Pisgah Stage Race- Stage 5 and Overall Results

Posted on April 17, 2022 by Jen Toops

Saturday, April 16th, 2022

The final stage of the 2022 Pisgah Stage Race is Industry Nine’s The Land of Waterfalls Route, named for the 250+ waterfalls in Transylvania County. The scenic route is 27 miles with 2301 feet in elevation gain that hits Butter Gap and Davidson River trails. Racers had a cold & wet morning to start but by the end of the stage the sun was shining bright. The final descent heads down the enduro, Bracken Mountain, and racers finish at Brevard Music center for awards and dinner.

Chris Tries (Men’s Masters) congratulated by Race Director Todd Branham of Blue Ridge Adventures

Stage 5 Results

Women’s Open:

Kaysee Armstrong had a strong lead heading into the final stage. It was a battle for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th overall positions between Kait Boyle, Jocelyn Stel, and Taylor Kuyk-White who were only separated by a few minutes. It was unsure if Jocelyn Stel would be racing the final stage as she broke her frame on the Pilot rock descent on stage 4, but she was able to rent a bike for the day.

Kaysee Armstrong is all smiles after 5 stage wins!

Kaysee Armstrong took the stage 5 win, crowning her the overall cross county women’s winner. Kait Boyle finished strong and took 2nd, moving into 2nd overall. Taylor Kuyk-White was able to take Jocelyn on the final stage and finished 3rd moving her into the 3rd overall position.

Stage 5 women’s open podium: 1st Kaysee Armstrong, 2nd Kait Boyle, 3rd Taylor Kuyk-White

1st-Kaysee Armstrong 2:08:40

2nd-Kait Boyle 2:20:29

3rd-Taylor Kuyk-White 2:27:46

Men’s Open:

Kerry Werner had a comfortable lead heading into the final stage and was able to finish just a minute behind Carson Beckett and take the overall win. Carson Beckett was able to win stage 5 and finished 2nd overall. Cypress Gorry had another impressive finish taking 3rd on stage 5 and holding onto 3rd overall.

1st-Carson Beckett 1:55:09

2nd-Kerry Werner 1:56:18

3rd-Cypress Gorry 1:57:22

Bracken Mountain Stage 5 Enduro

The final enduro was held on Bracken Mountain with a 1733 foot descent and 4.75 miles long. This was a fast flowing enduro with switchbacks and long pedal sections finishing at the Brevard Music Center.

Women’s Enduro:

1st-Kaysee Armstrong 24:16

2nd-Kait Boyle 26:30

3rd-Jen Toops 27:09

Jen Toops- racing co-ed duo with husband Anthony Toops snags a 3rd place enduro podium on the last stage.

Men’s Enduro:

1st-Carson Beckett 21:15

2nd-Cypress Gorry 21:46

3rd-Kerry Werner 22:20

Watch the video recap!

Overall Pisgah Stage Race results

Women’s open:

1st-Kaysee Armstrong (Liv) Knoxville, TN 13:02:40

2nd-Kait Boyle (Industry Nine- Pivot Pro Backcountry Team) Victor, ID 13:52:43

3rd-Taylor Kuyk-White (Philly Bike Expo P/B Industry Nine) Philadelphia, PA 13:59:14

4th-Jocelyn Stel (Cyclepath Oakville) Burlington, Ontario 14:08:11

5th-Nina Machnowski (Brevard College/Pivot Cycles/Pearl Izumi) Brevard, NC 15:42:53

Overall Pisgah Stage Race results

Men’s open:

1st-Kerry Werner (Kona Adventure Team) Vinton, VA 10:39:44

2nd-Carson Beckett (Brevard College/Dirt Camp Devo) Brevard, NC 10:52:18

3rd-Cypress Gorry (Ride Kanuga/Specialized) Pisgah Forest, NC 11:21:02

4th-Nick Bragg (The Black Bibs/Starlight) Asheville, NC 11:26:55

5th-Kurt Refsnider (Industry Nine-Pivot Pro Backcountry Team) Prescott, AZ 11:43:43

Overall Women’s Enduro results:

1st-Kait Boyle (Industry Nine-Pivot Pro Backcountry Team) Victor, ID 1:08:51

2nd-Kaysee Armstrong (Liv) Knoxville, TN 1:09:12

3rd-Taylor Kuyk-White (Philly Bike Expo P/B Industry Nine) Philadelphia, PA 1:13:48

4th-Annie Schwartz (Team Noah Foundation) Saint Louis, MO 1:15:01

5th-Jen Toops (Pearl izumi/Pivot Cycles MTB Race Team) Marion, OH 1:17:08

Overall women’s enduro podium: 1st Kait Boyle, 2nd Kaysee Armstrong 3rd Taylor Kuyk-White

Overall Men’s Enduro results:

1st-Cypress Gorry (Ride Kanuga/Specialized) Pisgah Forest, NC 54:37

2nd-Kerry Werner (Kona Adventure Team) Vinton, VA 57:31

3rd-Carson Beckett (Brevard College/Dirt Camp Devo) Brevard, NC 58:55

4th-Ian Blythe (Flow Formulas TranPerfect) Broomfield, CO 1:00:29

5th-Nick Mackie, West Palm, FL 1:01:41

Overall men’s enduro podium: 1st Cypress Gorry, 2nd Kerry Werner 3rd Carson Beckett

CLICK HERE for overall stage results

Thank you to Blue Ridge Adventures team for putting on a great event!

2020 Pisgah Stage Race Preview

Posted on February 4, 2020 by Shannon Boffeli

Written by: Jen & Anthony Toops, Photos by: IconMediaAsheville

Blue Ridge Adventures presents the 12^thannual Pisgah Stage Race. It takes place April 13^th– April 18^th2020 in Brevard, North Carolina. This 5-stage race takes riders on a tour of Pisgah, through the temperate rain forest sampling some of the best singletrack Pisgah has to offer. The race traverses over 140 miles and climbs 20000+ feet with scenic views, waterfalls, creek crossings, and is mix of 76% singletrack, 19% gravel, and 5% asphalt. As always, racers can also test themselves in the timed enduro section on each stage which has its own unique awards and overall crown.

The Pisgah trail system has always been know for its natural ruggedness but sometimes even the best trails require much needed TLC. Crews have been hard at work making some of the most popular trails in the area even better for 2020. Maintenance has been completed on upper/lower Black Mountain, Avery Creek and Bennett Gap, which ironically are all in stage 3. 2020 is gearing up to be one of the best yet!

More ways to race in 2020

2020 will debut some exciting new categories; women’s grand master 50+ and a duo 80+ or 100+ team category which require the teams combined age to equal 80-99 or 100+. There are some fast racers in all of these age groups so the competition should be fun to watch!

Standard PSR categories for 2020 include: Open Men, Open Women, Singlespeed, Vet Men 30-39, Vet Women 30-39, Master Men 40-49, Master Women 40-49, Grand Master Men 50-59, Grand Master Women 50-59 (New), Senior Men 60+, Duo Men, Duo Women, Duo Co-Ed, Duo men 80+ (New), Duo Men 100+ (New)

2020 Pisgah Stage Race Amenities:

5 well marked courses with enduro segment each day
Instant chip timed results
Daily leader’s jersey for all categories
Fully stocked rest stops including mechanical and medical assistance
Drop system
Recovery zone after each stage
Bike wash
Breakfast each morning: Scones, coffee, granola, yogurt and fruit
6 locally sourced dinners: Click here for 2020 dinner menu
Finishers T-Shirt
PSR jersey for all participants registered by March 15th
Custom Crafted Prizes – Awarded to top three in each category. $750, $500, $250 to top three overall men and women for the cross country. $150, $130, $120 to the top 3 overall enduro men and women.

Stage 1: Clif’s Looking Glass Route- Tuesday, April 14th, 2020

Stage 2: Sunset Motels Promised Land Route- Wednesday, April 15th, 2020

Stage 3: Sycamore Cycles White Squirrel Route- Thursday, April 16, 2020

Stage 4: Fox Factory Carl Schenck Route- Friday, April 17, 2020

Stage 5: Industry Nine’s Land of Waterfalls Route- Saturday, April 18, 2020

Still debating? Don’t wait too long, there are limited spots left for a week full of roots, rocks and repeat! CLICK HERE to get registered.

Coach’s Column: Go Enduro with These Training Tips

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Shannon Boffeli

Continuing in our series on what ability to focus on for the various racing disciplines, this week’s column will look at the most important ability to train on for racing enduro.

Enduro is a relatively new discipline in mountain biking. It encompasses a wide variety of events from huge mass start races that begin on the top of an alp, to small timed segments within stage or endurance races. The common thread between all these events is the fact that for the most part, the start of the enduro will be higher than the finish and you will have to traverse some tough terrain in between for a time.

What are the demands of this type of racing? First and foremost excellent bike handling skills will be necessary to do well. A solid amount of aerobic and anaerobic fitness will also be important. Many enduro courses include some serious climbing sections. These sections may not be long, but they can be steep and if you are not able to tackle them quickly precious time is wasted. Having a very strong core and upper body will also be important in order to control the bike over obstacles and serious terrain. Quickness of movement is an important ability in order to redirect, change lines or clear obstacles. Obviously if you are competing for an enduro classification within a stage race, you will need the fitness to complete the entire stage each day.

Skills practice is in an important part of enhancing your enduro finishes.

The answer to our “most important ability” question for this discipline is clear: handling skills should be a major priority of training. Let’s add a little to that though. Not only do you need the skills, but you also need to be able to execute skills while fatigued. Enduro courses can be very long. A skills mistake due to fatigue can wreck a run, or worse. Also, for some events, the course or enduro section of a course may be very difficult or impossible to pre-ride. Having the ability to read terrain quickly and choose a fast line is crucial. With these thoughts in mind, a couple suggestions to add into training would be:

Add an endurance aspect to skills practice. Doing multiple shuttle runs is great for getting lots of runs in, but make sure you ride the climb sometimes as well so you can get the feel of what it is like to hit the run while fatigued. Learn how fatigue affects your reaction time and how you handle the bike. Knowing how to adjust speed to compensate for fatigue can help keep your runs clean and consistently fast.

Constantly strive to find new and challenging terrain to ride. This may be difficult logistically for some, but having the ability to read unknown terrain quickly and pick a solid line is a skill that can be developed by seeing and riding all kinds of trails. You can certainly work on your skills by riding the same course many times, but seeing a variety of trail will help you work on that ability to quickly adapt.

Also to echo Travis Woodruff’s last column, don’t be afraid to work with a skills coach or do a skills specific MTB camp. Having good feedback on ways to improve skills can help speed and confidence tremendously.

Andy Applegate is a Pro level coach with Carmichael Training Systems. He has over 20 years of racing experience and has been coaching cyclists full time since 2001. His passion is endurance mountain bike racing. You can find out more about Andy and his training programs at www.trainright.com

MTB Race News

Tag Archives: enduro racing

Pisgah Stage Race- Stage 5 and Overall Results

2020 Pisgah Stage Race Preview

Coach’s Column: Go Enduro with These Training Tips