Race Around the Bend aka the North Bend Death March

Here's the latest race recap as narrated by Jason Stewart:

For the seventh week in a row, a Consol Energy athlete claimed a podium spot after a hard fought effort.  Travis “Warhorse” Olson took the top spot in his division at the WVMBA “Race Around the Bend” event at North Bend Sate Park on Sunday, June 3^rd.  Joe Sheets, Jonathan Sheets, and I also raced the 14 miles of flowing singletrack, hair-pin switchbacks, demoralizing climbs and exhilarating downhills.  None of us had ever ridden the course and we all put up strong results for our first time out, with Travis being the lone Consol rider to finish on the podium.

The beautiful weather and perfect trail conditions that greeted us gave no warning of the suffering that we were about to endure.  The race started with a quarter mile prologue through a grassy field.  The mowed path rapidly bottlenecked from a width of about one hundred feet down to a mere twenty, and eventually down to two, creating a hectic scene as riders fought for position.  All the Consol riders made it safely through the melee and entered the singletrack within a few moments of one another.   Joe was second in line behind Travis when he had his first mechanical problem of the day, flatting before the first climb.  While Joe repaired his wheel, the rest of us started the long march up the first of many heartbreaking hills that we would endure before reaching the finish line.  After finally topping out, I started to open a gap on some of the riders around me.  “What are these guys waiting on?  Why isn’t anyone else hammering?  I’m the fastest man alive.”  All these thoughts went through my head as I cruised the doubletrack road towards the dam.  At the base of the next vertical cliff up which we were supposed to ride a bicycle, I quickly figured out that everyone else was conserving their energy for the later miles instead of hammering the roads, and that in fact, I was not the fastest man alive.  Not even close, as it turned out.  Not even the fastest guy named “Jason” in my division.

North Bend had plenty of tricks in store for us.  The steep grade on all of the climbs, the technical rock garden and tunnel near the end, the hidden curves through the last field, and the off-camber hillside sections all made for a surprising and challenging course.  Congratulations to everyone for finishing the race in one piece.  Good job Travis, and good luck as you chase down the WVMBA series Clydesdale title. 

North Bend results are here.

Thanks once again to GU Energy for the much needed hydration and fuel to carry CER riders around the course.

North Bend Survivors

Next up, CER runner, Kurtis Hoffman will be racing the Derek Hotsinpiller’s Fallen Star Memorial 5K race.  Come on out and join Kurtis for this great memorial event.

The next mountain bike race will be the Big Bear 2x12 Mountain Bike Festival on June 16^th.  That event will see Consol racers returning to Big Bear for the second time this year to compete in the two-man, two-lap team format.   Good luck to everyone.