Eric Hunner’s Mt Sac Race Report
From “THE ANIMAL” Eric Hunner…
Race day I was up really early as usual checking the weather, light rain. Rain was a good thing, we rode MT. SAC the day before and it was dry and dusty, transitioning into cracked dirt and rock hard singletrack. Mix the two together with a little rain and we some nice dirt to race on.
I owe a Big Thanks to Ergon USA, this was my first competitive event that I used Ergon Grips. This also happens to be the first race where I did not focus on my hands going to sleep. In the past I have had to slow down after a rough downhill section due to the fact I could not feel my hands on the grips during a race.
This was not the case during my Race at MT. SAC. I had received the grips the day before the race. Installing the grips is simple and straight forward, very little tweaking needed. I put 15 miles on the new grips before the race, I was already hooked. The adjustable Bar Ends built into the end of the grips are Awesome. The Bar Ends provided multiple hand placements, which was needed for the MT. SAC race because on the course there really isn’t a place to rest.
MT. SAC has a little bit of everything dry pavement, muddy pavement, lots of hill climbs, single track, slippery grass transitions, hike a bike, tunnel crossing, gravel, and a farm crossing. Having the new Ergon grips made the difference for my race; I could concentrate on the race and not tend to my hands. At the start line I had my toughest competitor Mark Mumea next to me and he had the same Ergon grips I had. I asked Mark if he liked the grips? I believe he said, “They are great”. He kept it short as the race was about to start.
The race started and I had a nice start. I stayed on the left side of the start line so I would not get bumped by the multi-speeders running hard to the first turn. It worked No accidents at the start. I lost
sight of Mark at the first bottleneck I had another Single Speeder in my group one of Mark’s teammates Rod Leueque. Rod and I were going back and forth the first two laps. On the first mile of the last lap Rod threw his chain on some rough single track. Rod recovered and still put up a good fight, but I didn’t let him catch me this time. From that point on I was going like mad. I made it to the podium in 5th place.
I owe another Big Thank You to our Team for all the suport and the great food, Evomo, Hoss, & Ergon.
Yo Eric!
I know RL had reviewed Ergon grips before and one of the things RL mentioned is that on techy sections he noticed that he wasnt able to wrap his fingers around the grip. Did you have the same issue too? I imagine due to the ‘paddle’ design of the grip that ring and pinky finger wont be around as compared to a standard round grip.
Hey Dial Tone,
I did not have the issue, I have Larger then average hands and had no problems. When my hand is on the grip there is only about half an inch between my plam and pinky tip.
During the MT. SAC Race my max speed was 30.5 mph on a rigid bike. I felt I had good control and more of a connection to the bike when going fast. More importantly the grips kept my wrists lined up with my arms. The model of the grip is Ergon GX2 Leichtbau. Ergon does make different models with small and large sizes to fit many hands. I hope this helps.
Ergons are awesome. Jeremy recommended them to me over a year ago, and there’s no turning back for me.
Eric, what ratios you running on your single speed?
Also, I thought you’d tear it up since you did so well in the previous race, and with the endurance races (Counting Coup or Vision Quest?). What happened?
He did tear it up. Now stop harassing the man! 🙂
Not sure if anything bad happened. Eric was racing against some really fast guys. Here’s another thing, Eric probably out weighed the 1st place holder by…a hundred pounds! I’m dead serious. The guy that won look like a lanky roadie that probably didn’t weigh more than a buck 30.
Funny thing, when they were up there getting their awards, Eric shook hands with the rest of the guys, and his above average sized hands engulfed his competitor’s smaller hands…
Wayland,
32/18=1.77 out, get it.
I entered the 2009 Counting Coup. I am going SS again, defending or improving my 2008 SS CC course record is the plan, wish me luck. I really think the Ergon grips are going to help over the 44 grueling miles of the Counting Coup.
Awesome Job out there “animal”! 🙂 You’ll tear it up at the CCoup too!
Also an FYI – Since no one else will complain – I will!! lol. The age categories kind of suck for this series. Eric (single speed) as well as myself (beginner female) were basically categorized in a 34 and under category. Joes’ clydes category isn’t even separated by ages! There can easily be over a 10yr age difference between the competitors with this set up. Last year I was able to compete with women within no more than 4yrs of my age! Doesn’t seem very fair but makes for a heck of a race! Ok. Done complaining.
Looking forward to Fontucky! 🙂
Got it.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. Eric, you did an awesome job.
And one day, when I grow up, I’ll be half of the man Eric Hunner is. 🙂
“I’ll be half of the man Eric Hunner is.”….literally…The Animal is huge! He’s got these banana sized hands that when you shake them, you feel like a small kid shaking hands with a grown up.
Guys,
Is the flat section of GX2 wider or narrower than the GP2? I have CTS and using Ergon was recommended to me a long time ago. I’m wondering, if you have average sized hands (I wear size 11 in Fox sizing) to get a good grip would you say to get the women’s Ergon instead?