Race Report: Beech Mountain Race 1 - July 10 & 11, 2010

Dual Slalom - Jay 2nd and Will 3rd - Good times had by allby GROM racer, Jay Fesperman

(July 12, 2010)  This past weekend we raced at the first race of the Beech Mountain series. Our team had a low turnout with Walker and Luca already in Colorado and Sam and Lauren unable to attend, so we only had 4 riders. With heavy rain the night before, the Beech Mountain downhill track was muddy and slick. Specialized hooked us up with some Storm mud tires that tracked extremely well on the rutted, muddy trail. With practice and the race on the same day, we had limited time for practicing the track. It was cool riding with our coach Christopher Herndon and learning his fast line choices.

            The trail had dried out a lot by race time, which made it super fast for racing. We all had clean race runs with Ben taking 5^th, Will taking 4^th, and me taking 1^st. After our runs we went up the trail to watch the Pros in a gnarly section. Christopher was scary fast, and we were sure that if the rest of his run was clean he had won. When we got to the bottom after his run we learned he had won by 4 seconds! We were all stoked on the day and we couldn’t wait for slalom the next day.

            Sunday morning started out with the Dual slalom track being tacky from the dew the night before and it got drier and dustier as the day progressed. It was a cool track, with many berms, a  5- pack roller set and some fun jumps. We all were having a great time riding the track and before we knew it qualifying started. Everyone had clean qualifying runs and felt good going into the head to head racing.  The racing started out with Ben racing Nathan Swartz, Will racing teammate Eric Vest and me (Jay) racing Reid Dressler. Will and I placed third and second respectively. Christopher placed first in the pro class on the track that he had built for collegiate nationals a few years back(Lees McRae College). We all had a great time at the Beech Mtn race number one, and were excited to head out to the U.S. Nationals in Colorado the next morning.

GROM Racers Podium at Plattekill

GROM racers, Sam Pensler and Lauren Daney, were able to attend the second race of the Pro Gravity Tour in Plattekill, New York, which was a junior world championship qualifier.  A top three finish is required at qualifying events in order to be eligible to make the U.S. National team.  Lauren took a hard spill on Saturday, but managed to race on Sunday and win her class.  She was the fastest amateur racer as well, nearly solidifying her spot on the junior world championship team.  Sam had a strong run and finished third in the CAT 1 junior men’s class.  He is definitely in contention to go to junior worlds and just needs to put together a solid run at the next qualifier in California.

Everyone’s equipment worked well this weekend; the Cane Creek Double Barrel rear shocks kept the bikes riding smooth, resulting in only the occasional sound of tires bouncing off of rocks.  Spectators and riders were amazed and commented on the quietness of the team bikes all weekend.  Both Sam and Lauren’s stellar riding form and technique caught the eye of famed mountain bike photographer, Ian Highland, resulting in two great shots of them getting posted on the popular mountain bike website, Pinkbike.  Excited about racing and the exposure the team has received, the coaches, riders and staff are all looking forward to a big event this coming weekend at the U.S. Open.

posting by Tim Price, GROM Assistant Coach

Sycamore Cycles - Specialized Bike Build Weekend

Specialized Bikes OK - GROM Racers Catching BreathOnce again GROM Racing had a fun packed weekend at Chris Herndon’s house.  It was Bike Build Weekend - completing the build on a new Specialized BigHit and video shoot at Wes Dickson's Sycamore Cycles.

Will Obrien, Tim Price, and Danny Cesare arrived on Friday evening. Danny, s a good friend of the team,  agreed to use his camera and video editing skills to help the team make this bike build video possible. Plus, Danny got to join the team on the ride too.

On Saturday, Ben Calhoun, Jay Fesperman, and Eric Vest met the Friday night arrivers plus Johanne Tuttle and Christopher Herndon at Sycamore Cycles to start the day with an epic mountain bike ride in Pisgah National Forest. Unfortunately, others on the team were unable to make it for various reasons.

Eric Vest received his Specialized Stumpjumper, which came in handy for what the rest of the day had to offer. We were able to borow some rental bikes from the shop so everyone would have a bike that would survive the climbs. We rode up a gravel road called Clawhammer, then got on a trail called Black Mountain, which turns into Buckwheat, then finished it off with a trail called Bennetts Gap.

If you haven’t ridden that sequence of trails or don’t know what they are, it’s a lot of climbing intermingled with some great downhill. Other than Tim Price following Chris off about a 5 foot rock drop on a bike with no rear suspension, and a few scrapes and scratches, everyone made it out alive and with huge grins on their faces. Then off we went to the shop for the bike build.

The bike build was a great success. Being pumped about our sponsors really helps to makes a video about a sick bike quite fun.  After shooting several hours of video, we finished off the day with pasta and pumptrack! On Sunday we had yet another pumptrack session before everyone headed home. The coaches can see a whole lot of potential in the young GROMs!!!

Johanne Tuttle

At the Top - Pisgah Views - Awesome

GROM Racers Podium at Clemson

Where: Clemson Freeride's Downhill Race

When: Saturday, February 27, 2010

What Happened: GROM Racers Luca Shaw, Will O'Brien, and Lauren Daney were all seen on the podium. Luca and Will took second and third places, respectively and Lauren finished second in the Women's class.

What Else: (from Coach Joh)

GROM Racing team had their first race of the season this past weekend Saturday February 27^th at the Clemson free ride course in the University’s experimental Forest.

The team has a lot to be proud of with several podiums and team spirit out on the course. Most everyone on the team made it down to this race, except for Sam Pensler who was preparing for the SATS, which is a good reason to be excused.

It was a great start to the season with a team gathering at Chris and Joh’s house to distribute gear. Also allowing the team members and coaches to get to know everyone a little better, and enjoy Belgian waffles before the race!

We started the day off early on Saturday allowing ourselves to get the pit area set up. Thanks to Specialized, Industry Nine, and Cane Creek we had many tents to have a large pit area. This also gave us enough time everyone to get enough practice runs before the race. Everyone did a good job of helping set up and before we knew it the team was riding together sharing knowledge of the track! Tim Price, one of the coaches, was helping the kids out with line selection and riding techniques. And all of the racers looked great with their matching Specialized jerseys, Smith goggles, and Troy Lee Designs pants and helmets. It had many people talking as the kids were whizzing by. We were also able to share an area with Sycamore Cycles another one of our special sponsors.

But more than everyone looking very professional, the GROMs had positive attitudes about racing and most importantly they were all smiling! The team made a huge impression on fellow racers and race promoter for their first race and will continue to do so as the season progresses.

Click Here to view GROM Racers taking on the Clemson course.

Click Here to check out photos of the event posted by Brandon Barber (thanks Tubby for collecting the evidence).

WNCW.ORG 88.7 - Interview with GROM Coaches

Many thanks to WNCW for getting the word out about GROM Racing. WNCW's Our Southern Community interviewed GROM Coaches Christopher Herndon and Johanne Tuttle with the show's first airing on 2/7/10.

The show profiled the resurgence of mountain biking in the USA and positive impact it can have on today's youth. Christopher and Joh shared first person stories of how biking has had a positive impact on their lives. In addition, listeners were given a glimpse of the successes and challenges that downhill and cross county bikers encounter.

As you listen to the show you'll hear the gratitude in each of their voices. Gratitude toward the sport in general but also to those that particpate as racers and sponsors. Christopher mentions races where other riders came to his aid to help get a bike ready for racing after travel delays caused a near miss at an international race. Joh tells of how mountian biking and mountian bike racing helped her find purpose after a switch from the soccer field and how mountian biking has helped her get to the best physical condition of her life.

Click here to listen to the show. Click here to learn more about WNCW. Visit Specialized.com, Canecreek.com, Sycamorecycles.com, SRAM.com and GAMUT.com, all GROM sponsors and companies that have supported Christopher as he developed into one of the nation's top mountian bike racers.  Many thanks to WNCW, Our Southern Community and its host, and the GROM Sponsors for making this possible.

New GROM Logo - New Racer

GROM Racing is excited to introduce the new team logo. This puts us just one step closer to branding all the "team stuff" on the way.

Also worthy of an introduction is new GROM Racer, Sam Pensler. Sam is only 17 yet he is already riding at a pro level on some courses. The 2009 Gravity East Series saw Sam on the podium at two races. Check out this video of Sam riding some of his local trails near his D.C. area home.

Herndon & Tuttle Thanksgiving GROM Visits

The Thanksgiving holiday brought about some team time for members of GROM Racing. Coaches Christopher Herndon and JohAnne Tuttle visited team members in two NC towns. First stop was Chapel Hill, NC to meet with riders Ben Calhoun and Will O'Brien. Christopher and JohAnne had team member Tim Price's new Specialized Big Hit to show the riders. Ben and Will were sized for their team bikes and plus discussed bike components.

Then on to Charlotte for some more turkey and a visit with Jay Fesperman and Eric Vest in Davidson. It was a repeat of bike sizes and component selection then off to the trail for some riding. Davidson's Fisher Farm Park was the destination. Fisher Farm is the hometown trail for Eric and Jay. They enjoyed leading Christopher and JohAnne on the trail they ride regularly. There was some skills work too. The advanced section of the trail has a particularly difficult 180 degree turn followed immediately by a log pile. With Herndon's coaching, all riders were able to get at least one or two crossings without throwing out a foot.

Back to the real world on Monday with work for the coaches and class for the kids; all looking forward to the next Saturday or short mid-week afternoon ride.