ACE Xterra Race Report

May 31, 2009

New River Gorge, WV

By Mike Hebe

The ACE Big Canyon XTerra Triathlon was my first foray into the MTB multisport venue. The race is unique for XTerra, in that, the swim is straight downriver for 1.5 miles and is then followed by an 8 mile trail run and finishes with an 11 mile mountain bike leg.

After tons of rain the week before and a huge storm the previous night the swim was cancelled due to the river being five feet above swim level. The race started easy enough with one mile of flat rail trail. Then everything went crazy. The next seven miles was made up of steep, root strewn, rocky and muddy trails. I had a good run, even after going off course for a little over a minute. I entered transition in fifth place, three and a half minutes back of the leader. Within two minutes my awesome Cannondale 29er had put me into third place. The great riding of Central PA had given me a distinct advantage over the roots, rocks and mud. Just before the halfway point I had moved into second, and my Cannondale was eating up the trails. I finally made contact with the leader about ten minutes from the end of the bike. I immediately went to the front and put some pressure on, as a finishing one mile sprint was added to the end of the race. I entered transition with a scant forty-five second lead. Heading out on the run I felt strong and was able to stretch my lead to a minute and a half at the finish.

The race was great and our experience was super. Thanks to all of the team sponsors for the ongoing support.