West Virginia Enduro Series RD3

WVES RD3.
Location: Coopers Rock State Forest.
If i had to pick a favorite race from last years series, Coopers rock would be hard to beat.
Its a little shorter in overall time and distance than the others, but it isnt any less grueling or fun.
The trails out there have it all..In typical WV fashion...Physical, technical, fast, rocky, and more fun than you can shake a big stick at!

First up is a giant rock garden. Fast and littered with loose fist sized rocks, throw in 2 punchy climbs in the middle to max your HR out, and thats stage 1...If you weren't awake yet, you are now!

Stage 2..You brought your pedaling legs, right? Hope so..This one is pretty straight forward. Its just going down enough to keep your pedaling, but let up and you loose precious seconds, so get up to speed as quickly as possible and keep the power down in your biggest gear the whole way..Float through a few small rock gardens and end with a roll-able technical drop into the finish.

Stage 3..This ones a blast. Just over 2 minutes of fast downhill. Starting with some tight twisty stuff, a nice booter, some pedaling, and yes, you guessed it, more rocks! This stage claimed a carbon rim on the bike of eventual winner Tim Carson.

Stage 4..If you look up rowdy in the dictionary there should be a picture of this trail. 6+ minutes of insanity and guaranteed arm pump. Its tight and technical, rocks everywhere, greasy roots, log jumps, flat sprinting sections and ridiculously fast....This is what Coopers is all about and its the perfect stage to end the race.

The day started off dull and gloomy after a pretty severe thunder storm rolled through Friday night. And although it made the course a little slicker than everyone had anticipated, it did keep the temps down and made for an excellent day to ride.

It seems this year everyone is on it and hungry for a win. Even with a couple of the fast guys down in Pisgah the field was stacked.
Everyone was pushing as hard as possible and it was evident in listening to the stories of crashes at the end of each stage and witnessing all the flat tires.
After a super fun day and as the mud settled, the results came in and i had done enough to take 2nd in the mens pro/ex class. It couldnt of been a closer race though. Kohl crushed the first 3 and if he hadnt of crashed on 4, wouldve won. In fact he and i both posted the same overall time, but the tie breaker was the stage 4 times and so i was awarded the second step.
The series is already shaping up to be fight to the end and i cant wait until the next round in a few weeks....The snow shoe epic! 2 days and 8 stages of toe to toe racing.....See you all there!!
Big thanks to all my sponsors and supporters:

Richmond bicycle studio
Kona bikes
Royal racing
iDP7
Urge bicycle products
Dyna plug racing
Renthal
Honey Stinger
maxxis
Speedsleev