Toone was with the leaders on the prologue, but got dropped on the first technical descent of the first big loop. I rode my pace and made sure no one was catching me, and I pulled off a win."īehind House, Brian Toone (Friends of the Great Smokies (FGS Cycling)) was making spectacular forward-progress up through the field. "I didn't want to blow up or lose it in the last part. From there, I went all out."Īlone at the front, House was surprised to see Farabaugh later in the race after the Farabaugh had missed a turn.įrom then on, it was damage control, and I knew I had a good chance of winning, said House, who finished in 3:59:52. "That's where a mountain bike really paid off, and I got a gap of a minute there over the other two. I just popped over those logs, said House. Although it was not as rocky as earlier singletrack, several logs and a steep climb made the section more challenging for those on 'cross bikes.
"Mike was suffering, and I knew the descent, so I went for it and I caught them just before Bunker Hill Road," said House, who made his move on his two rivals in the second major singletrack section of the day. House was climbing better than Simonson, but held back briefly with the initial hope that he and his teammate could work together to reel in Oberman and Farabaugh. Only Farabaugh could bridge up to him, while House and Simonson suffered a bit behind them. Oberman pushed the pace on the climbs and got away. They worked well together for a bit to keep their advantage, but the repeated, hard climbing was still to come after the half-way point following aid station #2.
STANS IRON CROSS WEIGHT PRO
That was shocker, said House, who had not previewed that portion of the course.Ī group of four, including House's teammate Mike Simonson (616 Fabrications), Cole Oberman (Breakaway /The Gunshow v2.0) and Adam Farabaugh (Garneau-Quebecor Pro Cycling Team) emerged as the leaders after the grueling hike-a-bike and the subsequent aid station #1. When they had said 'run-up', I was thinking we were going to run up a little rocky hill. House regained the leaders heading into the infamous hike-a-bike section, where the decisive split would occur. As he realized his mistake and made the correction, two groups of top riders passed, and he had some work to do to catch back up on the next road section. House got a good start, but after backing it off the pace of the initial leaders, he ended up making a wrong turn during the first singletrack section. The course began with a rocky prologue loop before heading out for the first of two different, much longer loops.
Racing my mountain bike was how I got my gap for the win - on the trails. On the road sections, 'cross bikes had a bit of an advantage, but you could draft and not do too much work. House opted for his mountain bike upon the advice of others. If you know where you are, it's a big advantage." There was so much climbing - if you don't know how long it is mentally, you can kind of give up. "I came out early to ride a couple sections, and I actually drove the road sections. Racing in his first-ever ultra 'cross race, House made two decisions that helped him toward victory: he previewed several sections of the course, and he decided to race a mountain bike. Racers competed in perfect trail and weather conditions, with sunny skies and comfortable temperatures all day. In its 11th year, Iron Cross delivered an epic 68-mile day of endurance cyclo-cross racing over gravel roads, rocky singletrack, ATV trails and pavement. (Thanks to Sue George for the race report!)Ĭole House (616 Fabrications) and Ruth Sherman (Corning/NoTubes/Swan Cycles) won the Stan's NoTubes Foundry Cycles Iron Cross bike race in Michaux State Forest, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.
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