Massanutten Race

Jon Kranzel ripping it up on his Commencal. pic by Damian Breach
Massanutten, Virginia was the second stop of the Gravity East Series. The race takes place on a Saturday so that you can see mama on Sunday. The course is the original course of the 1997 Grundig sponsored World Cup race. A lot of history for this little resort. We arrived Friday morning for practice and to complete registration. We got out on the trail around noon and tried to sort out all the track details. Still awaiting our Commencal Supreme DH frames we were again on the Mini DH with 6 inches of travel. This little point would come back to haunt me. The trail is the same every year but the lines change conforming to the embedded roots and rocks littered on the trail. Getting up to speed was a bit of a task for me, I had just found out that the previous weekend I had cracked a rib in Reading. Lungs sore, I pushed on and by the end of the day found myself asleep in the pits exhausted from practice. “Marvelous” on the other hand was charging he had really tackled the course and his line choice was fantastic. Keeping up with him was a task in and of it self. We got some advice from Tony and Dane from Reading Racing and sought out accommodations at a local inn. The older couple who ran the place were really nice and thought we were crazy for choosing to ride down the mountain. Dinner was superb…by now you must know my desire for all things edible. A good night sleep and we were setting out to the mountain with breakfast in hand. Practice was a lot easier for me, I was keeping good speed and Marvin had to really try to shake me off his wheel. At this point we begin to notice all the riders that have shown up. This Gravity East thing may work out just fine. 11:30 Racer meeting, 12:00 Racing starts. Massanutten Mountain does not go willingly, you must pay the toll. Luckily for us the Reading crew paid the toll for all the riders, I stopped counting at around the 10th flat. This little detail would also come back to haunt many of the racers during their runs. Dane Clay would be the first to get bit by the “Pinch” snake followed by Marvin and about 18 other racers. It is really too bad for Marvin, like I said he was charging! As I lined up at the gate, I surprisingly had no pre-race jitters; a stronger force was in control like a magnet it was pulling at my gut to reach the bottom, that power was hunger. I was famished! I bolt out of the start gate bmx-style and made my way to the first rock garden, launching off the first platform rock, I begin to pull up for the log kicker only to smash to the ground. Hitting the ground hurt! I stammer to my feet and regain control of my unwilling steed and try to make up precious time. I begin cranking through every single section pre-jumping every root and rock searching for the backside, cut a few corners tight and sprint out to the last fire road. With the bike completely pedaled out I shift down and crank up the incline back to single-track. I gap the first rock section the step down the next root section, pinned on the last bit of track before the rock section. Two 9-inch trees that stand guard at the top protect the last rock garden. You must fish between them at speed and prepare for the rock assault. As I barreled toward them I realized I had never had to negotiate between them at this speed. Turning, my front wheel bangs into the base of the tree to the right sending my poor shoulder, into the left. I had come to a sudden stop. Having to unclip and get myself trough the trees cost me a lot of time and mentally I was starting to give up. Trying to pedal in the rock section to regain time was tough. As I cross the finish line I felt defeated in a major way. I finished in 9th place. I am happy to have gotten 9th and happy not to have really injured myself. Good friend Jason Guenther pulled a 2nd place win and Mike Crnjarich pulled a 3rd place win for his class. Marvin and I were really pushing the envelope with these bikes on this course. Diablo Domination’s first race is this coming weekend and then of course is the U.S. Open. We should have our big bikes by then, at least we hope.
We would like to thank:

Commencal Bikes
DT Swiss
Crank Brothers
SDG
Super Feet
Mountain Khakis
Smith Optics

Check out Damian Breach's report on the race including some beautiful photos and some wild video of fans at LitterMag

Ohh I almost forgot, Dough-boy needs a new bike!