mountainbikeRACER.com

Race notes:
Close to 700 racers showed up for the Fair Hill Classic. What was amazing was that this many racers actually came to race as it was pouring rain in Baltimore and there was no way for people in the surrounding areas to know that it was mostly a very light rain since early morning at the race site. There was no forecast of rain (only possible "sprinkles") and this caught everyone off guard. I had a racer call me from Baltimore TWICE because he just couldn't believe the race would still be held. Since the ground was so dry for days before the event the trails ended up just fine and the DE Trail Spinners did a wonderful job as usual with close to 100 volunteers and generous sponsors. (see note below for further comments about why the race was allowed to proceed)

I advertised "same day pictures" and attempted with 4 helpers to try to sell print pictures in the new mountainbikeRACER..com tent. Thank you Lisa (my wife), Erica Grauerholz (our new and very talented photographer), Elena, and Jen - plus Tyler Keith and Fuzzy for helping me setup and break down all the equipment. I never had time for a practice run (plus was dazed out with only one hour of sleep) and was actually using new software and hardware race day. My apologies to everyone waiting around and checking back several times for pics. In the future I will be back out on the trail where I belong so that we may attain quality pictures and sell them ONLINE and at the NEXT RACE instead of trying to do the impossible and crank them out same day. It can be done but not without expensive staff.

A NOTE FROM BILL SHORT - DELAWARE TRAILSPINNERS:

Saturday night, when we left the park, things were dryer than dry, bone dry. All of the forecasts mentioned nothing about that pocket of precip. The only thing that worried us was the "scattered thunderstorms" - but they we supposed to start later in the afternoon. The rain did not show-up on the weather map until the wee-hours of race day (Many of us laid awake in bed, starting at about 2:00 AM wishing the big green blob away and listening to the downspout flow, then slow, then drip, then flow, then...). With 600 to 800 racers in the balance, our most important fund raiser, 100 volunteers, and hundreds of hours of work, we needed a decision.
To race or not to race, that was the question. Our Race Director had to make a second tough call in his three year career. Two years ago, we postponed the race - and clearly that was the right decision. The Trail Spinners were tagged with the reputation of really caring about the trails. And we would like to keep that reputation.

But we also knew that the earth was so dry that most of the rain should soak in immediately. We would certainly fix any damage inflicted on the trails. The rain should stop soon. Hopefully things would not be too bad. It was really too late to call the race off and let our racers know and save them the long drive. Plus, we REALLY thought that is was going to cease without much accumulation because the weather folks said it would be spotty.

Turns out that we were in THAT one spot and it just kept coming all morning, most times a light drizzle but other times a soaking rain. The rain mixed with the top coat of dust on the trails, spraying up on the racers and clogging deraileurs. It caused us lots of pain to know were we racing IN THE RAIN! And to see how muddy the racers were when they finished - AUGGGGHHHH!

So we were taking a chance with the trails and with our reputation - one that we certainly would have preferred not to. As it turns out, the trails suffered no damage. On Wednesday morning, just three days after the race, the trails were all flat and dry - no ruts or puddles. The casual observer could not tell which trails were part of the race and which were not! WHEWWWWWW!

Now if only our reputation could survive so well. Remember though, that all race proceeds are donated to area parks, preservation efforts, trail access, bird refuges, Greenways, fixing trails, bridges, signs, etc. See our donation list. So, at least we have an immediate avenue of retribution. Bottom line: with all of our research and thought and trepidation... we got caught on the trail in the rain...with 600 or so friends.

Dean Eberling Memorial Ride
at Allamuchy, NJ - August 11, 2002

NORBA National Snowshoe, WV
by Jon Posner - Trek/VW/JBL
East Coast Factory Team Manager

24 HRS of Snowshoe
by Jon Posner - Trek/VW/JBL
East Coast Factory Team Manager

2 World Cups, gearsracing
big ups!
by Julian Hine - GearsRacing.com