   April 24, 2001 |
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MICHAUX LIVES 2001 |
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1st Place
Pro Men |
 Sue Haywood Trek/WV Div. of Tourism |
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Place Pro Women SUE HAYWOOD - TREK/VW - West Virginia Division of Tourism |
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INTERVIEWS
Race notes: Here's what happens when you try to handle a tough drop off after being fatigued from Dead Woman's Hollow and the Three Mile Trail.......CLICK FOR PICTURE OF A REAL "DROP OFF"! Now here is how a man over 50yrs old shows a youngster show to handle the scariest part of the course.......Mike Eatough former World Masters Champion - CLICK FOR PICTURE Timothy Messersmith - CLICK FOR PICTURE - ripped his derailluer off on the Three Mile Trail. This is perhaps at the three quarters of the way mark on the very difficult Expert loop. Instead of quitting he decided to whip out his chain tool...... make his bike a single-speed and muscle the bike in....down the treacherous Rattlesnake Trail and up the log sled and rocky double track to the finish with an incredible 3rd Place in his age group. Mike Yozell - Guys Bicycle CLICK FOR PICTURE of Mike on Grave Ridge pulled off an equally incredible performance placing 10th Pro Men after flatting not once, twice or even three times...... but FOUR TIMES! These guys just don't understand the letters DNF. So you think YOU had bad luck racing Michaux this year?
Check out Kristine Oesterling - Team Harrisburg 's luck: (excerpt from
an email) she was
1st Place Expert Senior Women at Hibernia - CLICK FOR PICTURE: David DuVall - TREK/VW East Coast Factory Team showed that his comeback from a tough back problem is in full swing placing 4th PRO Men in a field that included most of the fastest men in the East. CLICK FOR PICTURE of David on Grave Ridge.
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April 22, 2001 If you thought the 10th and final Michaux Ironmasters Classic XC -was tough last year........ welcome to MICHAUX LIVES 2001, race number one of three in the MONSTERS OF MICHAUX MEGA SERIES - brought to you by Gettysburg Bicycle and Fitness and Bushey's Cyclery. (You can check out last years news for a detailed description of the course). It was hot and humid with less sun than last year but this year the start and finish were........... different - in a "difficult" sense of the word. The start was a slight upgrade on a fairly rocky fire road where you could rip your derailleur off...... or simply double flat if you weren't careful. If you didn't make it into the single track after the fire road start...... you were at a disadvantage due to the slower riders clogging the tight singletrack. This type of start requires that you power off the line and try to be the first one into the woods. Another difference over last year is that Sport riders didn't have to do the longer, much more difficult Expert loop including Dead Woman's Hollow, the infamous Three Mile Trail...... and the Rattlesnake Trail with it's beautiful scenery and treacherous downhill. However, the other major difference over last year was the addition of some nasty uphill, rocky double-track off of the log sled final uphill which I'm sure a lot of last year's participants were motoring up for the final push into the finish....... to be surprised by this new "delight". True Michaux lovers just smile as things get tougher. When Jeremiah Bishop was told about the new additions and the higher level of difficulty......... his response? Great!! Michaux is what hard-core mountain bike racing is all about. It may very well be the toughest, most challenging course on the East Coast. The winner of this race can without a doubt claim title to "incredibly skilled all around pure mountain bike racer". Jeremiah Bishop - K2/DD, Inc. proved unstoppable this year as well as last. With no teammates for support for feed zones or strategy Mr. Bishop from the first turn planned on staying out front. After several slow starts this season Jeremiah would have none of that this race (see Hibernia interview). CLICK FOR PICTURE of Jeremiah in the first turn. With the odds stacked against him..... and dropping back at one point with chain slipping troubles he was able to work his way back against the very powerful TREK East Coast Factory Team racers, attack on Dead Woman's Hollow (same place as last year) and maintain a gap right up to the finish. The TREK/VW East Coast Factory Team dominated the top results (as usual) almost making a clean sweep in both Men and Women's Pro categories. Chris Eatough - TREK/VW East Coast Factory Team (24hr SOLO WORLD CHAMPION who has also competed in many World Cups) placed second PRO Men and has had continued bad luck in this race while coming very close to winning in years past. Gracious and professional as always Mr. Eatough mentioned that he flatted........ but one of the reasons for flatting (on the Rattlesnake Downhill) was that he was trying to bridge the gap up to Jeremiah after losing about 10 seconds on Dead Woman's Hollow and then perhaps another 10 on the Three Mile Trail....... (Chris was about 20 to 30 seconds back from Jeremiah when I saw him running his bike to get back on the trail on the Rattlesnake as in some places the markers were down and it was a bit confusing seeing exactly where the trail went) CLICK HERE FOR PICTURE After flatting he was able to fix it quickly and still finish second....... and against such a talented field of racers...... this was no small accomplishment. Sue Haywood - TREK/VW - WV Division of Tourism showed why she placed 13th at the Sea Otter this year in a star studded field. She just loves to race her bike and can be seen smiling on some of the toughest terrain (her picture (top right) is from grave ridge - one of the rockiest sections of Michaux). Sue mostly just held a steady (which is very fast) pace throughout the race...... she did attack after Mike Buchness - Bike Doctor said he was bonking and couldn't go on..... then proceeded to pass Sue. She attacked and stayed with him. Katie Compton - TREK/VW East Coast Factory Team showed that she is a force to be reckoned with placing second and making a statement after placing 3rd at the first mountainbikeRACER.com Mid-Atlantic Super Series race. If you aren't a world-class racer...... chances are you will not be in front of Ms. Compton. Katie has been experimenting with training and diet trying to solve her muscle enzyme problem (see Hibernia interview).
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They are a highly skilled group of riders and most of us know the names........ Chris Eatough, Sue Haywood, Paul Buschi, Katie Compton, David DuVall, Roger Bird - (manager), Jon Posner (team mechanic/co-manager) and Ernie Martin - director of all of TREK's Factory Teams and marketing strategist. For more information check out the new factory team website http://trekfactoryteam.com Joey Thompson - Wooden Wheels did a superb job taking 1st Place Sport Junior Men. He pulled away from the number two racer going into the singletrack from the log sled in the last mile or two to take the win. Well deserved on such a tough section of the course. Thais Silva - Wissahickon Cyclery proved that she is a serious mountain biker who can handle tough terrain. Completing the whole Expert loop in style she took first place Expert Junior Women. She attributes her success to RUFIT Training and Racing (her coach who also happens to be her dad). We were a bit weak on Beginner and Sport coverage (lack of staff) - however if you placed top three in your age group please feel free to fill out an interview form (on menu bar at top of page) and let us know what happened in your race. The turnout was very good at (close to 450 riders) and everything went fairly smooth. Food was available and results and prizes were handled well. It was a bit warm and kept threatening rain in the afternoon..... but besides a few sprinkles...... no moisture to speak of. Michaux Lives 2001!! Hard core mountain bikers only need apply........ Pro/Expert Senior Men
Pro/Expert Senior Women
THANK YOU
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