1st Place OVERALL
Pro/Expert Men
DAVID DUVALL
TREK/VW
East Coast Factory Team

RACE FOR CHOCOLATE
May 20 , 2001
Jesse Piersol - Staff Reporter

Wow! Another super turnout for another Super Series race. Five hundred plus participants lined up throughout the day to charge up that bumpy first climb through the field, desperate to get good positioning upon entering the woods. The singletrack was fun and fast, but narrow and twisty, and packed solid with jostling racers unless you were lucky enough to be in the front.

Noreen Smith, racing with the Vet Expert Women, found that navigating through the endless line of racers was tougher than navigating the course. Trading positions for most of the race with "a guy wearing work boots," she noted "it was tough in the beginning, with all of the people. Finally on the third lap, when there were less people around, I could finally get in a rhythm and start having fun. My third lap was definitely the most fun."

Fifteen-year-old Thais Silva rode a blistering pace from the beginning, ending up fifth overall in the Pro/Expert Women (and third in the Expert) field.

Me: "What was your strategy?"

Thais: "Definitely to get into the singletrack first. I knew I had to put the hammer down in the beginning to get a good position in the woods. I also wanted to get away early, and get out of sight. I wanted to get a mental advantage."

Erik Silva also rode a super race, although he had some of his usual, um…issues. And the threat of rain caused him to race without his usual '80s/heavy metal mix on his CD player. "Yeah, it's great, I started doing it in Colorado. You'll be riding and all you'll hear is metal. Eighties music and metal-life definitely wouldn't be complete without it."

Me: "Tell me about your race."

Erik: "I got a good position at the beginning, and then-and this always happens-I felt like I was bonking at the end of the first lap. I start feeling like my shorts are too tight, like I get gas pains or something, so I end up riding around for awhile pulling on the waistband of my shorts, to make more room.

Me: [incredulous] "Do you really want me to write that?"

Erik: "Sure. OK, so I was trying to keep Les [Leach] in view, but that didn't happen for the next lap, but then on the last lap, I started feeling really strong. I caught Les at the pond, and then I caught up to Mike [Yozell] and rode with him for awhile. I felt great at the end.

Me: "How'd you deal with all the people on the course?"

Erik: "I think that added an extra dimension to the race. I just made sure I was as loud as possible when I was passing people. I'd yell 'Can I pass please?' and then ask 'what's best for you?'"

Mike Yozell had his eye on Les Leach too (what is it about this guy?). "I got a good start, but I wasn't feeling great-Les was 'keeping me honest.' I started getting some leg cramps at about the last half of the last lap. But it was good, I had a good race, and it felt good to be able to keep the leaders in sight."Brandon Ott had a good day, finishing fourth in the Pro/Expert field.

Me: "What'd you like about the race?"

Brandon: "It was a fast, good course. Mostly middle-ring climbing and tight, technical turns. I thought the length was good too, and I liked that you could see the people around you a couple of times throughout the course. I do think they could have split the Sports and Experts up a bit more."

Brandon: "Stay behind the top riders. I knew everyone would be going all-out into the woods, so I paced through the first lap when everyone was hammering, because I knew they wouldn't be able to keep that pace the whole race. I planned to put the hammer down at the beginning of the second lap. I thought that would be a good opportunity to gap on the riders behind me."

All in all, a very fun day-it might've started out a little cool and threatening of rain, but it warmed up into a great day for a mountain bike race. And hey, if nothing else, we could all be thankful that we didn't have to un-encrust 10 pounds of mud from our bikes like we did after Hibernia!

DEER mountainbikeRACER
Louis "The Deer Slayer" Secreto

Half way through the first lap, there were five riders humming throuh the single track. I was two riders behind Ransom (Weaver) feeling pretty good. All of a sudden I was on my back looking eye to eye with a deer. It was not a fun experience to say the least. Two riders from Wissahickon came up and helped me get to my feet. By this time about six riders passed me so I shook out the cob-webs and started to ride again.

I caught four of the six riders on the next climb. Lap two, I started to get pissed that
a ^%*#!* deer hit me. I put a little more into riding and started to catch the riders that I was with. I started to feel pain in my lower back, every log, every bump and there were
a few. The decents were the worst parts. I kept saying to myself, hey, lou one more lap. By the start of lap 3 my neck was feeling as bad a my lower back and I realized that my
left forearm was prety banged up. Needless
to say, I was not a happy camper at this point. One quarter into lap 3 I tired to pass a female sport rider, this chick would not have it. If I rang my bell any louder someone would have probaby mistaken me for Big Ben. I tried to get around her one last time on a turn. Can you say, Hello Mr. Tree. At this point I just shook my head in disgust and headed back to the car. I kept dreaming the whole time of that wonderful road race that took place on sat. that I missed so I could dance with a deer.

The story is not over, I get back to the car and look down at my top tube, and low and behold a nice DENT. My rear wheel (crossmax) may be also shot, and I am going to have to have someone look at my head tube/fork. All is not lost, next weekend is a roadrace/crit. so I WILL BE BACK, and next sun I and some friends from State College/Penn State are going Deer Hunting.

Louis "The Deer Slayer" Secreto

P.S. Believe it or not, I actually had some deer fur on my face after the incident.