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INTERVIEWS
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Race
For Chocolate
By Erik Silva
May 13, 2000
Hershey, Pa
Last year this race was held in early March; the ground
had just
begun to thaw making conditions slow and messy. This year was however
quite different - the temperature was hanging
in the high 70's and of
course the racetrack was dry and fast. Racers unanimously loved
the course, many calling it one of their favorites to race on. The 5-mile
course began across a road that quickly ran
into a field where racers made their way up into the woods where
the trail narrowed substantially. The trick
here was to get out and in front before entering the singletrack,
passing proved to be very slow and difficult. Once in the woods,
the
trail became very tight and many times off camber. Yet this only enhanced
the fun "roller coaster" value of the course.
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Team Harrisburg's crew did an excellent job of running
the race.
Beginners went off at 10am completing 2 laps
and sport/experts left at 12 pm to complete 3 and 4 laps respectively.
Within the expert senior class were also the
pros and semi-pro's who started with a clever handicap, a 30 second
delay for semi-pros and 1 min. for the pros. This however
did not stop race winner Dave Radziewicz (Gettysburg Cycle & Fitness)
from quickly taking the overall lead
and finally winning with a time of 1:37:34 and with a close second
at 1:38:33 was Diego Garanita. In the pro/semi-pro/expert
women's category Katie Compton (Trek/Volkswagen) won
with a time of 1:57:24 with 14-year-old
Thais Silva (Devo) coming in
second. Now the best part... the awards. Being in Hershey, chocolate
was a must. First place in sport and beginner both were awarded a 5
pound Hershey bar, and that transcended to mugs
of chocolate to smaller 7 oz. Bars for
other winners including the pro/semi-pros/expert classes.
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Dave Radziewicz
