The Trans-sylvania Epic
Hello Family and Friends!
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| Mike flying through a technical trail on Stage 4 |
It has been a busy spring as usual but a different one for us in many ways as well…Our latest event, the Stan's NoTubes Transylvania Epic, (May 25-31) continued our departure from the norm and brought the first break in a decade from the spring spent in an RV in Europe attending UCI races with a focus on racing the World Cups. This season we found ourselves searching the calendar for some alternative events that allowed us to embrace different aspects of mountain bike competition, challenge us in different ways and would still be in the best interest of our team and sponsors to attend. As soon as longtime partner, Stan's NoTubes approached us about being a part of this event that they have been helping to develop and title sponsored for several seasons, we knew we had found our spring challenge.
It was clear when we signed up that it was going to be an epic! Especially since we had spent the majority of the spring training for and racing cross country and were certainly a bit shy on the endurance that is mandatory for the best chance for success at a seven day off road stage race. We felt a bit exposed and unprepared going in, but our fears were more or less outweighed by the excitement of taking part in something so big and challenging.
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| On the road again! |
The weeks leading up to the TSE were especially hectic as Mike and I had relocated our lives from the west to the east coast and after just 5 days at home, packed up and moved into our little camp trailer for this 3 week adventure. We made our way out to Pennsylvania while repairing water pumps, and replacing leaky fixtures alongside the general maintenance and clean up we had neglected to handle after our past adventures.
As the race neared we got into the grove of running our operation out of the trailer and settled into our surroundings. We did some amazing rides right from the campground as we tried to get an overall feel for the local terrain so that we could finalize our equipment choices. We relaxed, stocked up on provisions, stretched, ate a lot and primed our bodies and minds for what laid ahead. It was a nice few days which passed quickly and easily.
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| Mary racing her custom 29er IMX hard tail by Seven Cycles |
Every day brought a variety of gravel road, double track and trails that gave opportunities to strategies with others in groups as well as vast stretches of mandatory one on one with the natural features of the trail. Longer extended climbs were the main time feature but there was no ignoring the quality of the exceptionally technical riding that varied from fast and fun to beyond rugged.
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equipment choice was very important
| Mary racing down "Wild Cat" |
Mike had his hands full as our team mechanic, maintaining our fleet of bikes. We came to the event with all we thought we needed, and found we needed it all, and then some. We changed a lot of equipment including bikes throughout the event as we tried our best to predict the best tools for the job on every given day. Tires were likely the most critical factor as is typical in cycling in general. We switched between 2.0 and wider 2.2 KENDA tires but stuck with the Sealant compatible sidewall as they offer a bit of extra protection when things get extra rough. In general we chose equipment that catered towards trail feel and performance, over concerns about weight when ride tuning our bikes for this event. The trails around State College are just that good!
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| Pre-race ride in Rothrock State Forest |
We pretty much scored with the weather - thankfully because it could have clearly been different. It was never extremely hot, just humid after a fresh start at the 9:30am starts times. It rained some but the tree pollen fell harder than the rain. Tolerable only as it was a part of the most fantastic green blooming spring!
Mike and I really had very few expectations going into the event so we were both pretty happy to be able to be consistent in our performances and help to animate the event throughout the race. Having the opportunity to each win a stage in the overall on our first go at this event felt pretty good. Mike took advantage of his descending skills in the Enduro Stage 3 to win by a 10 second margin over a format that included in 5 timed segments that totaled around 20 minutes. My best day turned out to be the "Queen Stage (6)" when I surprised myself after a Rough morning with upset stomach and another poor start of getting lost in the pack, to come to the top of the final climb first. In stage racing you just never know!
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| sweet single track... |
The format for racing at the TSE was a bit complex and did not necessary work well for Mike and I as we chose to enter into the event with a full force charge for the whole event. There were 3 separate competitions going on simultaneously for the TSE: 1) The Overall (GC) from the 7 stages, 2) An optional "Enduro" competition (with several timed segments within each day's stage), and 3) The "East Coast Rocks" timed segments to crown the fastest "Queen and King of the Trail" at the end of the week. Those who focused only on the GC were often rewarded by not having to break up the flow or loose the group at the timing check points. The awkward stop and fumble to swipe your card, amidst a full race pace, cost a lot of time over the course of the week. On the other hand it was easily worth the fun and exposure to our first enduro style racing segments.
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| East Coast Rocks Queen |
A home court advantage would have been welcome in navigating the amazing sea of rocky single track but needless to say, we did not have it here… The whole week Mike and I shared the experience of being completely unfamiliar with our surroundings, wondering how long that climb would last, when it might be good to make any sort of "move" or where the heck we even were... just following the arrows... Sometimes if I got outside my zone it felt dangerous, but for the most part we shared the feeling it was an amazingly pure MTB exercise to sight read and flow these intricate and rocky trails at race pace. Certainly beautiful beyond all memories of the suffering!
The days passed by in a blur of amped up racing and complete fatigue. Overall going by fast but put together with excruciatingly slow moments. trying to motivate to cook, eat and clean up seemed to take forever but somehow there never seemed to be enough time between stages. My body and legs never really seemed to recover from the devastating cramping brought on by the high pace curation and cruel humidity on the second stage and I could tell by the look of things that Mike was in the same boat as me. The rest of the race was really an internal battle of giving our best each day and really being determined to finish up what we had started.
It truly was and EPIC week on the bike. We were challenged. We made mistakes. We learned new things, suffered, persevered and expanded our minds. We pushed ourselves near to the point where every day struggles may feel a bit easier to cope with. I can say already that It is very likely that we will be back for more as it was also a full dose of that raw experience that we crave and likely what got us involved in off road racing in the first place.
Thanks to ALL our Partners and the people who make this possible!! We are honored to represent such amazing companies!!!
And huge THANKS to the entire Transylvania Epic staff for hosting a great event! And to Abe Landes for the great photos and all the other people who worked hard to make this story! a good one!
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| Some of the strong ladies who raced the TSE all week together |
Congratulations to all the riders who came and did this to themselves with us… the bar was set high, and I am impressed and inspired by the talented and determined individuals who gave their best to try and complete what they set out to do.
Mike and I have now rallied our "wheel estate" back to the cool east coast of MA, where we are glad to have a little break in our schedule after this exciting early season of racing and travel.
We are looking forward to getting back to the cross country side of things as well get into the heart of summer mountain bike racing here on the east coast with National Championships and the North American World Cups.
The Solstice is here! Hope you can get out on a long ride or good adventure to celebrate the good times of summer!
Ride safe and have fun!
M and M
Team KENDA - Stan's NoTubes
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