Deputy and his staff from www.mountainbikeracer.com for their awesome coverage and SUPER fast results postings. The Trek Factory Team is proud to be sponsored by: Volkswagen, JBL, Fox Racing Shox, Emer’gen C , Power Bar, Nike, Oettinger, Hayes Disc Brakes, Zeal Optics & Gloves, SRAM, Bontrager, Chris King, Crank Brothers, Wrench Force, Powertap, CycleOps, Joe ’s Bike Shop, and Lupine Lights.
Our next official team race will be May 23 rd at Birdsboro for the French Creek M.A.S.S. race, but there is another M.A.S.S. race next weekend in Langhorn, PA – we’ll probably see you there. Thank you everyone who read this far for all the support and for making this such and awesome sport to be involved in, can’t wait to see you again!!!
Jon Posner
Trek/VW/JBL East Coast Factory Team
Joe s Bike Shop
www.trekfactoryteam.com
www.mtwashingtonbikes.com