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SubscribeMTB Nat'l Champs
Once again, Mount Snow VT hosted the United States National Mountain Bike Championships. The five-mile racecourse is a mix of steep climbs with up to 24% grades to the summit, followed by a harrowing technical descent through a slippery maze of rocks and roots. A true mountain biker’s course that will test a rider’s bike handling skills as well as their legs. It’s East Coast racing at it’s best.
Competition was fierce, with the best qualifying riders from 35 states competing for the Stars and Stripes jersey.
XC race
Five members of the SID’s MTB squad showed up for a weekend of fun and suffering with Gregg Galetta, Greg Waggoner, and Shasta Jenson all reaching the podium. Jenson wore the field down with her powerful climbs and fearless descents. Galletta and Waggoner gapped the formidable 35-39 field early and never looked back. 1st place in the field is still in dispute as several protests have been lodged against the winner who conveniently downgraded himself from pro, seemingly for this event. If the USCF rules the win a DQ, Galletta will move to 1st and Waggoner moves up to 4th. Rodriguez and Chomowicz held their own in deep, and extremely talented fields.
Short track
Galletta lit up the short track event with a strong surge and bridge to the select group of seven with three laps to go. Closing the gap on the bell lap, he took 5th place in a sprint photo finish. Waggoner held his position throughout the race, as riders were pulled.
Short track is basically a Dirt Crit ridden at and above V02 max. The track is short and fast with lapped riders being pulled.
SID’s-Cannondale Results
XC Female Sport 30-35
Shasta Jenson- 2nd
XC Male Expert 35-39
Gregg Galletta-2nd
Greg Waggoner-5th
XC Male Expert 40-45
Steve Rodriguez-20th
XC Male Expert 50-55
David Chomowicz -12th
Short Track Expert 30+
Gregg Galletta-5th
Greg Waggoner-14th
Pro race
Olympian Adam Craig (Giant) won the pro field, finishing ahead of Kona’s Ryan Trebon (two time US CX champ) by just over two minutes, Craig grabbed the front of the race on the opening climb to the summit, then used his impressive descending skills to open up a sizable gap on any chasers which included Olympian Todd Wells who had the strongest American results on the international circuit this year.
Mary McConneloug and Georgia Gould showed the hundreds strong crowd just why the pair is heading to Beijing next month. The recently named Olympians battled neck and neck for three laps around Mount Snow’s famed technical singletrack loop, opening up a huge gap on the rest of the nation’s best
female riders.
Greg Galletta Gregg Waggoner
Shasta Jenson
Rodriguez Waggoner Galletta Chomowicz
Galletta Waggoner Rodriguez
Gregg Galletta
Short Track
Greg Waggoner
Adam Craig
McConneloug -Gould
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Thanks for the info. Cunningham is fun. Perfect place for a newbie to work on the MTB skillz and close to Manhattan. Saw a Sid's rider flying in there. Think I've seen him at the CRCA races.
Mountain biking won't make you better at road racing, but it's fun. Can help build strength, balance and bike handling.
Try Cunningham for local trails: http://nycmtb.com/rideguide.html
It doesn't hurt and would sharpen your bike handling skills, such as confidence on high speed descents, bumping elbows, and hard cornering. However, most competitive MT Bikers have a serious road training program. You just don't seem to get the same focused workouts on the MTB that you do on the road.
Does Mountain Biking make you a better Road rider?
Where is the closest MTB'ing that's good for a newbie?
Props to those that did the race. I went MT Biking once on Mt Snow while on
vacation. Puked a lung going up, and damn near broke my neck going down.
Just a little correction. I got a hard earned 22nd in the Expert xc 40-45 not 20th as posted above. Thanks anyway Dave! See you guy's out there.
Congrats to the Sids Mtn Team and btw Gregg's no slouch on the road either!
I used to race MTB with Gregg 10 years ago...although I never saw him after the start of those races...since he would gap everyone immediately. In mtb races you are always looking for another guys weakness so you can exploit it. It is either climbing, descending or singletrack...but Gregg was always outstanding at all of those....Woo to the guy who thinks he can follow him on a descent...Gregg has motorcross background...and once you master launching motorized dirt bikes into the air....mountain bikes are trite by comparison...more than one competitor has broken a collarbone sitting on Greggs wheel going down a nasty descent.
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