November 15, 2009; Conshohocken, PA, USA: After days of wet, windy, messy weather, the sun shone and spirits were high. The course stayed fairly dry, although there was enough mud to go around. Jennifer Maxwell (ATAC Sportswear presented by The Bike Rack) ran away with the women’s race, easily outdistancing her competitors, especially after Julie Kuliecza (ALAN North America) had a mechanical.
Jared Neiters (Haymarket Bicycles/Home Visit) commented, “It’s a really hard course – no place to hide out there today, no place to rest.” He was determined to win and wanted to bring home some good news to his Dad. Indeed he did bring it home, outdistancing Dave Weaver (ALAN North America) by a minute and a half. Nieters used a combination of skill and strength, saying it was important to take the right line and rode with an amazing smooth style but he also flew up the short steep hills. Many racers claimed it was the hardest course they’d ever ridden and it was more difficult this year with some of the mud on the hills, although all the participants seemed to have a good time and declared the course “really hard but a lot of fun.”
