Trans-Sylvania Mountain Bike Epic Q & A

The 2011 Trans-Sylvania Mountain Bike Epic presented by Stan’s NoTubes (TSE for short) is fast approaching on May 29th through June 4. Look for some of XXC’s very much non expert predictions/preview of the race in the coming week, as well as daily updates and photos of the race action when the race kicks off May 29th. Right now we sit down (via e mail several hundreds of miles away) with Mike Kuhn to talk about the 2011 TSE and his (and Ray Adams’) goals  for putting on the race and some predictions. So here we go….

What are some of the new features to this years TSE and how will the 2011 version differ from what racers experienced in 2010?

The big new feature this year is that we’ve eliminated the remote starts and now have 5 of the 7 stages starting and finishing right from camp. The TSE Base Camp is just plain old fun and being in the same place all weeks makes it easy to bring everything you need – no messing about with moving every day. So we maximize the camp experience making the whole thing easier and a little more relaxing for everyone. Like last year’s racers told us, “It is like a summer camp for adults!”

We’ve also added a bit more of the fantastic PA trails to the week with 5 miles more here and 10 miles more there for about 25 additional miles for the week. Some of this is due to the new loop courses from the camp, but all of it was done with our consideration that this is an event that a whole lot of people can enjoy and participate in realistically.

The Epic Team option got revamped too. It allows riders to form up teams (2-5 riders) and basically pick and choose their TSE adventure. Everyone can ride every day or 1 person from the team can ride each day or whatever. It is a great way for people to test the waters of a week long stage race or who can’t get the whole week away from work or family or even other racing commitments – and we’ve priced this option accordingly with the idea that riders likely won’t do every day in mind. This set up is a perfect way just to bring a group of like minded guys out for a week of completely supported fun riding on great trails – a mountain bike vacation with your buds sort of thing.

What we kept was just as important and the number one thing is the flow of the week on great courses. TSE isn’t just about PA rocky trails. TSE is a real mix of challenges; from what is probably the fastest singletrack course in the country at Allegrippis to the technical challenges dished out by trails like Tussey Ridge to the “Mini-XC” format of the RB Winter Stage to the repeat climbs, fast dirt and team tactics of the Coburn stage. This isn’t just about climbing nor is it just about suffering. This is about putting together a week that builds on itself and offers days for riders with different abilities to shine. It is about the challenge of riding a week, but it is a mix of challenges that rewards the best all-round mountain bikers in the end.

We have intentionally designed an event with a goal of not being able to take day 1′s results and see every day play out essentially the same. This is sort of a different approach for an mtb stage race. One of the things that makes road stage races like the Tour and Giro interesting is that the same riders don’t win every day — there are days where the overall winner probably couldn’t win even if he tried because that day isn’t suited to his capabilities. That’s sort of the feel we’ve gone after with TSE and will continue to pursue. We want it to be unpredictable. We want to see the GC change through the week. We want to see different riders on the podium after each stage. We think that is more interesting and exciting for everyone – racers, sponsors and spectators.

There are a number of other little tweaks here and there and we’re pretty excited to roll out year two in a few weeks time.

 

As a race director and promoter what do you want racers to walk away thinking of their TSE experience?

Our hope everyone goes home proud of what they accomplished – a week of mountain biking is a challenge – and having had a really fun time. We hope TSE hits all the check boxes for participants – fun, well run, exciting, well supported, spectacular trails, safe – and something they’d come back to and recommend to friends. Mostly we hope that everyone has fun.

You have raced more than a few racers yourself, how big a part does that experience play in your race and stage planning? Do you find yourself thinking “Oh I remember ‘X’ race, or that stage, and that sucked, I want to do the TSE like this?

Sort of I guess. Whenever I think back over my racing and riding there are a few things cause me to remember particular events fondly. I remember the races in which I did well – that’s probably obvious. I remember the races that were unique and challenging – same old XCs sort of blend together over time. And I remember events and trips and even individual rides that were just super fun because of the people I was with at the time or the people that I met along the way.

Those are definitely things that drive us as we create and tweak TSE.

TSE isn’t just a race though the race is a part of it. We’re working hard to create a super fun week long riding experience. For some, coming out and doing this thing as hard and fast as they can could be the goal. Maybe for others the goal is to see if they can make it through a week of mountain biking. Other riders are coming out primarily because they’ve heard this is just a fun time and they want to be part of it whether they ride fast or slow or not at all.

It will be challenging. It will be fun. It will be unique and memorable. And if you want you’ll go home having made some great new friends that love riding almost as much as you do you have lots of time to make that happen because there are a lot of those folks here.

Ray and I have worked hard to put together an event that we would want to do. “Would we want to do this?” is a question we’ve asked ourselves about every aspect. And, not only have we put it together from what we wanted when were racing at the elite level, but neither of us are really that “race motivated” anymore personally so we’re definitely also thinking about it from a fun mountain bike vacation experience point of view. That’s how we’ve decided on all sorts of things.

Here is a list of the things we’ve asked ourselves, and have been asked about:

“Are the trails good?” - Hell yes. In fact they’re awesome. Arguably the best network of trails anywhere. Or at the very least on par with the best anywhere else.

“Is it all about suffering?” – Hell no. Sure, 7 days of mountain biking in a row is likely to leave a mark or two, but the mix through the week keeps things fresh and different and fun.

“Is it easy to get to?” - Easiest mtb stage race to get to easily. TSE is within 8-12 hours of everything from Atlanta to Chicago to Ottawa and the whole East Coast Megalapolis (Google it). That’s a day’s drive or less for a heck of a lot of mountain bikers and even easier if you load up some buds and car trip it – and remember you can bring everything you need for the week including a spare bike or two since you’re in the same place all week long! Of course that puts a whole lot of major international airports within a short drive too.

“Is it affordable?” – Yes. Apples to apples it is the best deal going in a 5-7 day long mountain bike stage race. We’ve researched it and TSE is more affordable than 5-6 days of mtb supported touring with some major touring companies. If you combine entry, food and lodging we’re better priced overall than every other week-ish long event we can find and better priced per day than most mtb stage events no matter how long they are from 3-8 days. TSE is the best value in a mountain bike stage race.

“Is it well supported?” - Yep again. Great sponsors from companies like NoTubes and Pactimo, fueling from Hammer Nutrition and nuun, giveaways from Ergon, Twin Six, Misfit Psycles, topofusion, Purple Lizard, and more. Superior medical support with multiple highly qualified medical personal on course every day and at camp around the clock all week long. Top level coverage from all sorts of cycling media with blogs and daily updates all over the web and daily TSE facebooking and tweeting from the course and around the camp. Incredible volunteers and staff that make the racers feel welcome and well cared for.

“Do people like it?” - The overwhelming answer has been “YES!” Take a quick tour around the tubes of the interweb and we think you’ll see that people really enjoyed TSE in year one. We’ve also seen a lot of elite men and women sign on in year two and when we ask them why we’re hearing that they’re doing it because they’ve heard it was a blast from their friends. Yep, those super fast racers like the same things everyone else on an mtb does – a good event and a fun time – and they pretty much all do this because they fell in love with mountain biking somewhere along the way and still love to do it.

“Can I do it?” - Yes. It will be a challenge, but it isn’t one that I can’t accomplish with some realistic preparation in the months leading up to the event. If you’re a racer in the sport field we’re pretty sure you can handle TSE. No, you won’t beat Barry Wicks or Alex Grant, but you will have an incredible time, learn things about yourself, accomplish a great goal and if you’re smart about it, come out of TSE with the best fitness you’ve ever had.

“Are the logistics bearable?” – One camp all week long. Two days we have to drive 1 hour each way for the stage. Good food and lots of it right on site. Pool, pond, internet, cell coverage right at camp. Camp offering bunk house lodging, solo cabins, tenting, and RV parking. Transport to remote stages even provided by race. Easy peesy.

“Can I bring family?” -  For sure! You can all camp here at Camp TSE. Or you can pick from dozens of local cabins for rent. Or stay in one of the dozens of hotels in State College. The fam can hang out at camp and use the pool and pond or go hiking and the kids can even take part in some activities offered by the camp staff. Or they can head into State College or one of the many smaller towns in the area for activities and some cool sights like Penns Cave. You can set them up to eat with us at camp or again visit a different restaurant for every meal morning, noon and night here in Happy Valley and the home of the Penn State Nittany Lions. There is a lot to do here that can keep a family going for part or all of the week especially if they enjoy outdoor activities too.

Do I have to sleep with Mark Weir? No, you don’t have to. There are plenty of other options. But the atmosphere at Camp TSE and the camaraderie built from a week sharing the camp is pretty cool. And it is pretty sweet to be an amateur racer or mountain bike enthusiast and get to spend a week at camp with some of the fastest racers in the world bunking right next too you. There is no where else you’re going to get that opportunity. And you’ll find that almost all of them are really fun people and personable. Who knows, you might even pick up a pointer or two around the campfire at night.

So we put all that stuff together and it is an event that we wouldn’t want to miss!

 

The TSE is not just about the Pros, there are few different classes and formats, but having said that there are a good deal of experienced Pros racing this year, can you let the readers know some of the Pro men and women coming to throw down at this year’s race?

We’re really excited to see these races play out.

The women’s field is stacked. It might be one of the most competitive fields assembled for any endurance mtb event yet and certainly is the best women’s field at a North American stage race so far.

Last year’s champ Selene Yeager (Team CF) is back as are runner up Karen Potter (MTBRaceNews.com) and third place Rebecca Rusch (Specialized) who happens to have the women’s record at Leadville in addition to some rainbow stripes on her kit. By itself that’s a pretty good field again! But there are a number of other women coming who can absolutely win this thing too – Amanda Carey (Kenda) took the NUE Series last year and came out killing it a few weeks ago at Cohutta. Former National Champ and winner of countless of mtb races of all distances, WV’s Sue Haywood is coming up and she is one of the most talented technical riders I’ve seen which will certainly serve her well during the week. State College local Vicky Barclay (Freeze Thaw Cycles) is maybe an outsider for the overall win, but she’s been training hard and has some hometown advantages on her side plus the support of the awesome State College cycling community. And then Ergon’s Sonya Looney is headed east from Colorado to throw down on these courses too and besides being a great riders, has several mtb stage races under her belt in the past few years – experience that is certain to come in handy as she takes on TSE and these other incredible ladies! It is a heck of field and I can’t wait to see these ladies duke it out.

The men’s field may not yet be as deep as a few of the other stage races out there (though we’re closing the gap) it is going to be pretty competitive too. First Kona signed up – Wicks and Sneddon won BC as a team and this time they are going head to head. Another early entrant was last year’s fourth overall, Drew Edsall (Super Cool Bike Shop/First Place Racing) (who has already won longest team name award) who has a goal of making a name for himself as a mountain bike stage racer so I’m sure he’ll come out firing. Jamis team mates Jason Sager and Adam Snyder bring an interesting combo with Jason’s extensive experience in mtb stage racing coupled with Snyder’s love of East Coast terrain and technical challenges. Chris Beck (Team CF) has already stated his intentions clearly and looks to be ready to back up that talk with a storming 2nd place finish at the NUE series opener. Cannondale’s Alex Grant is a late entrant into the field, but second places overall at La Ruta and TSE 2010 show he has the goods to take the top step of the podium. Ross Schnell (TREK/SRAM/Easton/Giro/Pearl) signed on late as well and certainly has the ability to be on the podium at the end of the week. I’m also expecting guys like Cannondale’s All Mountain Team of Mark Weir, Jason Moeschler and Ben Cruz and Matt Miller (Giant Mid-Atlantic), Justin Lindine (BikeReg.com/Joes Garage/Scott) and our own Mike Festa (TSE/NoTubes) to to be in the mix on stages.

 

TSE is probably the most tactics friendly mtb stage race too. It isn’t just about going uphill fastest and it takes different abilities to excel on different days. That could open the door for some really interesting GC and individual stage racing.

The Men’s 40+ and SS categories are also packed with talent and the racing there will be just as exciting throughout the week. It looks like we’ll also be rolling out a Men’s 50+ field this year for the first time and are seeing Duo and Epic Teams grow too. And again, this thing is designed for any mountain biker with a moderate amount of fitness to come out and enjoy. We feel like it is important for us to point out that there are definitely a lot of great racers here, but we haven’t really gone out seeking them. Instead, they’ve heard good things about TSE from their friends and come to us because they want to do great events just like everyone else. For sure we love the attention from media and spectators that having some of the best in the world brings with it, but “mortals” shouldn’t feel intimidated with these guys on the start line. In fact, being in the race makes with racers like this is something you’re likely to only do at mtb stage races and something you’ll remember for sure!

Finally, any predictions?

• It will be unpredictable.
• Weir will say some really funny stuff and probably piss some people off.
• Ray and I will join everyone else at the end of the week for some partying.
• The Misfit Psycles frame give-away will be funny and awesome.
• Colt will catch people doing stupid things on camera for CyclingDirt.org
(Why do I have a feeling this will involve Rich Dillen? – XXC).
• We’ll all go home complete exhausted but ecstatic about the week and hyped up for 2012 (mark your calendars, May 27-June 2 BTW)

Thanks for your time and good luck with the race Mike, looking forward to daily updates and photos from your event.

Thanks Jason! Can’t wait to see you out here… Next year?

One can hope Mike!

REGISTRATION FOR THE TSE ENDS MAY 15TH! Get on it if you want to throw down
on some sweet Pennsylvania single track!