District 20 Championships; MD; DE; DC State Championships

December 5, 1999
Warsaw, VA

Overview:

      Wooden Wheels took 5 riders to the Districts/ States, and all 5 riders walked away with state medals. Three riders came away with State Championships, and two had captured District 20 championships when everything was sorted out. At the beginning of ‘cross season, these 5 riders targeted this race, as the finale for the season and by far the most important. Through their performances it was evident that the hard work of these individuals paid off today. With strong performances today and all season, the team is sure to be in the hunt for the MAC Cup Championships coming up the 19th. Special thanks should go to Mike Brevoort, who has been working tirelessly in the pits all season, keeping the team motivated, fed, and making sure the bikes worked smoothly throughout the races.

Katie Compton : D20 Champion;

     Delaware Cat 1,2,3 State Champion Katie Compton rode an outstanding race, asserting her strength early. The course had more climbing than any that we have seen so far this year. The hills did nothing to slow Katie. Katie powered away from the field building over a minute gap and cruising to victory. Did I mention she raced on her single speed with 2.0 tires? Incredible.

Jeanie Rengers: Cat 4 State Champion

     Jeanie Rengers, who has battled all season with health issues, pulled it all together today as she rode strongly, and captured her first State Championship. Jeanie battled with current MAC Cups points leader Zina Newell, as she raced one of her smartest races this year finishing as the 1999 State Champion. Jeanie, as always was encouraged and encouraged her teammate Diane Vettori, as they pushed each other to the podium today.

Diane Vettori : Cat 4 Silver Medallist

     Diane Vettori had another very successful race as she battled her way to her second Straight State Cross medal in two years. She rode a smart race dropping a group behind her with one lap to go. Diane was encouraged and encouraged her teammate, Jeanie Rengers, as they showed the teamwork the two have become famous for today.

Ted McDaniels: Cat 4 Bronze Medallist

     Up front I need to say that Ted McDaniel Jr. was not himself today. Recovering from the effect of strep throat, Ted was not on form as he had hoped for this big race. With that in mind, Ted scrapped and fought his way to the podium. Ted is a warrior who can be counted on to never quit. In a situation where many would have stayed home and rested, Ted came out for the big race and finished up strongly.

Marc Vettori : D20 Cat 4 Champion; Cat 4 Delaware State Champion

     This was without a doubt the most intense race I have ever been in. The race was for the most part a one on one battle with Tom McDaniel of Team Delaware. Tom and I have been riding together a lot lately, and have become very familiar with each other's style. This made the race this much tougher. The race was a series of attacks and counter attacks. We traded the lead probably 20x during the race. I was fortunate enough to make a good attack with under a lap to go and made it stick. Tom and I battled fiercely, and I recognize I was lucky to end up on top this week. While on the podium, they announced that I had also won the District. Some days God smiles on you. Today was one of those days for me.

Craig Shaffer works his Maintenance Magic
AGAIN at Granogue!

Dear Racers,
      Several years ago The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service sought to establish Canaan Valley as its 500th Wildlife refuge. They recruited support from various recreation-based business people in the area, including myself. I accepted the fact that the USF&WS wouldn't allow racing on refuge lands. I became a strong supporter of the wildlife refuge, based on two things:
1) the Refuge Management Plan allowed for on-going recreational mountain bike access; and
2) the assurances that the USF&WS wouldn't be purchasing property in the more developed southern end of Canaan Valley (including Timberline) because "it had little value from a wildlife management stand-point." In fact, I was instrumental in convincing the county commissioners to vote in favour of the wildlife refuge, which provided the political alignment that Senator Byrd wanted before he would sign- off on it. Once the Canaan Valley Wildlife Refuge was established, the various recreation-friendly policies went out the window (unless your form of recreation involves shooting and killing animals, which is allowed). Then the USF&WS began to actively buy land in the southern end of Canaan Valley, despite its previous assurances that they had no real interest in doing this. When Timberline sold a large parcel of land to USF&WS in the spring of 1999, it became apparent that someday soon Timberline might sell more of their land, including the property where most of our course was located. In August, that's exactly what happened. I have had many conversations with the refuge manager, Kevin DesRoberts, trying to find a way to keep the race at Timberline, all to no avail. Kevin, it seems, feels bound to enforce the strictest interpretation of USF&WS policies and will not allow us to use the property that we have been running the race on for the last six years. As it was, the race course was compressed into a relatively small area of land. As it is now, there is simply no way we can design a course on what little land Timberline still owns. I'm sad that we have been forced to look for a new venue for The 24 Hours of Canaan.
      This is my home, where I started as a mountain bike race promoter in 1983. I have worked hard over the years to promote this area as a mountain bike destination with the 24 Hours of Canaan as its hallmark. (For anyone whose only exposure to this area was the 12-mile race course, you should know there is still an incredible amount of riding up here, much more than you might imagine, USF&WS purchases notwithstanding.)  
      Granny Gear Productions would like to take this opportunity to thank all the folks at Timberline for hosting us over the years. It was, after all, Timberline that saved the day when we were forced to move from our original course in Davis (due to other unrelated land access issues). And, it was the venue at Timberline that helped The 24 Hours of Canaan become the world renowned mountain bike classic that it has become. We' would also like to thank all of the local folks and businesses that have supported us over the years, we couldn't have done it without them.

December 4, 1999

     Craig Shaffer moved three railroad ties to fill a gaping hole coming out of the tunnel near the pond at Granogue Saturday. He also cleared the edge of a corn field.
     As if this wasn't enough work, Mr. Shaffer came upon a live 9 point buck that had been critically wounded by a hunter. He tried to get it on it's feet without getting kicked, but was unsuccessful. He then went to a house on the estate who called a nearby farmer. He came out and put the dear out of his misery. Then he mentioned that he farmed the land for the Hypoint Dairy and would be glad to run his large mower along the edge of the field so as to make the course free of sticker bushes!
     Perhaps we can all chip in for Craig's back operation after man handling three 8' 6" railroad ties by himself.
     Thanks again Craig. Granogue is very close to being a "no dab" race course!!

MBR NEWS ARCHIVES
Check out stories, results,
pictures & interviews from past races and events
(all news stories and pictures will be online until next year's event)