They’ve slayed the TransRockies. They’ve laid the beats to the B.C. Bike Race.
Now, Jon Firth and Drew Simson have put a stake through the heart of the Trans-Sylvania Epic.
The Canmore duo returned to the Bow Valley victorious after winning the biggest mountain bike stage race in the U.S.A. by nearly an hour and a half, May 27 to June 3.
“It’s up there for sure (in terms of big wins),” Firth said. “The level of competition for the first few teams was strong, then it dropped off. We were 10th overall when you count all the solo pros.”
Described as seven days of mountain bike bliss through central Pennsylvania, the Trans-Sylvania event is the longest stage mountain bike race in the U.S. Fully-supported, the trails flow around Seven Mountains Boy Scout Campground, attracting some of the best riders on the continent. Each stage was between 51 and 67 kilometres in length, Firth said, with a few hundred metres of elevation each day.
Against top teams, Firth and Simson, riding for TransRockies/Honey Stinger/Planet Foods, finished with a one hour, twenty minute lead on second place, winning six of the seven stages. While other teams were within 20 minutes of the Canmore men for much of the week, once the hill stages began, Firth and Simson blew the field apart.
“In the last climbing stages, we were able to put on quite a bit more time. We were a lot stronger technical-wise,” Firth said.
The team of Craig Lebair and Mike Festa finished second, followed by Christian Baks and Paul Wojciak. Neither pair could match the strength exhibited by Firth and Simson.
Simson said elevation gave them a big advantage, as the team was in peak condition come race week. He trained with ski coach Mike Cavaliere in the leadup to the event, who helped him get his nutrition and training tuned up.
“Lots of training prior to the event was good, and the elevation helped. Jon towed me a lot and we only had one day where we had a mechanical, where we broke a derailleur. We kept it pretty clean,” Simson said.
While Simson said Firth was the stronger rider, Firth credits his partner for ramping up his training.
“Drew bought into training. I knew where my fitness was at and Drew knew what he had to do to get it done. We rode smart as a team,” Firth said.
Firth will try to defend his TransRockies title this year, while Simson wants to focus on the litany of Canmore races dotting the calendar this year.
The event is also a fundraiser, which helps build trails in Pensylvania.
For full results, visit www.tsepic.com
