The mountain bike team completed an intersquad, five-stage “Tour de Blue Ridge” mountain bike race last week that tested each riders’ mental and physical stamina.
“Together, the team rode a combined distance of about 100 miles and climbed over 17,000 feet in a week,” says Coach Tony Brown.
Stage one was a two-lap sprint (4.4 miles) of the Chesley Creek loop while stage two required team members to ride to the top of Brokenback Mountain Road, take apart their bike tires and put the tubes back in again.
“Tony Jin showed his climbing abilities with an easy first place finish in stage two. In Yong Song and Yuto Hiraki were a distant second at 2.5 minutes behind Tony earning both a spot on the podium,” reports Tony. After tough rides, Haedeun Kim and Alex Dillard had respectable fourth and fifth place finishes.
Stage three was a 5.5-mile route that covered most of the School’s best trails and tested both climbing endurance and bike control on the downhill.
Stage four required riders to take their bikes apart and put them back together, followed by a short sprint.
On Friday, stage five was a grueling 8.2-mile, 1,500 foot climb to the top of Moonshine trail. Eleven of the fifteen riders completed this stage. The intersquad competition concluded with burgers and fries. “No matter what place a rider finished, there were many smiles, lots of sweat and more shots of self esteem given out this week!” he adds.
“Tony Jin, In Yong, Yuto, Min Woo, Juno, Jack and Haedeun get special recognition for being at every stage this week,” says Tony who adds that while Haedeun’s name most days was at the bottom of the list, he was there fighting every day to stay on the trail and keep going. “He does it with a smile and I haven’t heard a complaint yet. I am more than impressed,” says Tony.
“Newcomers Preston, Min Woo and Juno have put in the work to finish within the top half of the team. Jack Lutzker would have made the top half but he suffered through two flats on Friday,” reports Tony.
The team will get some public race action on Saturday, April 28, during the Ride the Ridge race on campus during Parent Weekend. Blue Ridge is again hosting the State Mountain Bike Championship on May 12.
Final Standings:
Name – Points
1. Tony Jin – 0
2. InYong Song – 14
3. Yuto Hiraki – 20
4. Preston Neumann – 29
5. Min Woo Ki – 35
6. Ward Carroll- 36
7. Juno Park – 40
8. Spencer Glenn – 40
9. Selby Morgan – 41
10. Jack Lutzker – 44
11. Alex Dillard – 46
12. Haedeun Kim – 48
13. Tucker Fritz – 50
