Trans-Sylvania Mountain Bike Epic: Day 2- Cooper's Gap

Day 2—Cooper’s Gap presented by Answer Products, Open Men

Two years of frustrating stages and mechanical disasters were put behind him as Justine Lindine, Redline's cyclocross star, established his dominance in the 2013 NoTubes Trans-Sylvania Epic.





A neutral roll-out to the start line gave little indication of the aggression to come as riders enjoyed the comfortable temps and beautiful, bright sunshine at the start of the Answer Products Coopers Gap stage of this year's Trans-Sylvania Epic. The mass start at the bottom of the Stillhouse climb left nothing to the imagination as Sam Koerber (ProGold) announced he was here to contend for the overall victory with an early attempt to open a gap on the contenders.



A strong group, consisting of Brian Matter (RACC/Trek/ProGold), Aaron Snyder (TSEpic.com/NoTubes), Drew Edsall (Kenda/Felt), Phil Grove (Hammer Nutrition), Michael Wissel (B2C2/Boloco), Koerber and Lindine, came together on the run into the rock strewn, single-track, benchcut climb on No-Name Trail where the group splintered apart.


Koerber continued his aggression and showed his prowess on the technical ridgetop of Chicken Peter Trail, arriving in the first checkpoint with a one-minute lead on Matter, Lindine, and Edsall, while Snyder trailed by another minute.

The long single-track climb of Peep and the day's first SRAM/Bear Creek Enduro Segment on PigPile Trail—an opportunity for fast descenders to take home a leader's jersey all their own—allowed Lindine and Matter to rejoin Koerber at the front. This reunion may have been aided by a bobble on the part of Koerber, one that resulted in not only lost time, but the loss of a nice chunk of his front tooth. In the rocking and rolling sweet smooth lines of the Sassy Spur and Sassy-xx trails, the trio increased their lead to more than five minutes over the Edsall and Snyder pair.


Koerber, battered from his earlier encounter with Pennsylvania's rocks, but by no means beaten, used his technical skills honed from thousands of hours in the trails of Pisgah to push through the battle. Matter was the first to leave the fight as a flat tire took him away from the lead group and at the stage victory. Lindine was not dislodged on this second SRAM/Bear Creek enduro run and took control of the race.


Koerber faced his demise on the stiff gravel climb of Crowfield Road rising from Penn Roosevelt State Park as Lindine steadily opened a gap on his closest pursuer and continued building his lead through a final, fern-enshrouded double-track to the finish line. On his defeat, Koerber noted, “It’s going to be a battle; I’m not one to give up. I’m going to make it hurt every day. I’m going to make [Justin Lindine] work for it.” Matter crossed third having ceded several minutes from his flat to the two riders in front. TSEpic Team’s Snyder rolled through in fourth, pulling ever so gradually farther away from Edsall over the final ten miles of the day.

Lindine will again don the yellow Pactimo Leaders Jersey on tomorrow's stage and holds a 6:51 lead over Koerber. Matter sits in third at 9:39, with Snyder and Edsall at 16:36 and 18:31, respectively.



Tuesday's stage, the Dirt Rag/ProGold Coburn Stage, is a mainstay of the Trans-Sylvania Epic and has traditionally altered the racer’s focus from technical single-track skill to tactical acumen with a more open course that encourages group racing tactics. However, a reversal of the classic routing takes what were formerly leg searing rocky climbs and transformed them into blazing fast, gnarly descents that offer an entirely different look to the stage.


Full results can be found here.

All photos by Devon Balet.