Kona Adventure Rider Kerry Werner’s 2023 Pisgah campaign paid off over the weekend.  Each day of racing built his lead in the GC over Cypress Gorry, and each day Kerry managed to avoid a Pisgah surprise mechanical. After five days and almost 11 hours of brutal racing and mixed weather conditions, Kerry would take the win in the prestigious five-day stage race by over 31 minutes. For an insightful and in-depth look at Kerry’s race, we’d highly recommend checking out the stage recap videos below.

Next up for Kerry is the first Lifetime Grand Prix event of the year, the 70-mile Fuego XL at Sea Otter on April 22nd.

“Stage 3 is the  Queen Stage, in my book. This one stings the legs and the arms. There are lots of fire road climbing followed by ripping techy descents. It’s 31 miles with almost 6000ft of climbing. I set a good pace early and found myself distancing Cypress about an hour in. I kept the hammer down all day and rode smoothly. I managed to pull 19min on GC, which was a great surprise. I just have to keep it all together now.” – Kerry Werner

“Rain overnight had everything in the forest coated in a layer of slime. By far the most slippery day I have spent on Squirrel Gap and Pilot Mountain! We rolled out the gravel road as a big group then things separated quickly on the first climb. Cypress and I got to dancing on Squirrel Gap and dropped into  Laurel Creek together. Then I got away on the Bradley Creek climb making my way up to the Laurel Mountain single track. I crested the top and dropped the enduro feeling like a ping pong ball bouncing down Pilot Mountain trail. With the rock being as slippery as it was brake points were completely different and each switchback provided a new challenge. I popped out the bottom in one piece and smashed the gravel back to the finish for the win! One more day to hold it all together.” – Kerry Werner

“The final stage! I padded my lead with a good margin heading into today so the main focus was staying out of trouble and trying not to ride too hard. Cypress and I were keen to watch Nick and Gus battle for 3rd in the GC, which was only separated by 20 seconds heading into the final day (nick took the last podium step…).

I had such a rad week. I love smashing around in Pisgah on some of the best trails the east coast has to offer. Put this one on your schedule for next year. I’ll be back!” – Kerry Werner