Rumble in the Jungle 2014

[The Heckler]

I blame the mad heckler...whenever he comes out, my day is usually an apocalyptic mess 🙂

I'm really sorry Utah.. It's pretty true though.. Charm city you broke a rim, HPCX you flatted and now double flat and a broken spoke at Jungle!?

Lets see if we can crack your frame at Lewis Morris!!!!

This was my first time racing Jungle and second time riding there (first being my pre-ride saturday). Holy skinny trees and rocks batman!! The course was a blast and I had a great time racing. I've been putting in a lot of time on the road bike this year and was really nervous I might be turning into a roadie.. But I guess I still got the technical skillz to pay the Cat 2 MTB billlzzz. Stoked on my first place 19-29.

To the group down by the standing water towards the muddy section: STEP UP YOUR HECKLE ENDURANCE, YOU WERE MUCH LOUDER THE FIRST LAP.

 

[Robin]

I could actually hear you Matt heckling at the finish as I was on Warthog. Just like the days of CX...lol. Nice job out there!

 

[bumblebeetuna]

Hey anyone have pics of the results they can post?

 

[Team Town Cycle]

Thanks to everyone who came out and raced (and heckled!) yesterday! It wound up being a great day - and best of all - no ambulance runs! We had a blast putting it together, and thank you all for your support - can't wait until next year!

We should have results for you tonight. In the meantime - we did find a pair of women's prescription glasses - purple frames, in the parking lot, not far from the Ruby Rose EZ-Up. If they are yours (or you know someone they might belong to), have them drop us a line!

 

[graveyardman67]

Big Thanks to TTC for another great event. As always DVW puts together one the most challenging and fun courses around in a unique park.

Congrats to Dillon for killing out there. And of course the MTBNJ.com crew for a great showing - just needs less flats and broken derailleurs.

 

[Mountain Bike Mike]

Feedback from a beginner:

Very Fun race yesterday (Cat 3 30-39 #308 - First year racing, second year riding). I loved the two lapper for Cat 3. So far, I've completed the first three of the H2H series going in cold turkey, no preride, no experience at any of these trails and the second lap helped me out greatly. The first lap is always a new experience and I am a little tentative on going 100% all out because I don't know what the next turn or obstacle will present - So I ride somewhat defensively which is slightly slower that if I was riding trails I knew. Since we had a second lap, I was able to fly through it and make up the time I spent on the ground. The second lap definately gave me more confidence. I wish more Cat 3 races had multiple laps.

Nice Job Team Town Cycle.

 

[wlee]

...but I picked up right where I left off, another podium! 3rd place Cat 2 50+

Great course and great vibe. A real MTBer's race.

I ride Jungle alot and this course was nothing like I'm use to, but I loved the challenge. Lot's of fun for sure!

Congratulations John....AKA Mr Diesel. Happy your standing on that Box. Me My first year in the 50 and over so aside from John no clue who is who but who cares its Jungle and I love riding there. My first race since last years Bearscat. Rt 287 is closed on way there and get diverted long story short get there with 45 min to spare. So no warm up at all which really stinks. I hang with John till midway lap 1 but can tell he is on and its just a matter of time before he checks out on me. I battle with 2 strong guys who seem like roadies cause there were super strong before otter than once on otter they were super slow and I pass them on Otter and drop them, through warthog which is sooooo much fun at race pace I gap them . They catch me by the cages walk/climb and gap me a bit but plan is smoke them on otter again. I start getting tired and fall, swipe a tree and cant see them until I start warthog. Bamm I see the carrot and its on, I pass 1 then catch the train of about 3 others but that climb is gonna kill me to the finish and we all come out together.....not good 2 guys drop me like a bad habit and the other I kept behind me. Finished 6 th out of 18 riders so I`m happy. Thanks TTC for a great event , The coarse was not my favorite but jungle is always fun. I really miss racing up animal chute and the whole warthog. maybe next year.
____________
Willy

 

[Team Town Cycle]

Thanks again for all feedback - we had a great time, and glad so many of you all did too! Results are here, and thanks again to Eastern Sports Promotions for a great job with the timing. If you haven't checked out Luke's pics yet, you really need to - they are great!

 

[EABODS]

Congrats Robin, Lance, John, Tj, Alex, the mad heckler and everyone else who had a good day out there. Course was awesome and TTC once again did a great job with this race. The only bummer about it is that it only happens once a year.

Big shot out to my man Bill....really awesome seeing him back on the cat 1 podium again.

My race was a disaster, tore open the side of rear tire 3 minutes and had to put a tube in. This was a first in a bike race since 2008. I have no idea how many races i have done since then, but I had never actually had to use my tube in a race until yesterday. So the race was over for me at that point, but I wanted to earn enough calories for a burrito, so I carried on. Made it to the top of cages when something went through my wheel and broke a spoke sending it into my cassette. Got that fixed, then at the end of lap two my front tire popped on the pavement of all places. Finally got it to seal after a mile or some of hitting it with co2 and finished. One of those days.....I blame the mad heckler...whenever he comes out, my day is usually an apocalyptic mess 🙂
But race aside it was awesome hanging out with the gang and even my wife, son and mother came out. Good times!

Thanks dude, great to see you line up with the pros...takes guts!

 

[Slugger]

What do you expect when the sprint is about 200 yards long, before turning into a rocky course with nowhere to pass?

Is a start like this a feature and not a bug? Is the goal to reward the sprinters by allowing the top 3 to ride away while the rest of us get backed up in the mud and scream at each other? 🙂

My fave was the announcer, right before sending our wave off - the LAST wave of the LAST cat of the ENTIRE DAY, just ONE MORE WAVE TO SEND OFF!!! - says, "Phew, good, made it through the whole day with no crashes in the first 200 yds."

Guess where I crashed. :getsome:

Anyway, huge thanks to TTC for being out the day(s) before getting the mud to rideable levels, the trails marked/taped, and everything that goes in to putting on a race. Thanks to Luke for fantastic photos.

I'm a supah-beginner, my third race, my first year trying anything technical. It was a tougher course than I thought from Saturday's pre-ride, but I managed to keep the pace decent and beat my race goals. These races are an interesting introduction to all of these parks. 🙂 If this was the easiest part of the Jungle, I'm not sure I'm brave enough for the rest of it!

 

[muddybike]

Loved this course!

Thank you team town cycle for putting this fantastic race together - awesome course - LOVE me some rocks! Sadly I flatted halfway through lap 2 (first time on my bike, first time on tubeless - guess I'd better dial those in...) So far the H2H Jamis series has been incredible!

 

[TriChick]

Super fun course! I personally decided to make it a triathlon, deciding to swim one of the stream crossings. 🙂

Fantastic job, Team Town Cycle! Thanks to all of the volunteers!
Stacey

 

[Team Town Cycle]

One last Rumble related note - a big thank you to all of the racers and spectators for leaving JH, both trails and parking lot, EXTREMELY clean this year! Without a doubt, this was the cleanest the park has ever been post-race! Thank you for respecting the park, our relationship with the NJ State Park system, and the time of our volunteers - we say it all the time, but the H2H family is the best!🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂