photos by Ken Keefner
On July 28, Team Seven’s Mary McConneloug and Mike Broderick took the top podium spots at the AMBC series mountain bike race “Beauty and the Beast” in Killington, VT. The course was characterized as fun and technical, with an abundance of short power climbs and fast, rooty descents. Hot, humid conditions at the start gave way to fog and even light rain, cooling racers and leaving the course fast and tacking.
In the Pro women’s race, Mary took a commanding early lead and remained unchallenged to the end, finishing four minutes ahead of second place. Mary kept up the pace by testing her power against the expert men, but she remained conservative, wanting to keep herself fresh for the upcoming NORBA National Championship Series race in Durango, Colorado.
In the pro men’s race, Mike went off with a three-man break that separated from the rest of the field by the middle of the first lap. The break dwindled to two; Ben Moody and Broderick worked together to stay away. Eventually, Bill Hurley caught the two and attached on the last climb. Mike put his head down and stayed on his wheel, however. In a dramatic last moment move, Broderick got by Hurley on a hard left uphill to the finish chute.
Congratulations Mike and Mary!