April 2012

Wooden Wheels Racing demonstrated our broad skills and interests in tackling road, circuit, cross-country relay, cross-country solo and xterra races in April. First up for WWR, the Mid-Atlantic Super Series Mountain Bike Team Relay on the Oesterling Farm in Marysville, PA. Four-racer teams squared off in completing as many 3.5 mile laps as possible in four hours on a course full of roots, fast downhills, and twisty single-track…with little margin of error next to the creek!

Also to add to the fun, the first racer of every team had a half-mile (the runners thought it felt more like a 5k) trail run to get their bike to start the lap. Andrew Webster took one for the team and volunteered to run…confirming that mtnb shoes are definitely not made for running. Race rules required racer rotation after every lap, in the same order, so keeping warm, loose and hydrated between laps was critical. Dennis Dischler, Jason Temple, Andrew Webster and Rob DiSibio finished 14 laps – giving them a 25th place out of 45 teams. The second weekend of April was faced roadie style! Up north it was the Tour of Battenkill: America's largest one-day Pro/Am cycling race in the Battenkill Valley of Southern Washington County, NY. Racers competed over 62 miles with 3,950 feet of elevation gain (maximum gradient of 18%!) through rolling countryside, covered bridges and some dirt roads. This year the field was honored by 3-time Tour de France Champion Greg LeMond riding in the marathon course. Curtis Miller represented WWR in the Cat 4 race – finishing an outstanding 12th out of 107 in his class; way to rock the hills Curtis!

Also that day, to the west was the SoYoCo Circuit Race in Brogue, PA. The 15 mile course consisted of two 90 degree turns after a speedy downhill followed by a mile long false flat and then a solid, short but steep climb into the start/finish line. Compounding the difficulty were many patches of gravel and dirt along the roads. Andrew Webster, competing in Cat 4, finished 13th out of 31 racers – awesome job Webb. Justin Rogers, Rob DiSibio and Brendan Reilly – all competing in their first ever road race – finished 2nd, 7th and 11th out of 35 Cat 5 racers – way to go!! Next up, Brendan Reilly and Chris Edmonds packed up their mountain bikes and headed to Hagerstown, MD to complete in the Greenbrier Challenge - a national qualifier. Their course was 22.6 miles of fast, heavily wooded trails with narrow single and double tracks and one particularly steep climb. Brendan and Chris raced hard and fast in tight races finishing 4th and 5th in their Cat 1 age classes respectively.

Over at the Jersey shore that day, Mags Crilley completed in the NJ Devil Xterra, in Barnegat, NJ. This race included a ½ mile swim (in chilly lake temps!), 13 mile mountain bike and 3½ mile trail run. Mags showed her training diversity paid off by rocking the race finishing 1st in her age group and 6th overall female – with no visible blood, her usual trademark.

WWR hits the presses! The Newark Post did a great story on the shop and the team in the April 20th issue. Read it here… http://www.newarkpostonline.com/news/article_3868e3fc-8a43-11e1-ad7f-001a4b cf887a.html. The picture with the article is our first MASS season Grassroots Championship podium shot – what a handsome group!!