By Brian LaMuraglia
Many bikers pedaled more than 100 miles during Sunday’s Gran Fondo NJ. But some of the most impressive cycling occurred within a few yards of the Morristown starting line.
Professional mountain bike trials rider and Jersey native Jeff Lenosky tore up the asphalt during demos on North Park Place.
In his second visit to the Gran Fondo — he was here five years ago–Lenosky drew a crowd of post-Fondo riders awed by his feats of of balance and coordination.
Celebrating its sixth anniversary, the Gran Fondo NJ attracted 2,400 cyclists who chose from a series of scenic rides ranging from 18- to 107 miles through the Jersey countryside. Hill climbs were timed, but these rolling rambles were more about personal bests and post-ride food, music and camaraderie than about racing glory.
Lenosky inhabits a different niche in the bike world.
Mountain bike trials are competitions where riders attempt to pass through man-made- and natural obstacles without setting foot on the ground. It is a test of bicycle handling skills, where balance is key. One mistake could mean injury.
MORRISTOWN BECAME HIS JUNGLE
“I would just sit and read BMX magazines front to back when I was a kid,” Lenosky said. “I tried to learn every trick in the magazine and waited anxiously till the next magazine got out.”
He asked his father to buy him a bike. After high school, while working at a Parsippany bike shop, he discovered mountain bikes.
The Morristown area became his jungle, where he mastered his skills.
“I was always conscious of what I was doing. It probably wasn’t technically legal,” Lenosky said, jokingly. “Most of the skills I learned were in Morristown.”
Now he gives demos all over the world. He said he has performed in every state at least once, in a pro career spanning 21 years.
For the first 15 of those years, he escaped major injuries. The lucky streak snapped six years ago, when he broke a leg attempting a trick. It took Lenosky a year to fully recover, but it didn’t stop him from getting back on the two-wheeled horse.
While taking it easy in Tourne County Park last year, Lenosky lost control, hit a tree, and broke his collarbone. He said it’s a rite of passage for anyone who has been riding mountain bikes for a long time.
His last gnarly injury came in Austin, Texas, at a demo for his new sponsor, Oskar Blues Brewery.
Lenosky had just gotten off a 15-day tour of California, and was standing atop his trailer to scope the obstacles for his upcoming stunts. He misstepped and toppled from the trailer, bloodying his face and breaking his wrist.
The best part of his job, he said, is meeting new riders and entertaining fans at events like the Gran Fondo NJ.
“Now that I’ve been riding for so long, I’ll meet new riders who are well established mountain bikers, and they started because they saw a video of me 15 or 20 years ago,” Lenosky said with a big smile.
At this point, he could live wherever he wants. But he’s content to stay in the Garden State.
“With the style of riding I do, I want access to good parks like Mahlon Dickerson Reservation and Allamuchy Mountain State Park,” Lenosky said. “But I still love being able to come to Morristown and do urban riding.”
You can follow Jeff Lenosky on Facebook. His new web series, Trail Boss, follows him as he conquers the unrideable double black diamonds of mountain biking.
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Slideshow photos by Kevin Coughlin
GRAN FONDO MOMENTS
Deborah Meyer, 52, of New York was all smiles after completing the 62-mile Medio Fondo. Part of the reason was a massage from athletic trainer Nikki Castellucci of the Sportscare Performance Institute in Whippany. Tables were arrayed near the finish line, and Meyer was happy to spend time on one of them.
“Amazing,” she said of the rub-down. And she liked how the day was organized, even though her ride was “very, very hilly” and she got a flat tire on the appropriately named Doggone Hardest Hill.
“They really knew what they were doing,” said Meyer, who works in media research.
Castellucci said her biggest challenge all afternoon was getting weary cyclists to leave the comfort of the massage table.
“Everyone’s tired, but everyone’s happy,” the trainer said.
John Gregory, a 43-year-old lawyer from Fair Haven, said the 107-miler was “super fun,” yet harder than he anticipated. He compared it favorably to the New York Gran Fondo, describing the Jersey scenery as “incredible.”
Will he return next year? “I’ve got to let the memories [of the hills] fade, and then remember the good parts, and sign up again,” Gregory said.
“My body is starting to buzz,” said Morristown resident Douglas Vorolieff, after completing the 75-miler, the longest bike ride of his life. “I feel good. I feel tired and sore.”
Nancy Brunner of Hopatcong enjoyed her 62-mile ride almost as much as she enjoyed the ice cream and Belgian waffles at the 50-mile rest stop.
This was her fourth Gran Fondo NJ. She is a volunteer puppy raiser for The Seeing Eye Inc., and rode with that nonprofit’s team. What inspires her to keep returning, she said, is event founder Marty Epstein. “He’s an awesome guy. He’s so sweet,” said Brunner, 55.
Bruce Armenante of Oradell echoed those sentiments.
“This guy does such a great job. And he’s genuine,” said Armenante, 59, after completing the 107-mile ride in seven hours and 24 minutes. He took up cycling to combat high cholesterol, and he said it’s worked–although the Gran Fondo was strong medicine.
“No matter what direction you were riding, the wind was in your face. It wouldn’t be a ride if you didn’t have some adversity.” — Kevin Coughlin
MORE ABOUT THE 2016 GRAN FONDO NJ
