Allaire State Park XC - Nov 19, 2000 - Bicycle Hub

November 21, 2000

14th ANNUAL BICYCLE HUB ATB RACE

Jason Moore
TREK
East Coast Farm Team

Faster and faster every year - Amanda Eakins - Allaire State Park, 2000

Mandy Eakins
K2 Farm Team

   1st Place
     Pro/Expert Women
     AMANDA EAKINS
    K2 Farm Team

Race notes:

Art White (45+ Expert winner) showed unusual sportsmanship by stopping to help an injured rider by carrying a note (in his mouth) to first aid with directions on how to find the rider. He failed to even mention this in his interview until his wife answered my email about adding a picture to his interview - and figured she'd explain what it was that Art was carrying in his mouth (Pic #77 Pro/Expert - Sport).

Sarah Frost (promoter of the 24hrs of Allamuchy) and head of JORBA was seen racing her bike. She's going to recreate results out of several pieces of cardboard. Where would NJ off-road cycling be without her?

There was a rider in the Expert class who made the mistake of not eating anything on race day. On the last lap he bonked dangerously and had to be rescued with a pickup truck. After downing some water and carbohydrates he hung out in the ambulance (fighting a mild case of hypothermia) until he recovered.

Tandem - Allaire State Park 2000
Tandem MTB Racers??

Allaire State Park Race Report
November 19, 2000

Over 300 racers showed up for the most popular Mid-Atlantic Mountain Bike Cup Series race of the year. The race is run by Wally Tunison - owner of The Bicycle Hub. Mr. Tunison has a long history with bikes and has been very active in promoting our sport. Check out http://bicyclehub.com/store/
wallysworld.htm for his credentials.

It was a bit overcast and rather cold for this 14th Annual season finale. Good thing it didn't rain as the race would have been held anyway and it would have been a cold rain. Plenty of spectators showed up to cheer on their favorite racers despite the conditions. The field was limited to 350 riders. I'm not sure what the final number of entrants were but I know it was close to the 350 mark.

Without the aid of electronic timing (who needs times, right?) or laptop computers, Wally made sure to have ATB SCRAMBLES (Cross-country races) with about a million age groups, a KIDDIE CRIT (with it's own separate course), THE COP CLASS CROSS COUNTRY CRUISE open to all policemen, professional firemen, rangers, and security guards and a TANDEM RACE, how often do you see that?

I'm not sure how many, but at least two bikes were given away as 1st Place prizes. Of course we don't race for the prizes but there were a good amount of goodies to hand out and some of the classes were 10 deep. All of the kids received something just for finishing and they deserved it as their own special course was fairly tough with a mild climb and some pretty deep sand.

The parking is very limited in the park and Wally had this warning on the website race flyer - Car pooling is a must! Parking is very limited! Obey NO PARKING signs. Everyone seemed to make out OK and to my knowledge no one was towed.

There was a note for sandbaggers on the flyer also: Attention SANDBAGGERS: This event is for fun. If you can’t ride in your correct class, then stay home.

The course was unique in that there were no tough technical sections or serious elevation gains however the sand and gravel somewhat compensated for the lack of climbing. The pace was fast and furious with windy singletrack, banked turns, narrow ridges, a few roots and minor climbs with waterbars. The deep sand in a few areas brought home the point that this was a power rider's course. Roadie heaven.

The Le Mans start was fun to watch as riders had to wait for the flag to drop before running about 30 yards back to their bikes and then figuring out whether to ride or run the first few feet of the course. There was a fair amount of time to separate the stronger riders before dipping into the first section of singletrack. There was a lot of tight, fast singletrack and one mild climb with switchbacks where the trail seemed to take on a different character due to the darker soil and the fact that you were actually climbing.

I remember this hill because it is where I made the mistake of attacking (a couple of years ago as a Sport rider) a little too early on the last lap. I then got held up by a couple of slower riders in the tight singletrack and tried to pass where I shouldn't and ended up beating my knuckles up, expending too much energy in the process and running out of steam too early (my pedal dug into the side of the trail and stopped me cold). Had to settle for second place not remembering that the finish was right around the corner.

Semi-Pro racer Jason Moore (TREK East Coast Farm Team) from Glenmoore, PA was the fastest rider OVERALL Pro/Expert Men at 19 years old. His toughest competitor was Charles Erndl (Gary Fisher/SAAB) who led for the first lap. Jason passed on the second lap and held on to the lead right up to the end. These two riders held about a two minute lead on number three rider Matt Myers for most of the race who in turn held a couple of minute lead on number four.

We'll be receiving interviews and results as they are turned in. Don't miss the pictures link above. If you won a prize and would like to be interviewed, feel free to click on the INTERVIEW FORM and let us know how your race went.