Wooden Wheels Mountain Bike Race Team Iron Hill XC (Trail Spinners) '99

Wooden Wheels Race Team
Returns to Iron Hill

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Date:October 24, 1999
Event: Iron Hill XC - Delaware Trail Spinners

Newark, DE - The Wooden Wheels Race Team had some members that helped organize the race and raced the race who are also members of the Delaware Trail Spinners- Allen Turns-President, Todd Forrest-Vice President &
Ted McDaniels-Director at large.
From a first place finish to a broken ribs dnf - here are their stories:

Paul Gassler
2nd Place Sport Senior
19-29
3 laps @ 1:23

Craig Shaffer
8th Place Sport Veteran
30-39
3 laps @ 1:36

Paul Gassler rode smooth and fast taking 2nd Place just two minutes off of the number one spot! Fellow team mate Todd Forrest (riding a single speed) worked together with Paul most of the race. Paul has been riding strong this season as a new addition to the Wooden Wheels Team. He consistently places top ten and is looking forward to continued success next season. Good job Paul!

Craig Shaffer did very well placing 8th completing the 6th, 7th and 8th Wooden Wheels trio in the Sport Veteran 30-39. Craig carved out a GIANT tree that was obstructing the trail at Granogue with a small chain saw. Sounds easy until you try it yourself. I did and am amazed that Craig still raced after such a tough day of trail maintenance the day before Iron Hill. Craig had some traction problems with his tires in the mud but ran a hang-tough race and finished up top ten! Good job Craig and thanks for all that hard work at Granogue.

Lyn Shaffer
BROKE 4 RIBS BEFORE SHE WAS ABLE TO FINISH

Lyn Shaffer was a few seconds away from first place competing in the Sport Women Class when she fell, hitting a log off the side of the trail and broke FOUR RIBS! She would have finished the race except she couldn't get her derailleur to shift as it had all kinds of wood splinters jamming it up. She went to work today (she trains race horses) and cleaned out a couple of stalls with a pitch fork, brushed a couple of horses down, then figured she may have a serious problem when she couldn't handle full buckets of water. Ribs 6 thru 9 on the right side were broken with number 9 broken all the way through. E-mail her to cheer her up!

Mark Fitzwater
6th
3 laps @ 1:32

Mark Fitzwater brought home a 6th Place finish with a great run on a single speed! Mark has really improved this year. Road riding has given him the momentum to go from 20th place and beyond to consistent top ten. It looks like he'll be breaking through the Sport barrier if he keeps moving in the same direction.

Ted McDaniels
20th Place Sport Veteran
30-39
3 laps @ 1:45

Ted McDaniel Jr. should get a trophy for finishing this race. He had TWO FLATS and had to run back to the parking lot and get another wheel before fixing one of them! Most racers would dnf under these circumstances. I'm with Ted and think you should always finish unless your leg falls off, and even then you can crawl.. Ted usually isn't seen so far back in the pack. Must be because he never quits!

Alan Turns
7th Place Sport Veteran
30-39
3 laps @ 1:33

Kelly Keith rode a single-speed and rode this race as a training race. He and Dennis Dischler took Alan Turn's suggestion about Budweiser being a Sport drink in his racer profile a little too seriously the night before Iron Hill. Consequently they both DNFed.

Todd Forrest
1st Place Sport Master
40+
3 laps @ 1:24

Alan Turns (President of the Delaware Trail Spinners) came in 7th on a SINGLE SPEED plus (believe it or not) he had a FLAT TIRE! Alan doesn't have as much time to train this year with his Trail Spinner responsibilities, but you wouldn't have known it this race. He was flying on that single-speed. Good thing for his competitors that he had a flat - he was just seven minutes from 1st Place.

Todd Forrest raced single-speed this year (last year he placed 4th Expert Vet/Master 35+). He beat the 40+ Sport Master crowd with six minutes to spare! Check out his interview.