Sunday, June 24th Snowshoe Ski Resort…West Virginia. Classic venue…the ski associated stuff; lodges, restaurants and whatever else is located at the top of the mountain. We rented a condo and made a weekend out of it…Andy's grandmother, aunt from Pittsburgh and brother Mitch were along… The start is old school Blackwater 100 style…Pavement, 5 bikes across, running and rolling towards the start line for launch. 10 seconds separates each line launch. 50 yards of slight downhill pavement into a sharp right hand pavement turn that runs another 50 yards up and over into the dirt and you're off… The top of mountain elevation is around 4500'. Most bikes are rich and down on power…with the JD tuner I was able to tighten up some of the lower circuits and had the TXC pulling strong and consistent. They set up two 10 mile loops…one on each side of the mountain with two check points on top of the mountain. Each side is considered a lap… For Andy… about 1/2 hour a lap; 6 lap race… They block out certain rows for each class and have you draw your row number. Andy drew 41 and the main competition was up on row 37. This worked to his advantage…40 second time correction and he caught everyone at the first woods section… The start was uneventful…which means no one went down on the pavement…but a LOT of people do…go figure…3 hour race… Launch Line in the distance and first corner...2nd from the inside. First trip through Andy was physically in second place; but by the clock, in 1st by just under 3 seconds. These two had 3rd down by a minute… The next 4 laps turned into a hot cat and mouse game with these two putting a couple of minutes per lap on the rest of the class… When I gave Andy the 'LAST LAP' pit board, I also marked '-1:00 PUSH' and was able to hand off a cold Gatorade with the drink straw out of the top…1/2 hour to make things work… Right before the finish they a had major, straight-up-the-slope run that was easily 300 + yards…All I needed to see was Andy within sight of the competition…remember the 40 second time correction… Guess who popped out of the woods first and railed the uphill; should have gotten it on video… Andy said they were still a couple of miles out when he caught sight of leader, who was looking back over his shoulder near the top of a nasty hill he must have bobbled on…Andy had saved his best till last and cleaned the hill better than he'd done all day and passed him at the top and was gone. Knowing he had the 40 seconds; but also the physical lead, he rode steady, not wanting to go down now… Mission Accomplished…and I have to tell you…It feels good! - 1st in class - 4 Stroke B lites…link to lap times http://www.racer-results.net/results/gncc/2012/laptimes.asp?e=54&c=68&s=5&r=8 (Check the Huskys in the top 6 places!) - 3rd Overall 'B' racers… - 62nd Overall all racers…link to OA http://www.racer-results.net/results/gncc/2012/overall.asp?e=54&r=8&s=5 Andy said it was definitely one of the toughest races he's done…and the TXC never missed a beat… Special Thanks to the Sponsors… Toy Tech Cycles, Husqvarna NA, FAR, FLY Racing, Wiseco, Cycra, RK Excel, Pro Circuit and MAXXIS Tires
