This past weekend was the collegiate mountain bike nationals, which were being held at Seven Springs Mountain Resort, which is about 50 miles southeast of the Burgh (www.7springs.com). The last couple years it was held in New Mexico, so how could I not go since it was practically in my own back yard, right?
So on Friday I went down there to watch the Short Track race, which is basically a spectator friendly version of a mountain bike race. Penn State had 3 women and 2 men there, and they did pretty well. The women got 4th, 6th, and 24th. The men got 10th and 19th. Here are some picture I took:
Here is Jennifer (Left) and Anna after their race. As you can see it has snowed up there earlier in the week and the conditions were pretty muddy from the melting (Did someone say freeze thaw cycles?). Unfortunatel I didn't arrive until their race was almost over, so I have no action shots of the ladies.
Here's Jed before and after. The loogie shot was Katy's favorite, so I had to put that one up.
Eric mid-race. Eric used to be a bike messenger in DC for a number of years. His nickname was E-mail (can you guess why?). Now he is a part owner of a bike shop in State College called Mt. Nittany Wheelworks. Him and the other Wheelworks guys have been a big help to Freeze Thaw, giving us advice, sending customers our way, helping with a distributor, and just general encouragement.
Jed mid-race. Jed is riding on a bike that he personally designed and fabricated the rear section of. It's made of carbon fiber and is designed to flex, giving him an inch or two of suspension in the rear, which is just enough to take the edge off without the extra weight of normal full suspension bikes with their multiple pivots and shocks.
Eric finishing in 10th place here. And he only had one gear. Why, you ask? Cuz derailleurs are for failures!Some more random shots and I'm done.
1 comment:
My fiance is the cutest ever! Look at those photos! Such excellent writing! I think he should go to journalism school.
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