Subaru/Gary Fisher Mountain Bike Team News
03/16/2007 Team
The Americans had a great showing, as did the Subaru-Gary Fisher riders. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski finished fifth among the elite men. Willow Koerber finished third among elite women and Heather Irmiger was just behind her to finish fourth.
Also, it was the first race for Sam Schultz with the rest of the Subaru-Gary Fisher Team. And he had a great race, finishing second in the Under 23 category. Below is Sam's recount of the event- grueling travel schedules, epic side trips, luggage mishaps, and everything in between.
----
After what has seemed like a very long winter the season has finally started. The first race of the year was the Pan American Championships in Villa La Angostura, Argentina. Although it was a National Team trip consisting of riders from many different trade teams, the entire Subaru-Gary Fisher XC team made the squad so it was great getting to hang out with my new teammates for the first time.
The trip started out with the longest travel day of my life, 34.5 hrs to be exact. Once we finally reached our destination all the travel was forgotten as I tried to take in as many of the incredible sights as I could during our short stay. The town we stayed in had a cozy ski village feel to it and was super nice. I ended up spending more time than I probably should have walking around and checking out the town, which was filled with chocolate and wine shops.
After sleeping through the hotel breakfast the first morning I managed to scrounge up some food and set off to check out the cross-country course. It was an awesome 6 km loop that was mostly single track with perfect black soil, twisty turns, a few slick roots, and some sketchy wooden bridges made out of sticks. I was happy to have my Race Day full suspension bike with me because the course was pretty rough. Once I started riding I was quickly reminded of how little time Ive put on the trails this winter but luckily I was able to get back into the rhythm fairly quickly. It ended up being one of the best courses Ive ever ridden and reminded me of just how much fun mountain biking really is.
Despite a forecast for rain, race day ended up being pretty nice. There were a few showers and some low hanging clouds, but it was nice that it wasnt super hot. The start of the race was crazy as usual with everyone going wild to get into the single track first. I ended up around 6th wheel but made it up to 2nd about a quarter of the way into the lap. I couldnt quite hold the pace that Max Plaxton was setting so I settled into my own and rode most of the race by myself. I was having a blast just riding the course at speed on my own. I ended up holding on for 2nd place, which I was pretty happy with.
After hanging out for the podium presentation a few of us decided to attempt to ride to Chile because it seemed like a good place to go and wed been talking about it all week. Its not too often that I set off for a 3-hour ride right after racing, still smelling of Champagne from the podium, but then again its not too often Im in Argentina with an opportunity to ride through the Andes. We ended up making it to the first border station about 10 km from Chile but we had to turn around because we were running out of daylight. Even though we didnt quite make it to Chile it was still a good adventure with some incredible views.
The trip home went slightly smoother than the trip there and only took around 27 hrs, a piece of cake in comparison. Aerolineas, Argentinas somehow forgot to load the entire US teams bikes onto our first flight so we all made it home with less luggage to haul. Hopefully our bikes will show up soon.
All-in-all the first race of the year was a huge success. The racing was fun, the views were incredible and the food was good. As an added bonus, every other travel day of the year will seem short in comparison to this one. I cant wait for the rest of the season.
Subaru-Gary Fisher Team, Sam Schultz at Pan Am Championships
The Subaru-Gary Fisher Mountain Bike Team travelled to Argentina to kick off the 2007 XC season at the Pan Am Championships. The team was there to score points for American and try to maximize the number of riders (hopefully Subaru-Gary Fisher riders) that get sent to the 2008 Olympics.The Americans had a great showing, as did the Subaru-Gary Fisher riders. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski finished fifth among the elite men. Willow Koerber finished third among elite women and Heather Irmiger was just behind her to finish fourth.
Also, it was the first race for Sam Schultz with the rest of the Subaru-Gary Fisher Team. And he had a great race, finishing second in the Under 23 category. Below is Sam's recount of the event- grueling travel schedules, epic side trips, luggage mishaps, and everything in between.
----
After what has seemed like a very long winter the season has finally started. The first race of the year was the Pan American Championships in Villa La Angostura, Argentina. Although it was a National Team trip consisting of riders from many different trade teams, the entire Subaru-Gary Fisher XC team made the squad so it was great getting to hang out with my new teammates for the first time.
The trip started out with the longest travel day of my life, 34.5 hrs to be exact. Once we finally reached our destination all the travel was forgotten as I tried to take in as many of the incredible sights as I could during our short stay. The town we stayed in had a cozy ski village feel to it and was super nice. I ended up spending more time than I probably should have walking around and checking out the town, which was filled with chocolate and wine shops.
After sleeping through the hotel breakfast the first morning I managed to scrounge up some food and set off to check out the cross-country course. It was an awesome 6 km loop that was mostly single track with perfect black soil, twisty turns, a few slick roots, and some sketchy wooden bridges made out of sticks. I was happy to have my Race Day full suspension bike with me because the course was pretty rough. Once I started riding I was quickly reminded of how little time Ive put on the trails this winter but luckily I was able to get back into the rhythm fairly quickly. It ended up being one of the best courses Ive ever ridden and reminded me of just how much fun mountain biking really is.
Despite a forecast for rain, race day ended up being pretty nice. There were a few showers and some low hanging clouds, but it was nice that it wasnt super hot. The start of the race was crazy as usual with everyone going wild to get into the single track first. I ended up around 6th wheel but made it up to 2nd about a quarter of the way into the lap. I couldnt quite hold the pace that Max Plaxton was setting so I settled into my own and rode most of the race by myself. I was having a blast just riding the course at speed on my own. I ended up holding on for 2nd place, which I was pretty happy with.
After hanging out for the podium presentation a few of us decided to attempt to ride to Chile because it seemed like a good place to go and wed been talking about it all week. Its not too often that I set off for a 3-hour ride right after racing, still smelling of Champagne from the podium, but then again its not too often Im in Argentina with an opportunity to ride through the Andes. We ended up making it to the first border station about 10 km from Chile but we had to turn around because we were running out of daylight. Even though we didnt quite make it to Chile it was still a good adventure with some incredible views.
The trip home went slightly smoother than the trip there and only took around 27 hrs, a piece of cake in comparison. Aerolineas, Argentinas somehow forgot to load the entire US teams bikes onto our first flight so we all made it home with less luggage to haul. Hopefully our bikes will show up soon.
All-in-all the first race of the year was a huge success. The racing was fun, the views were incredible and the food was good. As an added bonus, every other travel day of the year will seem short in comparison to this one. I cant wait for the rest of the season.
RSS Fisher News© 1995-2008 Trek Bicycle Corporation. All rights reserved.