May 2012

First up in May was the Iron Hill Challenge, in Newark, DE. This is the first solo cross-country mountain bike race (for points) in the Mid-Atlantic Super Series (MASS); and includes a 4-hour endurance race. The rocky and rooty course, which never seems to dry out despite how dusty the rest of the world is, is highlighted by the 40-foot “mega-dip” which always draws a crowd of spectators chanting and heckling the racers to “DO IT,” “pedal-pedal-pedal” and “Awwww” as they swoosh down one side, finesse their gears

– if they aren’t in the hard-core single-speed class – and spin those cranks to hopefully keep from riding backwards up (down?!) the other side…some successful and some…well not so much. WWR had a solid turn out for this popular gem in east coast trail racing. Chris Edmonds took home first place in Men’s Expert class - AWESOME. Love the WWR jersey on the podium (especially the top spot!); way to start the MASS cross-country season!

Brendan Reilly, Heather Heinrich and Trish Reilly all competed in Cat 1/Expert and finished the tough course in 8th (out of 28), 4th (7) and 12th (13) places, respectively. The WWR sport class racers also battled the course (and mechanicals!) to finish well in their classes: Jason Temple 8th (29), Justin Rogers 8th (41), Rob DiSibio 17th (41), Tim Fowley 20th (50), Brian Urion 40th (50) and Walt Hayes 23rd (23).

Our newbie Liz Jones chose Iron Hill to be her first mountain bike race (after only owning a bike for 2 months!) and crossed the finish line 5th (10) sporting her own take-home prize of a bloodied leg – welcome to mountain biking Liz! Going the distance, WWR had three racers in the 4-hour endurance race. Jeff Meyer placed 18th and John Zerheusen 25th in the Men’s Open class of 32 racers. James Ambagis got the tough-guy award this race, competing in single-speed endurance race coming in 13th. All in all a great day for WWR: big team turn-out; fun and tasty post-race bbq; and a third place team finish in the Large Team Category!

No rest for the weary… bring on On the Rocks @ French Creek! The name sums up this race in Birdsboro, PA perfectly: do these rocky sections ever end?!?!?...ummmm, no, well yes, at a rooty slippery climb and technical, twisty single track. The rocks are relentless – which is one thing to ride and another to race. The race has cross-country and an endurance option, for those that love punishment. Lauri Webber took home 1st place out of 10 in Cat 1 – another first place for WWR!!! Heather Heinrich and Chris Edmonds rode great races in Cat 1 finishing 3rd (4) and 10th (34), respectively. This race’s tough guy award goes to Jeff Meyer who completed 5 laps in the Men’s Endurance class – taking home 26th (47) and likely blurred vision. Last up for May was the Wilmington Grand Prix; a weekend of road racing in downtown Wilmington, DE and the surrounding Brandywine Valley. The event kicked off Friday with the Monkey Hill Time Trial, a 3.2 mile course through Brandywine Park – made famous from the Tour DuPont – including the cobblestone climb up Monkey Hill. The team showed in full force to ring the cowbells and whoop it up for our racer Curtis Miller’s climb up the stones. It clearly worked as Curtis finished 5th (12) in his class! Saturday’s events included Pro/Am Criterium Races, which were the seventh stop on USA Cycling’s National Criterium Calendar. Curtis competed again, finishing a solid 9th (21) in his class. Because two races aren’t enough, Curtis took on the Gran Fondo, a 100-kilometer course featuring a timed climb and a hilly terrain. The third time is the charm as Curtis won King of the Mountain, topping the climb first out of 180 riders! Curtis is still sporting the crown around town. What a way to finish the racing weekend and month! Another highlight this month was the arrival of our Powerbar nutrition! We are really psyched to have Powerbar as a sponsor this year.

The Performance Energy Bars, Energy Blasts and Energy Gels are the team favorites and key to our training and racing nutrition. Also, their website has awesome information on how to keep ourselves (and all athletes) riding our strongest – no bonking!