Wilderness 101 - State College - July 26, 2008

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (July 26, 2008)

Wilderness 101 - State College, Pennsylvania - Start Line Weather: Partly Cloudy - 61 Degrees - Calm Winds

Christian Tanguy - Place: 4th Open Men – Time: 6:59:13"Right after the first climb, a group of 8 riders was leading. Just before aid station #2 (40miles), I lost contact to the group on a downhill. In an effort to get back to the group, I increased the tempo on the flat fire roads. After a long time chasing, I caught up with the remainder of the group, 3/4 up the next major climb. At the top it was Chris Eatough, Harlan Price, Chris Beck and myself. It is now downhill; I get gapped on the technical descent making me chase again on the flats and up the hills. By aid station #3 (60 miles), Chris Eatough took the lead and increased the speed; Chris Beck could not follow. Usual story, I get gapped in the downhill. I am currently in 4th place. By the end of the downhill, Chris Beck was back; only few seconds behind. Between aid station #4 (74 miles) and #5 (89 miles), I got a flat tire, allowing Chris Beck and Brandon Draugelis to roll by me. I still wonder how the tire punctured as I was riding a smooth fire road??? Anyway, now in 6th place, I did again what I was doing all day: chasing on the flats and up the hills and try to limit the time lose on the descent. After a while, I was back to Brandon as we rolled to aid station #5 . There is only one medium size climb until the finish. My plan was to pass Chris Beck before the hill, then build a time buffer before the trails goes down. It worked well, and there are now only few miles of flat trails/roads to the finish line. My lead on Chris Beck was probably minimum, so keeping the effort high was mandatory... both my legs cramped at the same time.... try to stretch but it was not helping. I finally spin very easy for a few seconds and the cramps went away. Resume pedaling hard.... finish line! Yeah 4th place! Awesome!"

Reported by: Robert Herriman