1st Place OVERALL
Pro/Expert Men
JEREMIAH BISHOP
TREK/VW/JBL

SPRING MTN CHALLENGE
September 22, 2002
by Bill Deputy

What a course and what a race......... the Final race of the Mid-Atlantic Super Series was quite an event. The course was truely a mountain bike racer's course. The addition of new singletrack this year offered some technical and physical challenges that increased the intensity of effort with each lap. Rich Zeigler, Jac Frech and all of the hard working folks at Spring Mtn did a super job breathing new life into the course and running the Mid-Atlantic Super Series Final race.

It looked like more rain on race day as it was predicted in the weather reports leading up to race day but.......... that changed a couple of days before the race and it turned out to be a beautiful day. It was actually a bit warm. Indoor plumbing, registration, plenty of parking, a DJ/announcer, food and a scenic ski resort made this an event to remember.

EXPERT

In the Expert Men's race Jeremiah Bishop - TREK/VW/JBL 1:27:25 was absolutely on fire taking the lead during the first lap and never looking back. He was one of the few that actually climbed the switchback hill at the top of the mountain. The dust had 4 minutes and 22 seconds to settle before the powerful Chris Eatough 1:31:48 (Jeremiah's teammate) came across the line in second. Chris was having a bit of a tough time. Here's an excerpt from his interview: I had a nasty faceplant on the first lap on the new singletrack downhill. Some boulders on the left side drew me in and I ended up over the bars and bodyslamming. I have a nice bump on my knee and a wicked abrasion from my belly button to my nipple! Chris also was one of the few who were able to stay on the bike up the steep switchback hill. The most amazing thing was seeing Chris's dad, Mike Eatough who is 56 and had both knees replaced climb the hill without dabbing once. Brandon Ott - TAILWIND 1:32:47 defended the home turf with an excellent result coming in 3rd place in a very strong field. Jason Moore - SHIRK'S BIKES 1:36:24 was fourth and Roger Aspholem - THINK RACING 1:36:44 fifth.

Caitlyn Tuel - SHIRK'S BIKES 2:05:36 has had a very good year and rode a smooth race in the Expert Women 34 &under taking the lead into the singletrack and holding it for 2 laps. Karen Henry - TEAM HARRISBURG (35+) took the lead towards the end of the second lap and had to be reeled back in by Caitlyn which took until the third lap. Caitlyn then rode ahead of all women landing on top of the podium for the Mid-Atlantic Super Series Final race.

The Expert Men 30-34 race saw Ransom Weaver - GUY'S BICYCLE 1:40:27 taking top honors. He got tangled up in the first major rock garden but stayed with the lead group of 4 racers making his move near the end of the race on that tough switchback hill, then smoking the high speed descent and gapping second place by what he thought to be about a minute and a half but at the end of the race second place Mike Causak - TAILWIND 1:41:03 was just 35 seconds back. Romolo Forcino - SHIRK'S BIKES 1:44:10 crashed in the rocks before the first feed area but was able to recover and finish third.

David Henry - TEAM HARRISBURG 1:47:01 won the Expert Men 35-39 race claiming he had a hard time getting his legs moving after a slow start. His legs did carry him to the top of the podium. Blair Saunders - FSVS 1:48:19 was second wrapping up an excellent season. Brian Rooff - GREEN MTN CYCLERY 1:48:38 was right on Blair's heels securing third in this race.

In the Expert Men 40-44 Jay Dodge - GUY'S BICYCLE 1:51:47 ran a very impressive race gapping his competition by a whopping 9 minutes! While taking pictures I noticed his wife and two kids cheering him on at different parts of the course....... must have kept him motivated. Jay took first place in the last SIX Super Series races in a row!! Mr. consistent David Clark - TEAM HARRISBURG 2:00:48 came in second and has been seen on the podium many times this season. David completed every Super Series race this year rain or shine! Third place was earned by the incredible Todd Forrest - WOODEN WHEELS 11:4. Todd is a single speed addict (and race director of Fair Hill), he has used nothing but his single speed this year and with the exception of one 6th place at Hibernia has always placed top five.

Tim Messersmith - FIRST CAPITAL VELO 1:52:18 won the 45+ Expert Men's field. Tim is currently 4th Masters 50+ in the World and also 4th 50+ National Champ. The York Daily Record just did an excellent article on Tim. (Click here to check it out) Second place was secured by Kurt Mikeska - WOODEN WHEELS 1:55:00. Kurt has had a great season and has been the only racer in this group to actually beat Mr. Messersmith in one race. Bill Gentile - WOODEN WHEELS 2:09:11placed third as he has been quite busy this year with promoting gretnabikes.com.

First Place Joey Thompson - BALANCE BAR/DEVO 1:51:04 decided to race Expert Junior for this race as he has been preparing for the Cyclocross season. (Joey usually races Expert Senior 19-29). Brandon Draugelis - UNATTACHED 1:55:29 took second and secured the Series overall Championship in the Expert Junior field. Cody Woolett - YELLOW BREECHES RACING 2:39:27 finished third.

Lauri Webber - WOODEN WHEELS 2:19:22 won the Expert Women 35+ with a huge 12 minute and 40 second gap. Lauri has shown great improvement this year and has improved her technical prowess. Karen Henry - TEAM HARRISBURG 2:32:03 had yet another flat after pulling ahead of the younger Caitlyn Tuel (who was 1st Place Overall Expert Women). The Series Championship was on the line for this race so you can imagine the tension as she had trouble fixing her flat but finally got things going and held onto second place ahead of Lyn Shaffer - WOODEN WHEELS 2:36:47 who placed third.

SPORT

Kevin Fryberger - UNATTACHED 1:20:34 won the Sport Men 19-29 race and was the fastest Sport rider overall. He was third going into the singletrack and after the two riders in front of him went down during the first lap he attacked briefly, held a gap, slowed down during the second lap and let a rider in front so that he could ride his wheel........ that rider flatted and Kevin held a steady pace from that point on taking the win. Jeremy Bates - TEAM BIKE ZONE 1:21:12 was very close behind taking second only 38 seconds back. Timothy Dickson - UNATTACHED 1:21:56 was next over the line (only 1:22 back) placing third.

Ann Hesse - SHIRK'S BIKES 1:42:20 was the fastest Sport Women overall and winner of the 35+ race. Ann has won most of the races she has been in with a commanding lead. She had over a 12 minute gap by the end of this race. Second, third and fourth place made for a competitive mix as Kathy Mulholland - JAR 1:54:44 second, Jill Lewis - WOODEN WHEELS 1:56:01 third, and Cara Dimmerling - JAMA BIKES 1:57:07 fourth were all within a couple of minutes of each other.

Brian Hess - SHIRK'S BIKES 1:23:18 continued the family tradition (see above paragraph) placing first in the Senior Men 30-34 race. Mike Keller - TEAM HARRISBURG 1:24:45 nick named by his team "slow boy" proved again that it's time to change that to "fast boy" placing second in a competitive field. Jim Thistle - ACTION WHEELS 1:25:30 placed third. Special mention goes to Johnny Guentner - WOODEN WHEELS 1:31:57 who is barely able to ride due to a severe knee injury sustained last year. Johnny was 6th place Pro at the end of last year! It was great just to see him riding again.

Kyle Hammaker - TEAM HARRISBURG 1:25:44 had an excellent race placing first in the Sport Men Junior race. This makes the fifth 1st Place result this year for Mr. Hammaker. Matt Hayes - BIKE SPORT 1:27:43 was second and Josh Weiser - BIG RING VELO 1:32:12 placed third.

Robert Lyon - FIRST CAPITAL VELO 1:28:31 won the Sport Men 35-39 race with Jazzy Jeff Brenneman - SHIRK'S BIKES 1:29:47 second 1:16 back. John Cleary - WOODEN WHEELS 1:31:22 came in third.

The Sport Men 40-44 saw Bill Ambruster 1:31:24, and Kenny King 1:32:04 first and second making it a GUY'S BICYLCE one, two. A total sweep of the podium by GUY'S was avoided with Martin Ekberg - UNATTACHED 1:33:02 placing third.

The Sport Men 45-49 race was won by the only person to remain UNDEFEATED in TWO YEARS of Super Series racing - George Bressler - CYCLE WORKS 1:30:18. George had close to a 9 minute gap and was fast enough to win the next age group down. He has never DNFed, trains religiously and is a real inspiration. Scott Reynolds - BIKE WORKS 1:39:04 had a close race for second finishing just ahead of Rob Trachtman -AUTOSONIC 1:39:30 who placed third.

John Fuchs - WISSAHICKON 1:35:18 took top honors in the Sport Men 50+ race wrapping up an impressive season with Kenny Stadden - UNEMPLOYED WEBMASTER 1:40:34 coming in second and Bill Stine - UNATTACHED 1:44:05 third.

Shannon Orr - WISSAHICKON 1:45:56 won first place Sport Women 34 &under convincingly with over a five minute gap. Chelsie Rose - SHIRK'S BIKES 1:50:57 placed second and Lori Wagner - TEAM HARRISBURG 1:53:49 placed third. Lori has had a great season this year after just starting to race mtn bikes in 2001 plus she was last year's Beginner Women 34 &under Champion.

BEGINNER

Kyle Gery - SHIRK'S BIKES 57:08 was the fastest Beginner of the day winning the Beginner Men 19-29 race. Kyle was 6th going into the singletrack but when things got more technical he moved up fast. Although still recovering from last week's very tough Michaux race, he managed to win ending up with more than a five minute gap! Brian Wallace - UNATTACHED 1:02:21 was second and Will Trax - UNATTACHED 1:04:13 third.

Karen Schneider - TEAM HARRISBURG 1:16:40 was the fastest Beginner Women and winner of the Beginner Women 35+ race. She must be tapping into the Henry's goats milk. Sherri Bosley - CYCLE WORKS 1:20:27 wrapped up a very successful season with a second and Andrea Morris - HARRIES RACING 1:22:02 finished up a very respectable third.

Matt Vahey - DELAWARE CARDIOVASCULAR 57:55 had a great season this year and although in the Beginner Men 30-34 race was second overall. Brad Herrold - UNATTACHED 1:00:46 just made it into second place edging out Kevin Farmer - UNATTACHED 1:00:51who placed third just 5 seconds back.

Donnie Harries - HARRIES RACING 57:56 won the Beginner Men's 35-39 race with a time fast enough to be 3rd overall. Paul Watson - UNATTACHED 58:19 was second just 22 seconds back and earned a fourth overall with Richard Leibfried - Mercury Atlantic Racing 1:02:38 taking third.

Brett Carper - UNATTACHED 1:01:23 was first into the singletrack and first over the finish line in the Beginner Men Junior race. Nate Smith - CEDAR BIKES 1:01:59 was a close second just 35 seconds back with Joe Luby - VALLEY MTN BIKERS 1:02:48 third. Aaron Snyder - TAILWIND 1:21:31 usually seen at the very front of the pack had some bad luck this race ending up with two flats! Many racers would quit under those circumstances but Aaron hung in there and finished 13th.

The Beginner Men 40-44 race saw Don Leavitt - CYCLE FIT 1:03:54 in first with over a three minute gap. Ben Taverna - UNATTACHED 1:07:33 was second and Andrew Wadge - CEDAR BIKES 1:08:40 third.

Andy Harrold - SHIRK'S BIKES 1:06:40 won the Beginner Men 45-49 race while maintaining his composure after crashing twice. Here's an excerpt from his interview: Did you have any interesting experiences during your race (exchanges with competitors/spectators)? Yes. I endo'd at the exact same spot on both laps. The second time around, there was a guy standing there who asked me if I was OK. I said "yeah, I practiced it on the first lap, so I had it down to a science." Claude Mervine - SHIRK'S BIKES 1:06:56 was a very close second just 16 seconds back and Erick Krone - UNATTACHED 1:09:34 came in third.

First place in the Beginner Men 50+ race was Richard Butz - CYCLE BOARD 1:12:48 winning convincingly with over a four minute lead. Dave Johns - CEDAR BIKES 1:17:14 was second and Joe Luby Jr. - VALLEY MTN BIKERS 1:24:12 was third.

Kristin May - TAILWIND 1:17:20 again won first place Beginner Women 34 &under but it was a hotly contested race as just 15 seconds back was Jill Bialy - UNATTACHED 1:17:36 in second place. Tammy Coleman - GUNG HO BIKES 1:23:49 was third.

A big thanks again to Don Morrison for organizing the Super Series and to SUGOI for supplying the winners jerseys, Bergwerk USA, Kenda, Hammergel, Cliffbar, Koobi Saddles, Spy Optics, Dirt Rag Magazine and Pedros - the Mid-Atlantic Super Series Sponsors. Long Live the Mid-Atlantic Super Series!!