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INTERVIEWS
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Hot
Races and Friendly Faces
in the City of Brotherly Mud
By Sami Fournier
May 7, 2000
Fairmount Park
Philadelphia, Pa
The Fairmount Classic, sponsored by Bike
Line, Trek/VW, Rock Shox, Zeal, Gatorade, SRAM, Hayes and JBL was bigger
than ever with the
Trek Trials team performing for the crowd, cops practicing their urban
trials skills, kid's races and lots of pro and semi-pro tough-guys battling
it out in close to 100 degree heat. Race organizers estimate over 1,500
people attended the event which included a bike festival sponsored by
Bike Line.
The elite XC race saw former Olympian Chrissy
Redden (Gary Fisher/Saab) lapping some of the pro/expert women
for a victory with Sue Haywood (Trek/VW East- West Virginia
Div. of Tourism) in hot pursuit taking a well deserved 2nd place.
Katie Compton (Trek/VW East) who has been plagued by physical problems
(she had a back operation last year) showed what she was made of placing
third in a star studded field.
Kirk Molday (Trek/VW) caught up
shortly after a fluffed start to secure the Pro men's win. He had a problem
clipping into his pedals and had to get his legs going after a day of
heavy traveling. Jeremiah Bishop (K2/New Sun) placed second a little
over a minute back putting in a phenomenal performance after coming off
of a poor result in Georgia last week due to a slight case of overtraining.
David DuVall (Trek/VW East) all around athlete showed that
challenging himself and focusing on his own race pays big dividends placing
third. Eric Keim (K2/New Sun) continued his winning ways taking
1st Place Senior Expert and placing 5th overall!
Then came the short track. As if 5 laps
of approximately 4 urban park miles in high heat (90 degrees plus) had
not bled it out of them already, about 25 racers lined up on the Belmont
Plateau to fight it out in the "grass crit" for a nice set of JBL speakers.
Eric Keim (K2/New Sun) led out for teammate Jeremiah Bishop. He
stayed out front for about 2 laps but it didn't take long (good thing,
since the race was only 5 minutes plus a lap) for Molday to pull off in
front of him and his Trek teammates--among them David Duvall, Paul Buschi,
Ryan Dewald, and Jed Schober--to take the Men's win. Sue Haywood (Trek/VW
East- West Virginia Div. of Tourism) lapped the women, and
a few men for good measure.
But you didn't need a big custom-painted
team vehicle to have a great time at this urban jungle of a race.
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The DC
City Bikes team, for example, fielded
6 of its best to bring home the goods. Other teams in the huge mass
of racers included Wissahickon, Bike Doctor, Wooden Wheels, Guy's Bikes
and Bike Line. Many racers said they got pretty
nauseated from the blazing sun-especially the first and most exposed climb
up "Parachute Hill." Trek pro David Duvall, after going out hard, had
to give himself about 15-20 minutes to recover from nearly overheating
after the too-fast start and then picked up speed later to capture third.
For all the finishers, from beginner to expert, riding their own race
and drinking tons of water was key to gauging how their bodies were dealing
with the sudden high temperatures. The top times for the 25-mile race
were sub-1:30, so the twenty or more pro guys were blasting an average
18 minute lap. Most of the experts were coming in at around 25 minutes
per lap.
Of course, along with the proverbial camaraderie
comes a little friendly competition. Sue Haywood (Trek/VW East
- West Virginia Div. of Tourism), second place female pro, said
she was getting her splits from her friend Matt. Each lap he told her
how far she was both from catching Chrissy Redden (Gary Fisher/Saab)
and from being caught by teammate Katie Compton (Trek/VW East),
who took third. Pat Riggin (City Bikes), winner in the 40-plus
men's expert division said of his City Bikes teammate Miles Brooks, "You
should have seen his face when I passed him. I don't think I've ever passed
him before-he was surprised to see me." They finished within 30 seconds
of each other. Many racers passed each other with a pat on the back and
"good ride, keep it up," letting the spirit of Philly take them to the
finish line with a smile. Some also got a little tangled up when the Beginner
and Clydesdale races went off while some experts were still trying to
finish their fourth or fifth lap.
A huge crowd of spectators braved the heat
and were madly cheering people up the climb after the charge into "Collar
Bone Creek." A dip at the bottom of the double-track hill was launching
some people slightly skyward. For the most part, though, the course seemed
flat to high-desert riders like Molday, who is rumored to be Canadian,
but now lives in San Diego. He was flown back East by Trek to warm him
up for the Big Bear NCS opener May 19-20 at Snow Summit, California. Sue
Haywood (Trek/VW East - West Virginia Div. of Tourism)
and Jeremiah Bishop (K2/New Sun) who finished second, are gearing
up for the Big Bear race, which is held at 8,000 feet elevation. How will
they contend with the altitude? Sue says, "You just try not to let it
get you down." Good advice for dealing with all the vagaries of mountain
bike racing. And if you do get down, it won't be hard at the mountain
bike races to find a friend to pull, push, or just cheer you along.
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Chrissy Redden
