Wooden Wheels Mountain Bike Race Team Iron Hill XC Classic '99

Wooden Wheels Race Team
Rolls into Iron Hill

Date:August 8, 1999
Event: Iron Hill Classic XC

Newark, DE - The Wooden Wheels Race Team had a good turn out with ten members racing at Iron Hill.

Kelly Keith
13th 19-29 Senior
Expert
4 laps @ 1:57:15

Mark Fitzwater
11th Place 30-39 Veteran
Sport
3 laps @ 1:38:00

Kelly Keith placed a very respectable 13th in the Expert race. Kelly was a beginner racer just 2 years ago. He lost some training time after a spill that injured his shoulder earlier this year. Mr. Keith is not happy unless he is dominating his competition as he did in the Beginner and Sport Classes without any trouble. Look for him to do the same in the Expert Class within a few years. His picture is a little blurry because we wanted you to see him as his competitors often do - just a blur as he whizzes by. Great job Kelly

Lyn Shaffer
2nd Place Sport Women
3 laps @ 1:53:30

Mark Fitzwater just missed a top ten finish placing 11th in the 30-39 Sport Veteran race. Mark has become a strong racer and continues to do well. Road riding has made Mark a lot faster this year. Mark was instrumental in sparking the fire that lead to a number one finish for the Wooden Wheels II team at the Susquehanna 12 hour race last month.

Lyn Shaffer had the best result with a hard fought 2nd Place in Women's Sport Class. Lyn was battling it out for the first place position switching back and forth between second and first in the first two laps. Her neck and shoulder had been sore for a few days and she couldn't quite close the gap on the number one rider in the third lap. This is Lyn's first year as a Sport rider and she's doing great!!

Craig Shaffer
17th Place 30-39 Veteran
Sport
3 laps @ 1:45:30

Bill Deputy
7th Place 40+ Master
Expert
4 laps @ 2:18:00

Paul Gassler
3rd Place 19-29 Senior
Sport
3 laps @ 1:32:10

Craig Shaffer had some bad luck but still placed 17th in the 30-39 Sport Veteran race. The picture above is not quite in focus, but we had to include it since it shows Craig OUT FRONT in the first turn! About 200 ft after this turn someone ran into him from behind in a section where there was plenty of room to maneuver and took him down with a chainring to the shin. He lost about 15 places before getting back in the running. Later in the first lap a racer fell in front of him on a fast, rocky downhill and he crashed again. He went down one other time after all of that because of fatigue and just kept a good strong pace on the last lap. This kind of thing just makes Craig more determined. So watch out Sport riders!

Bill Deputy finished 4 laps as fast as he could with his current fitness level. A leg cramp stopped him in his tracks on the last lap for almost a minute. Bill has been working at building this web site and extra busy at work so only trained 4 hours last week. That's no way to compete at the Expert level. Stay tuned.

Paul Gassler rode a great race placing 4th OVERALL in the Sport Class. Paul is a new addition to the Wooden Wheels team and is coming out of the gate smoking! Click on his picture and you will see the fire in his eyes. He ran a smooth race working in the lead pack of approximately 8 riders and came in with an excellent result. He had to rush home right before the race and grab a rear brake cable which he noticed was broken after he registered. He had to rearrange a few small parts on his bike to make it work and almost gave up. Paul kept his cool and ran a picture perfect race. At Fairhill last month Paul was caught in a huge pile up and lost all kinds of time right from the start. He finished an amazing 6th in that race. He is a consistently fast racer and a promising addition to the team.

Terry Blanch
DNF 30-39 Veteran
Expert

Terry Blanch who raced a road race earlier in the day - decided to abort early so as not to ruin his powerful mostly road racing legs (although he did just take a number one spot at the Fairhill Classic XC last month). Terry has probably spent more time on his bike than most people do in a lifetime - and that was 10 years ago. When you look at Terry (he is a BIG guy) you wouldn't think he could go fast on a bike at all. Terry has developed his own riding style and is more like the incredible hulk on a bike weighing in at around 250 pounds! I guess you should only race one race a day when you're competing on a tough course at Iron Hill in the Expert race.

Marc Vettori
DNF 19-29 Senior
Sport

Ted McDaniels
6th Place 30-39 Veteran
Sport
3 laps @ 1:34:35

Marc Vettori who has had a very strong performance this year didn't finish the 19-29 Sport Senior race. Marc didn't follow his routine in diet or race strategy and hit the wall. The purchase of a new house within a week of the race and planing for a fall marriage might have something to do with it too. Marc had the fastest lap times of anyone at the Susquehanna 12 hour race and perhaps like the stock market - a correction was due. Marc went out too fast (he usually hangs back and makes his move later in the race) and broke with his normal routine. Thanks to a certain Junior Expert racer who raced Expert Senior at 15 yrs old in this race, Marc ate junk food instead of his regular pre-race diet. He also had to spend hours of training time waiting for different delivery men to show up at his new house. He'll be back into the flow of things for his favorite upcoming Cyclo-cross season.

Ted McDaniels did well in the Sport Veteran race placing 6th. He was third coming up the second to last big climb on the last lap - but was dropped by 3 racers. This was due to a party at his house the Friday night before the race. He also thought that he could catch the racers who he let by, but misjudged how much was left of the lap. Lucky for the guys who passed Ted that he still had a headache.

Alan Turns
10th Place 30-39 Veteran
Sport
3 laps @ 1:37:05

Alan Turns (President of the Delaware Trail Spinners) came in top ten in the 30-39 Veteran Sport Class race. Alan doesn't have as much time to train this year with his Trail Spinners responsibilities. He also broke his finger a couple of months ago. This didn't stop him from a respectable finish at Iron Hill. Good job Allen and thanks for all of your time and effort that you put into the sport!