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Thursday, March 21

'19 TSE Bound and Down

While you're out there, sitting on the fence...

I finally committed to joining in on the fun for the 2019 Trans-Sylvania Epic* the other day.  Yeth, the race that would be in its tenth year (had last year's event not been canceled) is back.  The former promoter was up to his ears with his involvement in NICA, but a new captain has stepped in to take the reigns.

The race is sure to see a few tweaks.  One thing I'm stoked about (mebbe) is the absence of the Enduro™ day.  Mebbe?  Well, this day is always a lot of fun, but it never helped my racing aspirations, especially when I'm doing the race on a rigid fork... which is every single day except for two Enduro™ days in the past.

One of which I broke my ass bone on the final segment, ending my streak of finishing every stage race I ever entered.

That said, although I'll be "racing" in the 50+ class, I dunno how competitive I'll be.  The field is large and full of strong riders, and my waist is still large, and I'm full of strong woulda-coulda-shouldas.  Not helping things any, I'll still be on a rigid single speed.

So, there's that.

They're also tossing in an evening meal with the registration price, so I guess I won't be eating the same two low-effort dinners every night.  Making pasta with something protein minus all vegetables every night gets old a few days into it.

Here's what we're in for:

Stage 1: Poe Valley 33.6 miles 3,244 feet of elevation

Stage 2: Coopers Gap 34.8 miles 4,843 feet of elevation

Stage 3: R.B. Winter 30.4 miles 2,727 feet of elevation

Stage 4: Tussey Mountain 32.9 miles 3,274 feet of elevation

Stage 5: Bald Eagle 22.5 miles 2,376 feet of elevation

I'm super stoked to see R.B. Winter back in the mix.  You do have to drive there from camp (or ride the shuttle), but for some reason, I just like it out there.  It's a different kinda raw Pennsylvania.  Tussey is always a fan favorite and Coopers Gap never fails to kick you in the dick.

Stage races have always been more about the experience for me, and knowing that I haven't missed one TSE to date should say something about that experience.  Five days of insanely great trails, staying in the same bed every night, great people, and basically a week full of ear-to-ear grins.

This past year that we took off certainly has me feeling the stoke to go back.  I miss my little friends, the scout camp, the trails littered with "ill-shaped, fuck-face rocks," porch beers, and a certain amount of disconnect with the outside world.

I hope the Muller Report doesn't drop while we're there.

Anyhoo, the price goes up on April 1st, and they're hovering close to 70% sold out right now.  What I'm saying is that we're less than a half a month from a real "shit or get off the pot" moment.

I highly recommend the former over the latter.  No one ever brags about how awesome they were at getting off the pot or what a great time they had not taking a shit.

Get in while the getting's good.

* Linking to the FaceBook page for now, as the new promoter is close but not quite there with transferring all the 2019 information to a whole new site.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

gonna need your leg bags.

dicky said...

10/10 will bring the squeezy bags to push the beer fatigue outta my legs.