Stoudt's Summerfest

Dear Readers,

Stoudts Sumerfest has quickly become one of my favorite events on the calendar. Why you ask? A 4 hour relay/solo race racing around the Stoudts Brewery in Adamstown, PA. The course is short: 8-10 minute laps and the entire event has  an outstanding atmosphere and vibe. Dave Borden and his team pretty much personally greet everyone, and their attention to details like T-shirts, pint glasses and quick attention to the course anytime, anything might go south during the day totally exceeds expectations. There are three classes (solo, duo and four person) all very competitive, but at the same time the course and event is challenging and fun enough that it keeps your attention even if you aren't racing for the box. I get this style of racing is a little different than your typical  xc event, different is good my friends.  If you have missed Stoudts Summerfest these past two seasons, I'd strongly encourage you to mark your calendar and make it out next year... Thanks to the JB Bikes/Stoudts team for hosting a wonderful, challenging and fun event.

before and after shots. All smiles. A lot stinkier on the right!

Did I mention that the race is at the Stoudts Brewery? After the race they have amazing beer and outstanding bratwurst. The racers gather in the beer garden for awards, and more importantly a nice drink and food, and shares stories of the battles fought during the day. It is awesome. While I had an awful case of race gut and didn't get a chance to sample my favorite beer in the world (Stoudts Triple) I did have an awesome Stoudts bratwurst with sauerkraut, or at least half a serving before my stomach warned me that it allowed me to enjoy some, but not to get carried away. Diane said on the way home that the beer garden was one of her favorite things, and that she missed the social side of this game, and sharing the stories from the race. She was on cloud nine. I couldn't have been happier for her...

Gorka won the day. (photo from D.Lowe)

GORKA RACED IN A SPEEDO. That was kinda awesome. I caught up to him on one lap, and jokingly said to him "out of the way speedo!"  He looked over at me and started to laugh, commenting about this might not being the best idea. I hope he has a comfy chair at the office or home.

Our teammates, Consorto and Jenn Sears, were racing on another duo team, and seemed to have the worst luck with sidewalls on their tires today. First Consorto shredded one, and then Jenn came in with one destroyed. I was too out of it to help out, but Andy Di Michele, another of the great ambassadors/hosts for the Stoudts/JB Bike team came over and saved the day changing the flat, and booting the tire. It was awesome.  Thanks Andy... Let me add, Barry  came over and asked them where they cut their tires, and headed over to the spot with a crew to make sure the course was holding up, and fix the point of bother. Like I said, these guys are really good. Thanks Barry!

Dennis Bike making sure our compound is coming together well..

We had a pretty outstanding compound going, we had Dennisbike.com (BikeLine), Chappy(BikeLine), Schindler (BikeLine), Erik Mitchell (Spintek), Travis Harnish (BikeLine), Consorto (C3), Jenn Sears (C3), Heather H (WoodenWheels), Scotty too Hotty (BikeLine),Nick (TBR),  Blake (C3) , Diane and I, bordered by the TBR kids, who I am a big fan of.. It was a good group of folks to be around on a tough day... Wish I had gotten a group shot but I blew it...

photo by Robert May

Our race went about as good as it could get. Thanks to Monkey's over preparation, we kinda had everything we needed and some. She's good at this planning stuff.  We had made a plan early on, and followed it. I did the worst 50 yard dash ever, and screwed up the Lemans Style start, then charged past maybe 10 riders as hard as I could off the start.

photo Bill White

By the top of the switchback: "Goat Hill" I had clawed my way up to third. Nick Sears (Trestle Bridge Racing) was gone,

Dude Looks good in that kit...

and  Justin Sotdorus had enough of a gap that I wasn't bringing him back. Andrew Dunlap (Rare Disease Cycling), who would win the solo class would come around me as we passed the team tents. That was pretty good company and I accomplished my goal of giving Monk clear track from traffic for her first lap. We settled into our plan. (yes, we had a spread sheet).  As we got to the half way point it was clear Monkey was hurting a bit, so we had to adjust our strategy. We went from a 3/2 lap rotation to a 4/2 lap rotation. Monk wasn't recovering as quickly as we had hoped.

 I had 100% more cramps doing 4 laps per rotation than 3.  We were starting to slide into survival mode. As we got to the final hour, I allowed myself to look at the standings for the first time. We were in the top 10 and battling with Johan/Gary from Evolution and Werner (Easy Riders) for 8-10th place. Werner's teammate had broken his bike early in the race, and Werner kept plowing forward as a solo. With 15 minutes to go I  tagged Diane as she headed out for her last lap. I started to ask her "do you want 8th or 10th?" but refrained. Diane is not in shape. She's been riding for just 3 months now after a year off. She dug so deep today, I was so proud of her and how hard she worked. Her knee held up well today, and I know she was stoked, so where-ever we ended up, it was going to be a win. How do you ask someone who has clearly laid it all out there for more?

Photo Robert May

Diane finished her lap and sent me out to wrap it up with three minutes until the cut off. For those readers who like the final result, we finished 8th- totally exceeding either of our expectations. We may have been the happiest 8th place 4 hour duo relay finishers EVER today- totally far exceeding either of our pre-race expectations.

Our final transition... photo by Bill White!

One final note on how awesome this race is... During my last lap I came through the heckle/beer/party zone, and the crowd, which stayed energized all day long kept on screaming. I felt someone pat me on the back and calmly say , "you rode well all day today Marc, good job!" I'm not gonna lie, that was one of the many exclamation marks on this day...

thanks for reading.

respect
Vanderbacon