Hurkey Creek Preview

The Mountain Bike Endurance season is about to kick off on April 26th with a race at Hurkey Creek in Idylwild, California. We are going to analyze one team every day until the season officially starts.

We covered "Stiff Cranks" yesterday and today we are going to be previewing the race team of "Chicken Shift".

Our guest author today is Henry McFlannagan from Mountain Bike Racing Magazine who has spent the last week in the Chicken Shift camp analyzing their training and race tactics.

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I will cut to the chase. Team Chicken Shift is no pro team. They are at best a collection of motley amateurs attempting their first 24 hour race. Most pro teams will complete 30+ laps in a 24 hour race and I will predict that Team Chicken Shift registers around 25 laps.

This is a young team without a proven leader and without big game experience. It will be interesting to see how they respond when put under pressure.

I spent some time with each member individually talking about their hopes, fears, strengths and weaknesses. They offered up their rotation (a sign of inexperience as other teams will use this to their advantage) and so I will analyze each rider briefly.

1. Andrew Winger

As I walked into Team Chicken Shift's camp I heard a strange noise and when I turned around a tall bearded rider skidded on his bike right next to me and then stared at me until the uncomfortable silence caused me to speak.

Me: "Uhm. Who are you?"
Bearded Man: "I am Andrew Winger and I am awesome."

That first exchange sums up Andrew Winger. Fast, reckless (he skidded and kicked up dust on my nice pants) and confident. Andrew trains in Santiago Oaks and is a master mechanic. His only weakness is large bags of trail mix (self confessed).

I predict he turns in average lap times of 54 minutes.


2. Matt Vaughan

After I finished talking and debating with Andrew I made my way over to the skinny chap sitting by himself on a log with three boxes of Kix next to him. I asked if the whole team had just eaten breakfast and to my surprise he informed me that three boxes was his standard morning meal.

Matt Vaughan is famous for being only one of eleven men in North America that own an actual Bianchi Rita singlespeed bike. It is generally seen as a bike that only women buy (hence the name "Rita"), but Matt has never played by the rules.

Matt is consistent on his bike and well known for his track standing ability. Too bad track stands won't win the race.

If Matt does not ride his feminine bike, he should turn in times under 55 minutes. (That's a big "if" ...)


3. Jason Rusnak

It is a strange feeling to meet someone and watch, as in the middle of the conversation, they pull all of their hair off of their head to reveal that they were actually wearing a wig. But this is the kind of relaxed and absurd air that permeates Team Chicken Shift.

Enter Jason Rusnak. Jason features a stupidly high saddle position on his bike and the ability to roll over any technical obstacle. He was drafted in the second round of 2007 and has proven to be a surprise pick up.

He confessed to me in a more candid moment that he actually cries for 30 minutes before every race. When I asked why he just smiled at me and put his wig back on - it was alarming to say the least.

If he can stay focused and not cry too much before his laps, then I predict lap times comparable to Andrew and Matt.


4. Ryan Meyer

Ryan is a head case. I introduced myself as Henry McFlannagan, writer for Mountain Bike Racing Magazine and he launched into this absurd story about Irish people and made endless puns on "Henry". It was annoying to be blunt.

Ryan rides a cheap bike that is on its last leg. I think it could actually fall apart during his second lap in a yard sale style explosion that would make an atom bomb look tame. He better rely heavily on Jake Ketterer the team mechanic.

If Ryan can avoid telling bad jokes during his laps and can focus on riding and conquer his fear of curbs and other obstacles (fear of curbs by a mountain biker is the single oddest thing I've come across in my 25 years of journalism), then he should be good for 55 to 58 minute laps.


5. Doug House

Mr. House, as he insisted I call him, is the dark horse of the team. A bit of an unknown, Mr. House rides constantly according to his teammates. It is not uncommon for him to ride twice a day and even sometimes ten times in one day. He is that dedicated.

He is a race tested veteran and imparts his knowledge to his teammates. Racing on an ultralight carbon Trek Mr. House should show well at Hurkey. When I asked him about race tactics he started to talk about their "two lap a piece" strategy but then began to discuss financial issues with me which was over my head.

I wish I could have received better information from Mr. House in regards to his own training and preparation but instead I think I signed up for a second mortgage on my house. Strange.

Mr. House is good for 55 minute laps, but could do better than that as the dark horse of the team.


To the finish ...

Team Chicken Shift should finish in the top 5 only because most other teams will pack it up halfway through the 24 hours and go home to watch American Idol. Their race will be a race of survival and instinct and to be honest, it will be a race of madness.

If a 40 year old Britney Spears married Tom Cruise and had quintuplets, that would be Team Chicken Shift. Crazy and yet able to pull off decent performances when motivated.