TSE - Stage #7

State College, PA
Trans-Sylvania Epic 2011 Sunday May 29, 2011
by: Joseph Castle

This post is the TSE race wrap-up including Stage 7.  I thought when I went into the race that I would do the solo category and race only four of seven days.  This would technically disqualify me from the race but I wasn’t concerned about that since I had raced solo the year before and completed all seven stages.  This year, I wanted to bring the family and have a family vacation as much as a mountain bike vacation.  I think this was managed fairly well.

I raced on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday.  I was on an Epic Relay Team with a partner I had never met.  At the last minute (about a month before the race), Mike Kuhn asked me if I would be willing to be on a team.  This would give us three teams and a reason to run the category for the first time.  I agreed since I had planned to not do the solo category in its entirety.  I never met or talked to my partner and I thought that I would race my days and he would fill in the gaps.  It turns out that we both changed our days during race week without communicating and we ended up disqualifying our team from contention on day six.  At that time, we were in second place out of three teams.  We were too far back to take the lead and only in second by a couple minutes.  The first place team took home a trophy and a free admission to next years race.

The family and I had a good three days in State College together and the DQ on the sixth day was not really a factor in the total race.  When I was racing, I managed to ride with the other Relay Team riders and we often chatted about the course and our regular lives.  We determined that the Relay Team category is for the weekend warriors that don’t have the time or willingness to train for a seven day long race.  It is a great opportunity to attend and compete in our own mini race with like racers and to have fun hanging out with each other when not racing. 

This is by far one of the advantages of TSE and a benefit that no other stage race offers.  On a team, you have the chance to get a reduced registration fee, come with a team or join one that needs some members, meet some great people, and ride from one to seven days.  Only the fastest member per team is counted in the standings per day.  I think I had more fun in this format this year than going solo last year and it is definitely the way I will compete in TSE for years to come.

TSE is one of the best races of I do every year.  It is run professionally with good course markings and checkpoint support and a lot of good people race it from pros to enthusiasts who are all willing to hang out and talk shop when the races are over.

As for Stage 7, there was plenty of beer on course.  At the only checkpoint, Dave Prior handed me a PBR much like last year.  Sonya Looney gave me half of her IPA that she didn’t want to finish and Jim Taylor and I rode to the end together while stopping for a beer break on our way to the finish.  It was a good day for sure.

Note: TSE 2011 also included a Stage 8 – 3 Beer Rally that can be seen on Cycling Dirt.  Way too funny for me to explain here.  Watch Garth Prosser ride mostly naked in flip flops, Barry Wicks go the wrong way but still win and pass around a whiskey bottle, the race promoters participating, Ben Cruz crashing, Greg Martin sliding his bike into a waterfall, and much more!