Mountain States Cup #3, Day 2

Race report by Shawn Lortie

Sunday’s stage three of the MSC Riverside Rampage was the much-awaited Cross Country course where the riders would be able to stretch out their legs a bit and see some of the surrounding countryside. There had been much talk about the course and the technical riding it involved, with the official race website suggesting pre-riding the course and running beefier tires.

It turns out that the hype was true, as Mitch Hoke (Tokyo Joes) had this to say: “It was definitely one of the most technical races I have ever done. The back section had some pretty fresh cut trails down the lava rock. You had to be super solid.” Hoke was solid, and ended up finishing third in the Men’s Pro race. Colin Cares (Kenda/Felt) skipped the first day of racing, which may have left him with a fresher pair of legs, as he rode in the lead group from the start, eventually taking the win.

With the course starting down by the base of “S” Mountain, racers gained quite a bit of altitude as they headed up a county road for a few miles before diving into the singletrack. From there the course worked it’s way towards the backside of “S” Mountain with lots of technical trail riding. “I was feeling pretty throttled from the day before, but Colin Cares and myself managed to get away from Kelly (Magelky), Jay (Henry) and Tad (Elliot), and had a pretty solid gap by the second climb. I got some time on Colin down the most technical parts because he had not been able to pre ride them.”

By the last lap, Cares and Jay Henry (Tokyo Joes) were able to get away. “When we started climbing again I really started suffering and had to take it back. Colin and Jay went by me on the climbs but I managed to keep it together for third,” said Hoke about his effort. In the end, Cares beat Jay Henry by a mere 24 seconds, with Hoke coming in for third at 1:42 back.

In the Women’s Pro race Sage Wilderman (Specialized/Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory) took it from the starting line once again. By the time the women hit the singletrack about 15 minutes into the first lap of two, Wilderman had about a minute gap on Jennifer Smith (Alpine Orthapedics), with Gretchen Reeves (Tokyo Joes) about another minute back. 

By the end of the last lap, Wilderman had built her lead up to 3:24.96 ahead of Smith. A hard charging Teal Stetson-Lee (Specialized/Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory), was able to get by Reeves and come within 17 seconds of Smith to finish third for the day. 

Overall it was a great inaugural race weekend for this new Mountain States Cup venue. It’s great to see all the hard work done by the Salida Mountain Trails group get appreciated and ridden, and as word gets out, this venue will become one of the favorites in the MSC Series.

For complete results:Mountain States Cup