Pisgah MTB Stage Race – Stage 1

Monday evening David and I (Christopher) packed up our bags and headed to Brevard, North Carolina where we would set up camp and get a good night’s rest in preparation for today’s big first stage of the 2010 Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race.  We rented a van for the drive since we have a tendency to overpack (why not bring 2 spare bikes, and extra wheels, spare tires, and…well, you get the point):

This morning came early as we were up with the sunrise in order to make up breakfast and drive to the start of the stage (although the temp would warm up nicely, it was chilly early in the morning).

This was the only stage we will have to drive to and thank goodness! The drive was rough! There was over 6 miles of gravel road that apparently doesn’t see too much care and our rental van was barely up to the challenge (it sounded like someone threw a handful of quarters into a clothes dryer).

None the worse for wear, we arrived at the start with plenty of time to sign in and get warmed up. The finish line was at the beautiful Blue Moon on Pinnacle Peak, which had a spectacular view:

Another cool feature of the race was that we all had to sign in before the stage (like they do in the Tour de France).  Here I am signing in, getting as close to Jeremiah Bishop as I would all day!

 

Here we are, ready to go, in our Performance team kits, next to our GT Sensor 9rs:

 

Stage 1 was touted as the easiest of the 5 stages. We started by all rolling out for a neutral (not racing) 7 mile ride to the start line (mostly downhill). Then as a surprise we faced a Le Mans start (which is where you have to run and pick up your bike, always an amusing sight at a bike race) before facing “Dupont Forest’s rockiest terrain”. The stage consisted of a 12 mile climb (with brief glorious downhill sections) to take us back up to the finish line. The highlight of the day was David flying headfirst into a deep stream crossing–he took the race promoter’s word seriously when he said that everything on the stage was rideable! Someone was actually on the scene taking a video, so we will post it as soon as we find out who it was filming.  The battle was hard fought but in the end, we weren’t last!

 

Waiting for us at the finish line was a field full of happy participants and very nice lunches (Jeremiah Bishop won the stage, of course, in a close fought battle–or so we’re told!)

 

As we sat and ate we pondered what tomorrow would bring. Today was an hour and a half of very difficult trail. Tomorrow will bring more than three times that. Should be fun!

 

Final stats for the day: 12.16 miles and 2,540 feet of vertical gain:

 

On the road to Pisgah with GT Sensor 9rs

David and Chris are packing up today to head out to the Land of the White Squirrel (that’s Brevard, NC) for the Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race (which starts Tuesday, Sept. 14).  But before they left they wanted to share a few thoughts on their ride for the week of racing, the exclusive GT Sensor 9r mountain bike.  Just in case you’ve forgotten, David works in our Marketing department (although you may remember him from his on-the-scene posts from this year’s Tour de France), while Chris works in our Bikes department, making sure that all of our stores have the right mountain bikes in stock.  Here’s David talking about his experiences on the GT Sensor 9r:

We’ve only been riding the GT Sensor 9rs for a few weeks, but it really has been a eye-opening experience for me.  Stepping up from a 26″ full-suspension bike to this 29″ design has been fantastic, especially since the GT Sensor 9r has 120mm of rock-solid Fox suspension front and rear.  Just taking the bike out of the box, I really liked the whole look, from the dark green paint job to the aggressive-looking top tube shape.

Of course we couldn’t resist throwing on a few upgrades while we had the chance.  Both Chris and I installed a Crank Brothers Joplin 4 seatpost, with remote, as it’s the perfect weapon to battle the variety of gnarly terrain ahead in Pisgah.  Chris then swapped out his components for a full Shimano XTR build, while I opted for an FSA crankset and cockpit with Avid Elixir CR disc brakes, plus a SRAM X.O rear derailleur/X.9 shifters combination (and of course Ergon GP1 grips).

So how does it ride?  Well, I’m a big fan!  I love how the 29″ wheels roll over technical sections of the trail, and GT’s Independent Drivetrain suspension design does a great job of isolating pedaling-induced suspension feedback.  Plus, I really like having 120mm of suspension to bail me out when the trail gets nasty.  In short, it should be a great ride for the long days in the saddle on the super-technical trails of the Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race.

The only thing I don’t know if it will help me with is in trying to catch a glimpse of one of the elusive white squirrels of Brevard! I swear I saw one last year, but Chris still doesn’t believe me!