Event: PA Rocks Enduro (day 2)
Place: State College, PA
Ridden: August 2015
Click on video to play
Giant wins first place overall team; Joël and I win top spots for the year at the Mid-Atlantic Super Series Enduro series.
This weekend we traveled to the rocky and technical "east cost rocks" terrain of State College, PA for the PA Rocks Enduro weekend. The event was set-up as a weekend format; racing occurred at Greenwood Furnace on Saturday and Tussey Mountain on Sunday. 7 Mountains Lodge was home base for the weekend, allowing racers to camp there for the weekend. Freeze Thaw Cycles, a local State College bike shop, had a racer get together during the weekend. The race Sunday started/ended at a local eatery/brewery called Home D/Robin Hood Brewery, which was a great location to get post-race food and the awards celebration.
Racing in State College is not for the faint of heart, the trails are technical, gnarly, and steep...and the climbs during the transfer stages go up and up forever. Joël and I were unable to attend Saturday, we were only able to make it out for Sunday, so we can't give any account of the courses on Saturday. Sunday was pretty much a repeat of the Enduro/Day 3 stage of TSE...which was fine by us, we thoroughly enjoy those trails. I have a love-hate relationship with Wildcat trail, it scares the crap out of me but I feel so darn accomplished when I ride it. So I always look forward to that trail but have a knot in my stomach at the same time.
Not only were awards give for the races this weekend; this was also the MASS series finals award day. The Giant Co-Factory team was first overall for the year; Joël 3rd overall Cat1/Pro men overall and myself 1st overall Cat1/Pro women. In addition, I was on the podium Sunday as 2nd female. The best part is that Giant and LIV bikes showed they can take on all types of single track and do it well...being that Joël and I ride "XC race" bikes for all the Enduro races; the Anthem Advanced SX and Lust Advanced 0. A big thanks also to Saucon Valley bikes for keep those bikes going despite the regular beatings we put them through.
The MASS Enduro series may be over...but there are still many more rides and races to be had this year. And many yard and house projects to catch-up on!