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2001-2002 Winter Mountain Bike Series |
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THE GLACIAL
ESCAPE -
Sunday, December 9
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What another beautiful day for mountain biking racing. Can you believe this winter weather? We may be in-store for a harsh January. A little bit of cold weather and rain may separate the men from the boys and the women from the girls in the series. We will see who can tough it out.
With another week without rain, the trails were still in great shape and super fast. John Beniot of South Park Cycles once again turned in the fastest time of the Expert class taking first in 1:23:37. It looked as though Eric Kleffman of Bike Source had his number early in the race as Kleffman stayed tight on Benoit's wheel through the first two laps. Kleffman began to fade a little on the final lap as newcomer Brad Walton of Magic Cycles made a late charge and took 2nd in 1:24:25. Kleffman crossed the stripe 3rd in 1:25:46. Both Sport classes had repeat winners also as Kevin Mullins took first in 59:20 in the 19 - 29 category with Evan St. Clair taking second in 1:01:03. Carl Woodworth won the Sport 30+ by just 16 seconds over Scott Nelson with a time of 56:58. Nelson and Woodworth were wheel-to-wheel as the passed the start/finish area entering their second lap but Woodworth pulled away on the tricky single in the beginning of the trail and held the lead to the finish. Sean Bell crossed the line 3rd in just 59:55. The Sport 30+ category had 33 strong riders line up on Sunday afternoon. Great field guys!!
The Expert Women doubled the field size from the first race. The only problem is there was only one in the field at the previous race. Even though we only had two Expert Women compete, there was not a lack of talent on the starting line. Hope Ann Snyder of Paul's Schwinn took first in just 1:05:59 with Tracey Jones coming in second at 1:18:58. Great racing ladies!! Hopefully we can keep increasing the field size every week. Keep spreading the word. The Beginners Women category had another strong field with several new faces on the start line. Seven ladies hit the trail with Margot Rott of the Gaston County Cyclists taking top honors in 36:40 and Tina Kubasiak coming in a close second at 38:53. Keep up the great work!!!
The Beginner Men 19 - 29 lined up 12 competitors with Clay Holder crossing the line first in just 32:28. Great win for Holder in just his second race ever. Brad Taylor took second just 25 seconds behind Holder with Will Murray of Lake Norman Bikes rounding out the top three in 34:17. Corey Tate of Bike Line was out to revenge his second place finish from the previous Beginners 30+ race, but blew a tire just as he entered the trail and left the door open as Scott Tyson turned another strong performance in crossing the line first in 31:38. Kevin Anderberg came in second with a time of 31:59 and Clifton Abare picked up third in 32:10, just 11 seconds behind Anderberg.
Both Junior Categories lined up an intense field of competitors. In the Juniors 8 - 14, Robbie Sebastian took home the gold in 32:02 with Taylor Ross taking second in 33 minutes flat. Kyle Runyon rounded out the top three in 40:50. The Junior 14 - 18 winner, David Lemond turned the fastest lap time amongst all beginners and juniors coming in first in just 31:38. David Adams rolled in second in 32:52 with Nicholas Faust taking third in 34:07. Great riding guys, our future pro mountain bikers had at work.
Neal
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