Here, Wicks turns the screws on the dirt road © Pat Malach, Oregon Cycling Action
With Justin Lindine, Tim Johnson and Barry Wicks all toeing the line at the 2012 NoTubes Trans-Sylvania Epic presented by Dirt Rag, here at Cyclocross Magazine we couldn’t help but take note of the action.
Entering the final stage of the Epic, Promoter Mike Kuhn said, “This is the sort of racing everyone loves. Unpredictable. Exciting. Fast. We’ve purposefully created a week of seven different looking and riding stages. Of course the racers always dictate the outcome, but the mix allows different racers to shine on different days. Throw in the undulating terrain and technical nature of Pennsylvania’s singletrack with its challenging rocks, roots and logs and the outcome of a stage is never predictable. That was certainly the case today.”
Tim Johnson had a good few days of racing after coming into the Epic a day late thanks to spending some time on the road at the Killington Stage Race, but he was still there to duke it out with Cannondale teammate Jeremiah Bishop.
Barry Wicks (Kona Bikes) also found himself on the podium over the course of the week, though some bad luck with flats always seemed to keep him lower in the overall standings than he perhaps would have preferred. Wicks ended the week on the overall podium, with a bronze medal.
Justin Lindine (Redline) started the week strong with podium finishes, but stage three saw the Honey Badger with some mechanical issues. His Fan Page late read, “Three, count ’em, three flat tires slow down Justin just a bit.” However, the post went on to say that, “He still feels great and announces that it is ‘stage hunting season.'” By the end, Justin was down almost 50 minutes from winner Jeremiah Bishop, and sat in sixth place.
